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Post by beejay on Jun 8, 2011 14:32:54 GMT -5
I have some hand made truffles. In the past these were hand-dipped, but the maker switched to filling molded chocolate with ganache.
Since then, I have found mold in most pieces where the ganache met (or didn't meet and allowed air space) the molded chocolate. I'm guessing this airspace led to condensation, hence the mold. And the mold appears to originate on the ganache, rather than the molded shell.
Does anyone know what kind of mold it might be?
What the source might be? Like the cream in the chocolate (that moisture's got to come from somewhere)? Or would it be that the chocolate maker's kitchen is contaminated. Or possibly the chocolate, itself - when she switched to molded as opposed to hand-dipped, she also went from a small batch chocolate supplier in California to a European commercial maker.
She lives in a very hot climate, and I imagine the candies go through several heat up/cool down phases before they get to me, which would explain condensation, but the mold is new and a problem. Plus, the candy just shouldn't be that perishable.
Thanks for any help you guys might have!
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Post by cheebs on Jun 8, 2011 17:12:09 GMT -5
Sounds like her ganache recipe has too much free water. That, combined with air pockets in the cavity and hot temperatures, make for quick spoilage. Suggest the use of a small amount of invert sugar to fix some of that free water, or the use of a cream with less water content.
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Post by beejay on Jun 14, 2011 13:51:07 GMT -5
Invert sugar. Is that the same as invertase? This isn't me making it but a friend. She's pretty touchy because we've all told her what great candy she makes. The old way, dipping, I think eliminated any air pockets. I tried getting down to details with her, but she thinks the mold is at my end. Not when it's inside a hard chocolate shell, it isn't. I was hoping to give her a semi-definitive answer that she could then ruminate on and maybe fix her issues without us getting into name-calling and hair-pulling. Thanks!
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Post by cheebs on Jun 14, 2011 15:58:38 GMT -5
No, invert sugar (Trimoline by brand name) is not the same thing as invertase, although invertase can be used to make invert sugar. As I said before, there's clearly too much free water in the ganache. It's not an issue when hand dipping because the couverture will fill the exposed air pockets. Shell molding requires a much more careful approach, pouring the ganache into the molds at the correct temperature so it's not too thick and creates the aforementioned air pockets. I'm positive the cause for the mold is on her end, but the heat sure isn't helping. Adding about 2% invert sugar to a recipe will help trapping some of that free water in the ganache and extend the shel life of her bonbons considerably. If she's dead set against doing this, then suggest using a cream with less moisture, or less cream altogether.
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Post by beejay on Jun 20, 2011 1:00:30 GMT -5
Thank you! I don't know why she decided to switch to the molded chocs. We all said we liked the softer, dipped ones better -- these are very waxy. She probably didn't realize that she needed to have a softer ganache, or at least take more care in filling the shells. She probably switched to the molded shells because they seemed faster and easier than dipping. I will pass this suggestion on to her. We all love her truffles, but now we're afraid to eat them.
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