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Thursday, 4 June 2015

How To Make Sugar Art?

Making a Sugar Syrup
1.  Place 1 lb. 10 oz. of sugar and 8 oz. of water into a pot, and stir over low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved.

2.   Bring the sugar water to a boil, and use a ladle to begin removing the foam that forms. Place the foam into a heat-resistant bowl.

3.  Brush down any crystals that form on the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water. Continue to keep the syrup boiling during this process.

4.   Continue ladling foam and brushing down crystals three or four times until the syrup remains clear.

5.   Place a candy thermometer in the syrup. Stir in corn syrup and cream of tartar to the syrup when the temperature reaches 230 degrees F.

6.   Turn the burner to high, and stop stirring. Keep the thermometer in the pot.

7.   Boil the syrup until the temperature reaches 300 degrees F.

8.   Remove the pot from the burner, and cool the syrup by placing the pot into a larger pot of cold water for 30 seconds.

9.   Pour the syrup onto a silicon mat, and let it cool for 5 seconds.

Forming the Sugar
1.   Begin folding the sugar using a spatula by bringing the outer edges of the sugar to the inside again and again until the sugar is cooled enough to handle by hand.

2.   Candy canes are also formed by pulling and stretching cooked sugar.

3.   Begin pulling and folding by hand. Hold the sugar with one hand while stretching and folding with the other.

4.    Fold and pull about 15 to 20 times until the sugar becomes glossy and smooth.

5.   Cut off a small amount of sugar to form, and place the remaining sugar under a heat lamp to stay warm.

6.   Form rose petals. For the centre of your rose, flatten a small daub of sugar with your fingers and roll it into a cone.

7.   Repeat cutting or pulling off small bits of sugar and flattening them. Attach these pieces around the rose cone to form petals. Continue until your rose is completed.


8.   Place the rose on a sheet of wax paper to harden completely.
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Types of Sugar Work

Pulled Sugar
The sugar has been cooked; the now-liquid sugar is poured onto a silicone rubber mat (e.g., Silpat). Any colouring is now added. The sugar is then folded repeatedly into itself, until the sugar is, while still flexible, cool enough to handle. The sugar is then stretched out and then folded on itself repeatedly. This process incorporates air into the sugar, and gives it bright lustre sheen. The sugar can then be sculpted by hand into various shapes, made into ribbons, or blown.
Blown Sugar
In blown sugar, a portion of pulled sugar is placed on a rubber pump which is tipped with either wood or metal. Pumps are most commonly hand pumps. While being blown, the sugar can be shaped, often into animals or flowers. Blown sugar cannot be quickly cooled by dipping it in water, so chefs must use fans to cool the sugar, all the while rotating it, so that it does not come out of shape. This technique is very useful in making balloons for wedding cakes.
Cast Sugar
In this technique, sugar is poured into moulds. This technique produces more sturdy pieces than pulled and blown sugar, and is almost always used for the base and structural elements of showpieces. Cast sugar can also be used in many recipes such as a simplicity called cake.
Pastillage
A thick sugar paste, similar to gum paste, is moulded into shapes. When dried, it is hard and brittle. Made with gelatine, water and confectioner's sugar, it hardens quickly and can be shaped for a short while by hand, and after hardening, with electric grinders, cutters, sandpaper and assorted files. Some recipes will contain an acid in the ingredients list, such as vinegar or cream of tartar.
Pressed Sugar
Granulated sugar is mixed with a minimal amount of water, and is put under pressure. It hardens into a solid piece. Though this is used for showpiece bases, it is less often used because of the time required to produce it, and its lesser aesthetic value.
Rock Sugar
The liquid sugar is blended with a small amount of royal icing. The heat from the sugar causes the air incorporated in the icing to rapidly expand, causing the mixture to grow to several times its original volume. The mixture is quickly poured into a lined dish, and placed into a blast chiller to set. This process produces a sugar mass with the texture of volcanic pumice, the colour of which is determined by the colour of the sugar syrup.
Spun Sugar
Sugar syrup is made into long extremely thin strands which can be shaped to make things like birds’ nests. The sugar is gathered on a fork or a special tool designed for spinning sugar and is flicked in long strokes over succeeding pipes.
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Sugar Work!

Sugar sculpture is the art of producing artistic centerpieces entirely composed of sugar and sugar derivatives. There are many competitions that include sugar sculpture, and popular television networks, such as Food Network, televise many of these events.
Sugar showpieces can be composed of several different types of sugar elements. All begin with cooking sugar, and possibly an acidic agent and/or non-sucrose sugar product to avoid unwanted crystallization, to the hard crack stage, around 300 °F (149 °C).
When all components are completed, they are welded together using a gas torch. The sugar is melted, and then joined together.
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Types of Chocolate

Chocolate and cocoa are derived from cocoa or cacao beans. When the beans are fermented, roasted, and ground, the resulting product is called chocolate liquor, which contains a white or yellowish fat called cocoa butter.
Cocoa
Cocoa is the dry powder that remains after part of the cocoa butter is removed from chocolate liquor. Dutch process cocoa, or dutched cocoa, is processed with an alkali. It is slightly darker, smoother in flavour, and more easily dissolved in liquids than is natural cocoa.
Natural cocoa is somewhat acidic. When it is used in such products as cakes, it is possible to use baking soda (which reacts with acid) as part of the leavening power.
Dutched cocoa, on the other hand, is generally neutral or even slightly alkaline. Therefore, it does not react with baking soda. Instead, baking powder is used as the sole leavening agent. If you are substituting dutched for natural cocoa, you must increase the baking powder by 1 ounce for each ½ ounce soda omitted.
If not enough soda is used in chocolate products, the colour of the finished product may range from light tan to dark brown, depending on the quantity used. If too much is used, the colour will be reddish brown. This colour is desired in devil’s food cakes but it may not want in other products. When switching from one kind of cocoa to another, you may have to adjust the soda in your recipes.
Unsweetened or Bitter Chocolate
Unsweetened chocolate is straight chocolate liquor. It contains no sugar and has strongly bitter taste. Because it is molded in blocks, it is also referred to as block cocoa or cocoa block. It is used to flavour items that have other sources of sweetness.
Unsweetened chocolate is also known as bitter chocolate. Do not confuse this product with bittersweet chocolate, which category of sweetened chocolate with low sugar content.
Sweet Chocolate
Sweet chocolate is bitter chocolate with the addition of sugar and cocoa butter in various proportions. If the percentage of sugar is low, sweetened chocolate may be called semisweet or, with even less sugar, bittersweet. Both of these products must contain at least 35% chocolate liquor, and their sugar content ranges from 35 to 50%. A product labelled sweet chocolate may contain as little as 15% chocolate liquor.
Because sweet chocolate has only half the chocolate content of bitter chocolate, it is usually not economical to add it to products that are already highly sweetened because twice as much will be needed.
Good quality chocolate products – including not only dark chocolate but also milk chocolate and white chocolate – are often called couverture, which means “coating” in French. When couverture is used to coat candies, cookies, and other products, the chocolate must be prepared by a process called tempering.
Milk Chocolate
Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate to which milk solids have been added. It is usually used as a coating chocolate and in various confections. It is seldom melted and then incorporated in batters because it contains a relatively low proportion of chocolate liquor.
Cocoa Butter
Cocoa butter is the fat pressed out of chocolate liquor when cocoa is processed. Its main use in the bakeshop is to thin melted couverture to a proper consistency.
White Chocolate
White chocolate consists of cocoa butter, sugar, and milk solids. It is used primarily in confectionary. Technically, it should not be called chocolate, because it contains no cocoa solids. However, the name white chocolate is in common use.
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The Fault In Our Chocolate

Seizing
Understanding & preventing seizing will eliminate potential catastrophic results.
When moisture/liquid gets in chocolate, it's like oil & water - they don't mix. A drop or two of liquid can cause chocolate to seize (form hard lumps) and become unworkable for dipping.
Always pat wet fruits dry before dipping and always keep tools and utensils dry. I am aware of very experienced chefs ruining a large batch of chocolate by melting in a double boiler and then pouring the melted chocolate directly into the base of a chocolate fountain, without first drying the water from the outside of the double boiler pan. When they pour the chocolate, water drips from the outside of the pan into the chocolate, creating a disaster. Similarly, dipping wet fruit items can result in the chocolate seizing.
Seizing is also caused by overheating the chocolate. Proper melting is done slowly at low temperatures as chocolate is extremely sensitive to rapid temperature changes, such as melting under high or direct heat. Chocolate will melt at around 88°F and will burn at around 125°F (for dark & milk chocolate) and around 120°F for white, so don't be in a hurry to melt it. It's very easy to scorch/burn chocolate - especially white.
Be very careful when melting chocolate - one small burn can cause the entire batch to seize or simply taste and smell awful.
Blooming
Dampness & condensation results in "sugar bloom" - you'll see grains of sugar on the surface of the chocolate.
Excessive heat or cold results in "fat bloom" - you'll see a whitish or gray color on the chocolate.
Blooming (especially "fat bloom") is probably the biggest issue most people have with chocolate. If you haven't melted the chocolate yet and it has bloomed, the final taste will not be affected because when the chocolate is melted, the cocoa butter will be redistributed throughout the chocolate. Fat bloom is simply the cocoa butter separating from the cocoa solids and coming to the surface. Working at proper temperatures and proper storage will prevent blooming.
Storing Chocolate
Before and after it's been melted...store between 55-70°F, ideally with less than 50% humidity. DO NOT refrigerate before or after melting. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT FREEZE! Remember, dampness & condensation results in "sugar bloom" and excessive heat or cold results in "fat bloom."
Odour Absorption
Chocolate absorbs odours. To prevent this from happening do not use a wooden spatula when working with chocolate. It is also important to store your chocolate away from items with strong smells, or your chocolate may begin to smell (and taste) like them!

HOW TO MELT CHOCOLATE TO AVOID PROBLEMS
1) Use only DRY utensils.
2) Don't stir chocolate with a wooden or metal spoon. Use only rubber spatulas that have not been exposed to strong flavours such as tomato sauce or garlic.
3) Stir the chocolate slowly & gently, keeping movement to a minimum.

4) The correct temperature coaxes the very best out of chocolate and prevents issues. Make sure to check the correct melting temperatures for the items you've purchased (they will be included with the directions). Make sure to completely wipe the bottom of the pot before pouring the chocolate, whether into a chocolate fountain, fondue pot, or when making candy.
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How Chocolate Is Made?

The journey from cocoa tree to chocolate bar is not complex, but it requires several steps, each of which requires careful treatment to get the best from the finished product.
Artisan chocolate makers often deal directly with cocoa farmer cooperatives, giving them a say in how the beans are treated from the moment they’re harvested and ensuring the best possible price for cocoa farmers in some of the world’s poorest regions.
Harvesting
The process begins with harvesting. Ripe cocoa pods are harvested twice a year. The harvest times vary from region to region, but the process of turning it into chocolate begins immediately.
The pods are cut open with machetes and the white pulp containing the cocoa beans is scooped out.
Fermenting
The pods and pulp are placed into large wooden containers, where the pulp is allowed to ferment for five to seven days. During the process, the beans are turned to help them ferment more evenly. This is the first stage in developing the flavour of the chocolate, and part of the reason why a farmer can have a direct impact on the quality of the finished chocolate.
Drying
After fermentation, the next step in the process is to dry the beans. This is usually done by spreading them out into a single layer in the sun. Most beans are transferred into sacks and transported around the world after drying, so in order to prevent mold, it’s important that they’re completely dry at this point.
Roasting
The next step in the process is roasting. This is done by the chocolate maker rather than the farmer. A few chocolate companies make their chocolate at source where it grows, but the hot climate required to grow cocoa makes the chocolate making process more challenging. Most chocolate is made in cooler climates, like Europe or North America.
The process and equipment used to roast the beans vary considerably from chocolate maker to chocolate maker. Some use standard ovens, others have specially made systems designed to rotate the beans and roast as evenly and accurately as possible.
The exact temperature and roast time are part of the chocolate maker’s (often secret) recipe, and will have been worked out with careful experimentation and lots of tasting!
Cracking & Winnowing
The roasted cocoa beans have a thin, papery shell around them which needs to be removed, so at this point in the process, the beans are cracked open and the shell is removed in a process called winnowing. The lighter shells are blown away with fans, leaving behind pieces of pure cocoa bean, known as “nibs”.
Grinding & Conching
The cocoa nibs are ground with stone rollers until they become a paste known as cocoa mass or cocoa liquor. This pure, unrefined form of chocolate contains both cocoa solids (the chocolatey part!) and cocoa butter (the natural fat present in the bean).
Cocoa butter can be extracted from the cocoa mass with a hydraulic press. This is useful because most chocolate makers often use extra cocoa butter to give their chocolate a smoother, glossier texture. Some confectionery manufacturers replace this extra cocoa butter with cheaper vegetable fats, and this is something you should look out for on the ingredients and try to avoid. The only fat in real chocolate is cocoa butter.
Traditionally, the cocoa mass is be transferred to a separate machine called a conch, where it is further refined. Many modern artisans combine the grinding and conching into a single process using a machine called a melanger. This is simply a large metal cylinder with two rotating granite wheels that grind and refine the chocolate into very small particles.
It’s during this process that sugar, milk powder (for milk chocolate) and other flavourings are added to the chocolate.
The conching process can take anything from a few hours to a few days and affects the chemical structure of the chocolate, as well as the particle size. This part of the process has a very big impact on the flavour notes in the finished chocolate, and deciding exactly how long to conch for is part of the chocolate maker’s skill.
Tempering
Great chocolate should have a shiny finish and a good “snap” – that clean clicking sound when you break a piece off. These are created by tempering, the controlled process of raising, lowering and raising the temperature of the chocolate to form exactly the right kind of crystals.
If you were to let the untemper chocolate cool naturally, the chocolate would be soft and crumbly and would not melt evenly on the tongue.
Tempering can be done by hand, but the process would be enormously time consuming for the large amounts of chocolate that bar manufacturers have to work with, so most use tempering machines that can heat large quantities of chocolate very accurately.
The tempering machine will keep the melted chocolate circulating at exactly the right temperature, making the final step easier.
Moulding
The final step in making a finished chocolate bar is pouring it into a mould. The melted chocolate is simply poured into plastic bar-shaped moulds and agitated to remove any air bubbles. Larger chocolate makers will have machines and conveyors that deposit exactly the right amount of chocolate into each mould, but many smaller manufacturers still do this part by hand.

Once cooled, the chocolate is wrapped and ready to go!
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History of Chocolate

The cacao tree originated in the western hemisphere, where it grows in tropical climates from northern South America to southern Mexico. Long before the European discovery of the Americas, native peoples, including the Mayas and Aztecs, brewed a bitter, unsweetened beverage from the beans, which they had learned to ferment and dry. The beverages, probably enjoyed hot, were often flavoured with chiles, vanilla, and other ingredients.
Because the cacao tree grew in limited areas, the pods were prized and became objects of trade. They were even used for currency. In addition, they were important in religious ceremonies.
Spanish conquerors at first disliked the bitter, black beverage the natives brewed from cacao, but they soon learned to appreciate it and began carrying cocoa beans back to Europe in the 1500s. Availability was limited at first, but by 1700 cocoa had spread through much of Europe. Its use was still mostly as a beverage, although Europeans found they enjoyed the drink more when it was sweetened. Cocoa was also used as a medicine and as a cooking spice.
In the early 1800s, a Dutchman named van Houten developed a process for removing much of the cocoa butter from raw cocoa, using a powerful press. He also discovered that processing the cocoa with an alkali yielded a milder product with a darker colour. This “dutching” process is still used today for some cocoa.
Van Houten’s inventions enabled the development of modern chocolate manufacturing and the use of chocolate for confections and not just as a beverage. Manufacturers discovered that by adding cocoa butter back to ground cocoa, they could make a smooth paste that hardened into blocks. In 1842, the Cadbury brothers began selling block chocolate in England.
In the 1880s, the Swiss Rudolphe Lindt invented the conching process (described in the text) to make a smoother product. Around the same time, another Swiss, Daniel Peter, created milk chocolate by adding dried milk to the paste. (Dried milk had been invented by Henri Nestlé).
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