Valentine’s Day was over in a flash this year! Once again I was fortunate enough to have the help of Alexis during this busy season. We were hard at work in the kitchen for two straight weeks making the freshest chocolates possible. Although we still managed to squeeze in a few events leading up to the big day!
Hi Everyone!
Sorry I have been mia for quite a while. Lucky for us we made it through another strong and steady Holiday season! I was busy in the kitchen making over 3000 truffles and other sweets, so writing went to the back burner.
After some much needed R&R with friends and family in the New Year I am back and I have so much to talk about!
We are very blessed that 2009 was a good year for us here at Lady Chocolatier and for that I would like to take a moment to reflect on some of our best accomplishments.
2645 Main Street Santa Monica
They also have a full stocked pastry case of muffins scones and other Italian pastries
Her Italian inspired cafe’ menu features sandwiches, salads and fresh hearty homemade soup, made daily.
She also makes THE BEST Chai Latte’, my favorite to warm me up on a cool Fall day.
Milk Chocolate Lolly's
As I mentioned in my previous post about the LA Chocolate Salon, I was quick to purchase chocolates that I thought were particularly good for further tasting. In the heat of the moment, with all of the excitement things sometimes taste better. Things I look for in chocolate awesomeness are appearance, taste and texture. I enjoy bright colored designs with sleek surfaces. The outer shell should have a crisp snap encasing a smoother ganache center. We don’t want any crumbly, grainy chocolates. The taste is of course most important! I don’t like the flavor to knock me out and over power the taste of the chocolate itself. My two favorite Chocolatiers from last year remained my favorites once again. These two are categorized to me, best truffles, from the show. They also happen to win first and second place awards at the show, not just according to me.
This past Sunday I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the third annual Los Angeles Chocolate Salon. This event, held at the Pasadena convention center brings together chocolate lovers of all walks of life. About 40 different vendors mostly from the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas share their love for making chocolate with those who love to eat it! I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to do some much needed research on trends in the industry. To make it even more fun I asked some of my best girl friends to come along with me and after a little arm twisting, they agreed.
These simple Chocolate Martinis are a great way to end any party! You can even have them in place of dessert. I recommend using cute 2 or 3oz. martini glasses, because with this chocolate sensation; a little goes a long way! Simple ingredients include chocolate liqueur and vodka. I like to take it up a notch with the addition of vanilla liqueur; others prefer to use vanilla vodka instead. The beauty of this drink is that you have to freedom to make it as strong and/or as chocolaty as you’d like. Play with the ingredients choosing your favorite brands of spirits or adventure to new ones. Then on to the garnish, to dress it up I went with dark chocolate swirls on the glass. You can get creative with this as well, riming the glass with chocolate syrup and then sugar, or floating white chocolate shavings.
After months, years of wanting and contemplating the wait is over. The task of buying an airbrush is finally done! I feel sort of silly having waited so long but I guess the timing wasn’t right until now. This was really a very easy thing to do and inexpensive as well. Who knew?
The Gun- Badger Mini Spray Gun Set
A mere $25, plus shipping! This set includes: the gun, 1 jar for paint, air hose, regulator, and a 7 oz. can of compressed air to start with. The scalehobbyist.com has a great price on propel air. I will continue to used this for small production and eventually upgrade to an air compressor when necessary.
Well here are the first of many wine parings to come! Whoever said chocolate and white wine can’t mix? Milk chocolate compliments many types of fruit such as peach, apple, and lemon. These same fruits are included in the flavor profiles of many white wines. When pairing a wine with chocolate it is key to use a chocolate that has been infused with one of the flavor elements of the wine. I have found the following three parings to be quite successful, each of these truffles are flavors that I associate with summer.
Gerhard Riesling, Germany
When I first decided to make homemade Marshmallows I automatically hit a road block: Gelatin. My first thought was, man, this stuff smells bad! Then I took a trip down memory lane back to high school, when my good Vegan friend told me exactly what gelatin is and why we should not eat it. “It’s ground up animal bones!” Nuf said. I wasn’t about to go Vegan but ground up animal bones, really? Holy cow!
I use inverted sugar mostly for my ganache, which is used for truffle centers. The main purpose of this is to extend the shelf life without adding preservatives. But, it also helps the centers maintain a nice balance of a firm consistency and creaminess. A few people have asked questions regarding what this is and how to get it. I must first explain the composition of regular sugar to help fully understand what inverted sugar is.
The Science of Sugar
