The Chocolate Whisperer

2012-01-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

This Past 2011 was a year of many big events:

New Position at my job
My wedding after 10 years together
Helping develop new curricula at my job
Traveling to Dublin, Ireland
Hosting our first New Year's Eve Open House at our home
Building a fabulous gingerbread church for a friend of mine

Among other things.

Enjoy some of the Gingerbread pictures.

2010-12-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

Winter Wonderland: our home after the 2010 snow storm
PEACE

QUITE

REST

SOLITUDE

RETREAT

MEDITATION

SOLACE

MUSING

Macarons & Manhattan

2010-06-16T06:37:00.000-07:00

Macarons & Manhattan

Gerbet Macaron

2010-04-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

Place: PARIS

Crispy outside, chewy inside, simply scrumptious, small package, big flavor... What is it?

MACARONS (in French)! Macaroons (in English)

Yes, you guessed it.

You can find these all over Paris, if not all over France. These miniature jewels are a joy to have with your espresso or tea on a warm, or cold, or for that matter, any afternoon. I think one of the great things about a Macaron is the size of it: SMALL. You can have 1 or 3 and still feel that you haven't overindulged yourself.

Place: NEW YORK

Now, think about walking in the streets of the cosmopolitan New York City: chic, sophisticated and proud New York. It's 3 pm in the afternoon and you crave an espresso. What to have with it? Let me see......

(Well, let's not even mention the fact that you can hardly find a decent shot of espresso in the city. Pathetic!)

But, what about that thing to have with your....ehm...coffee?

Macaron? I don't think so. More like a 6-inch cookie monster or a dinner size cupcake, or a quarter (for heaven's sake) of a 9-inch cake. Why does everything have to be so big? I wish I could find a small, freshly baked chocolate chip cookie or biscotti. And when I ask for such, people usually look at me like I have four heads.

I believe that great things come in small packages.

Quality, quality, quality

and not

quantity, quantity, quantity.

I guess I'll have to keep dreaming for now. Let's go back to Macarons!

Enjoy these pictures of macarons baked by some of my students. These almond flavored little bites are filled with innumerable options: jams, preserves, buttercream, ganache...your imagination is the limit.

A cake for a 16th birthday party

2010-02-01T08:49:00.000-08:00

One of my very good friends asked me a couple of days ago if I could help him by making a cake for his niece's sweet 16th. I agreed and, after an exchange of details, questions and answers this is what came out. Enjoy!

Easy and foolproof tempering method

2010-01-07T12:57:00.000-08:00

TOOLS that you need:
    1 qt. sauce pan
    1 small metal spatula
    1 large rubber spatula
    1 medium size stainless steel bowl (completely dried) that fits the top of the sauce pan
    1 thermometer (preferably digital)
      dishtowels
    Cool kitchen (not above 75 F)

INGREDIENTS:

32 oz (912 grams) of chopped dark chocolate (55% to 75% cocoa liquor)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Fill up the sauce pan half way up with water.
2. Bring it to boil.
3. Fill up the stainless steel bowl with the chopped chocolate.
4. As soon as the water boils, turn the flame off and place the bowl with the chocolate over the pot.
5. Leave it undisturbed for 15 minutes.
6. Immediately take the bowl out of the pot and bring it to the work station and place it over a dishtowel.
7. With the rubber spatula (dried) start stirring gently the chocolate so to combine the melted chocolate from the sides with the unmelted chocolate in the center.
8. If you take the temperature with your thermometer it will read around 105 F to 110 F.
9. Keep stirring the chocolate until almost all the unmelted chocolate is melting away and at the same time serving as a seed for your melted chocolate.
10. After 2 minutes of stirring, the chocolate should read 90 F. you should still have one or two pieces of unmelted chocolate floating.
11. YOU ARE TEMPERED
12. Test a small amount of the chocolate with you small metal spatula and let it set. It should start setting and getting opaque in color in about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Providing your kitchen is cool and not hotter than 75 F.
13. Use your chocolate before it gets to hard.

Raspberry Milk Chocolate Truffle

2009-11-16T09:06:00.000-08:00

3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon (180) grams heavy cream
2 Tablespoons (50 grams) glucose, light corn syrup or honey
16 oz. (460 grams) milk chocolate
1 teaspoons (20) grams soft butter
1 Tablespoon (30) grams rum
4 Tablespoons (112 grams) reduced fruit puree*

Directions for ganache
1. Mix cream, honey and salt in a saucepan and bring to boil.
2. Pour the hot cream mixture over the milk chocolate and make sure the chocolate is submerged in the liquid. let it rest for 1 minute undisturbed.
3. Stir the chocolate with a whisk or wooden spoon in small circles from the center out until it emulsifies.
4. Add soft butter and mix to combine (room temperature butter will easily get mixed in the warm chocolate)
5. Add alcohol, reduced fruit puree and mix until it is incorporated.
6. Prepare a small cookie tray with a film of plastic wrap in the bottom.
7. Pour ganache into the plastic wrapped tray and cover with another piece of plastic directly on the surface of the ganache.
8. Allow it to rest in a cool place (not in the refrigerator) until slightly firm. This will take from 30 minutes to 1 hour.
9. Pour the ganache in a clean bowl and agitate it with a rubber spatula until it thickens some more. This will take just a few minutes. At this stage you are tempering the ganache. Don't let it get to hard, otherwise it will be difficult to pipe.
10. Immediately transfer the ganache to a pastry bag with a plain tip and pipe small balls (truffles) into a parchment or wax paper.
11. Let them rest for a couple of hours or overnight in a cool place (again, not in the refrigerator) before you cover them in cocoa powder or a covering of your choice.

*For the fruit puree you want to reduce it 50% and then measure it to get 4 Tablespoons (100 grams)

They may be dip in tempered chocolate before rolling them in cocoa powder.
For a variation try substituting the liqueur with one of your choice.
These proportions would not work with milk or white chocolate.
Other covering choices are:

Powder sugar
Crushed Rice crispies
Crushed potato chips
Finely chopped nuts
Graham cracker crumbs
Chopped or shaved dark, milk or white chocolate

12th Annual Chocolate Show, New York City, October 30th to November 1st, 2009

2009-11-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

For the Last five years The French Culinary Institute has been participating in the expositions of The Chocolate Show in New York City. (www.chocolateshow.com)

This year I led a group of students along with Chef Jae Kim into a spectacular and massive 242 lbs of chocolate showpiece. After two months of planning and three weeks of work we unveiled on Thursday October 29th at the 12th annual New York Chocolate Show (October 30th to November 1st) at The Metropolitan Pavilion the Chocolate Haunted House of Count Sock O'Lade.
We were center stage in the entrance to the show for all to see and sniff.

"The scent was unbelievable and intoxicating, and with aromatic venom, the vampire Count Shock O'Lade bewitched the spectator and push him/her to give it all to the pleasures of chocolate"

And Everything was made out of CHOCOLATE.

Thanks to the team of 14 students from The French Culinary Institute, the co-direction of chef Joseph Jae Kim and direction of chef Kir Rodriguez.

Orange Grand Marnier Truffles

2009-10-15T15:16:00.000-07:00

3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons (7 oz.) (200 grams) heavy cream
2 oz. (60 grams) light corn syrup or honey
1 orange, zested and juice reduced to a thick syrup
2 pinches salt

15 oz. (430 grams) dark chocolate (58%-65%)
1 Tablespoons (20 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 Tablespoons (60 grams) Grand Marnier, Grand Gala or any orange liqueur

Directions for ganache:
1. Mix cream, honey, zest and salt in a saucepan and bring to boil.
2. Pour the hot cream mixture over the dark chocolate and make sure the chocolate is submerged in the liquid. let it rest for 1 minute undisturbed.
3. Stir the chocolate with a whisk or wooden spoon in small circles from the center out until it emulsifies.
4. Add butter and mix to combine (room temperature butter will easily get mixed in the warm chocolate)
5. Add liqueur, reduced orange juice and mix until it is incorporated.
6. Prepare a small cookie tray with a film of plastic wrap in the bottom.
7. Pour ganache into the plastic wrapped tray and cover with another piece of plastic directly on the surface of the ganache.
8. Allow it to rest in a cool place (not in the refrigerator) until slightly firm. This will take from 30 minutes to 1 hour.
9. Pour the ganache in a clean bowl and agitate it with a rubber spatula until it thickens some more. This will take just a few minutes. At this stage you are tempering the ganache. Don't let it get to hard, otherwise it will be difficult to pipe.
10. Immediately transfer the ganache to a pastry bag with a plain tip and pipe small balls (truffles) into a parchment or wax paper.
11. Let them rest for a couple of hours or overnight in a cool place (again, not in the refrigerator) before you cover them in cocoa powder or a covering of your choice.

They may be dip in tempered chocolate before rolling them in cocoa powder.
For a variation try substituting the liqueur with one of your choice.
These proportions would not work with milk or white chocolate.
Other covering choices are:

Powder sugar
Crushed Rice crispies
Crushed potato chips
Finely chopped nuts
Graham cracker crumbs
Chopped or shaved dark, milk or white chocolate

2009-10-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

Chocolate is the food of the gods. The 're' of the matter. Delicious, Sinful, luscious, intoxicating, exhilarating, scrumptious, elating...