Chocolate and Caramel 8-28-2007

I no longer fear cooking sugar. For some strange reason the idea of cooking molten hot liquid always frightened me. Really, It’s not so scary, you disolve sugar in water and wait, and wait and wait until the boil slows and color starts to come into play. Then it’s a matter of moments before the sweet unmistakable flavor of caramel turns bitter and burnt. I’m going to make caramels this weekend. Ir really requires very little work besides the tending and of course the necessary patience. I love the P & B program. It’s my most exciting adventure yet!

I still need to practice tempering chocolate, yes chocolate has a temper. Gabbie, one of my WCI pals, did an awesome job tempering the chocolate, it developed that lovely sheen, it had a nice snap, and oh yes, those fats were happy! I still want to have a love affair with chocolate, and I’m going to… Shhh. Don’t tell Andrew! We had the opportunity of tasting a dozen different chocolates. Some were ho-hum, some had definate under tones that ranged from earthy/spicy to fruit/ wine-fermented. I discovered a new thing that I really enjoy, cocoa butter. It’s practically flavorless, but it’s silky smooth and leaves a cooling effect on you tongue. I imagine I will play pretty well with that medium.