We were out of town visiting family all last week, and while we were there we tried dipping some homemade vanilla marshmallows in Callebaut semisweet chips, which were on sale for $4/lb at Whole Foods.
They were less goopy while dipping than the Callebaut 70%, and creamier-tasting than average semisweet chips. But overall, I don't think they were better than the Ghirardelli 60% chips. I like the darker chips better, and both sets melt about the same. We did mess up the tempering on these ones, so it's possible they would have been harder to work with if they'd cooled more for a proper temper.
We often wait too long before declaring the chocolate tempered enough to dip - which means that sooner than we'd like, it's cooling to a point where it's hard to dip, and we have to rewarm it. And about 1/3 of the time, when we rewarm it we lose the temper. This time, we overcompensated and started dipping too soon, so it just wasn't tempered well enough yet. It eventually solidified at room temperature, but not to the nice crisp shininess that properly-tempered chocolate should give.
Showing posts with label callebaut. Show all posts
Showing posts with label callebaut. Show all posts
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Callebaut truffles
A recent project we've been working on is making truffles using a mold, rather than just dipping the centers in chocolate as we usually do. Last weekend was our first attempt, using ganache that had been cut into circles about 1/4 inch tall, and using various methods to surround these with chocolate in the mold - dipping then placing in the mold and filling it the rest of the way with chocolate; putting chocolate, then center, then chocolate in the mold. None were ideal, and the shell-to-center ratio was high.
So this weekend we decided to try a new method: Coat the mold in a thin layer of chocolate, let it set up, then pipe in soft, unset ganache. We use Ghirardelli 60% chips constantly; they're easily the best value in terms of quality per dollar that we've found ($3/11.5 oz at Target). This time we decided to try something better, just to see how it went, so we got some bulk 70% Callebaut from Whole Foods.
The verdict: Thumbs up on the new truffle-molding technique. Worked like a charm, the ganache set up nicely inside the truffles and the shell was thin and crispy. We still need to work on making the bottoms of the truffles smooth, but the rest is shiny and pretty!
Thumbs waggly, however, on the Callebaut. It is a better-tasting chocolate than the Ghirardelli, but not necessarily twice as good (it costs about twice as much, $8/lb). It was also harder to work with, which I wasn't expecting. It was very goopy at the low temperatures required for tempered chocolate. I'd read that chips are to be avoided because they're formulated not to melt well (as you want them to hold up when baking), but the Ghirardelli 60% chips definitely melted better than this bulk chocolate.
I noticed that WF has Callebaut semisweet chips on sale for $4/lb, so maybe we'll try those sometime soon.
So this weekend we decided to try a new method: Coat the mold in a thin layer of chocolate, let it set up, then pipe in soft, unset ganache. We use Ghirardelli 60% chips constantly; they're easily the best value in terms of quality per dollar that we've found ($3/11.5 oz at Target). This time we decided to try something better, just to see how it went, so we got some bulk 70% Callebaut from Whole Foods.
The verdict: Thumbs up on the new truffle-molding technique. Worked like a charm, the ganache set up nicely inside the truffles and the shell was thin and crispy. We still need to work on making the bottoms of the truffles smooth, but the rest is shiny and pretty!
Thumbs waggly, however, on the Callebaut. It is a better-tasting chocolate than the Ghirardelli, but not necessarily twice as good (it costs about twice as much, $8/lb). It was also harder to work with, which I wasn't expecting. It was very goopy at the low temperatures required for tempered chocolate. I'd read that chips are to be avoided because they're formulated not to melt well (as you want them to hold up when baking), but the Ghirardelli 60% chips definitely melted better than this bulk chocolate.
I noticed that WF has Callebaut semisweet chips on sale for $4/lb, so maybe we'll try those sometime soon.
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