Glad to meet ya, 2019!

Hoodoggers, my Turtle Peeps, I find myself once again overdue!
Happy New Year.  Happy Valentine's Day!
I guess I just sort of slid through November-January without a blink.  Things do get a bit hectic....

Christmas Eve, 1 minute after we opened the doors.  It was like a rock concert!

It was an amazing Fall, busy and fun, tasty treats flying out of our Gloucester and Salem shops.  We just have the best people in both shops behind the counter right now; I'm thankful daily.

In most recent chocolate holiday news,  Valentine's Day is fast approaching.  Amy and Brandy from our shop on Derby Street in Salem  just had a fabulous time at Salem So Sweet, an annual event that has grown so very much since we first did it 15 years ago, really great to see it has become such an event!

Here in the salt mines in Gloucester, we're making things as sweet and foofy as possible, which for all my cranky exterior, I love love LOVE.

I'll pretty much put hearts on anything.  Oreos, for instance.

In the world of not-about-Valentine's Day, I'm excited that we have a couple of new turtles in dark chocolate.  I really really like pistachios, always have.  It's been hard to find a really great pistachio out there that is affordable, fresh and delicious, but at long last, we have.  Say hey to our dark chocolate Pistachio  Turtle, as well as our dark chocolate Cherry Pistachio Turtle.  We just couldn't decide which one was better, so we made both.  They are both selling equally as well, so there it is.  So far only one person has asked about milk chocolate.  What say you, Blog folk?  Yes or No?

I anxiously await some feedback on this.  We are running out of space in our cases, making it necessary to use the limited space we have wisely.

For now, though, I'll be making Valentines.  Lots of them.  All sorts of shapes and colors.  Come see us!  If you come on Valentine's Day proper, I can guarantee you it will NOT be just men, and that we will be open an extra hour that night.  See you in the Alley!

PS:  don't forget to click on highlighted words.  There are fun links lurking behind them!

xxx

Try, Try Again...

I've been making chocolate professionally for about 25 years.  It's not a big fat brag, it's just what I do.  You'd think I'd have it down by now. That's what I think most of the time.

I've had it in my head to bring back an old favorite, Figaro, to the shop.  It's been in my head for a few months now.  I just could never find the time, it seemed. I realized at the start of the week that in fact, that wasn't true.

I was nervous.

I hadn't made it in years, maybe a decade.  I have shadowy memories of it only being partially successful.  After I had made it a few times, I still didn't feel like I owned the recipe.  It harshed my candyland mellow, and eventually I dropped it from our repertoire.

I'm old enough that I don't like not being an expert at my job.

I've got a birthday coming.  Such stupid thoughts in the face of another ring around the sun, said I!

I got all the ingredients last week, and then I put it off again, until just yesterday.  I'll tell you what: when I flubbed the first batch, I wasn't surprised at all.  Not a whit! Don't get me wrong, it was super tasty.  Just wrong.  In lots of ways.

So pretty. So wrong.

After retreating into my office to do some non-threatening paperwork, I thought about it some more. Double checking my math, my ratios.
The thing about making a mistake in chocolate (especially Figaro), is that it's costly, and I dislike wasting money almost as much as not being an expert. Double whammy, mammy, get on your horse and ride!

And so I did.

Figaro?  You're MINE now.

Second time was a charm, but the best part of the whole process was having a laugh at myself and who I think I am sometimes.  It's got me all jazzed up to make some more mistakes.  We're just heading into a fairly predictable summer season; there's plenty of time and space to work on some new ideas.

Or maybe just make some of the things I love best.

Did I ever tell you how much I love torrone?

Stay tuned.  Who knows what could happen next.

xxx
your flawed, but devoted, chocolatier.

Summer See Ya

Oh, Summer, must you leave so soon?!

Even though Labor Day is late this year, summer is slinking off before our very eyes.  Our student employees are getting ready to go back to school, the light is changing, thoughts turn to fall flavors.

Cider Caramels, hooray!

I had some really good luck with a new recipe for wrapped cider caramels, so that's exciting, and a nice change from pumpkin spice everything that we see come September.  I for one, have always loved autumn the best, but after last year's winter, the summer has been too sweet to let go of quite yet.

Let's cling to the last week of summer with a guilty pleasure recipe, shall we?  We're dipping into my recipe book, Turtle, Truffle, Bark!  for this one, so keep in mind, the recipe for tempering chocolate can be found in Master Recipe One.

                                   


 Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Bark

Can you say guilty pleasure?!

 Layer upon layer of childhood memories and guilty pleasures here!  Milk chocolate pairs with peanut butter in a most irresistible way, without a doubt.  If you're a dark chocolate purist, go right ahead.  To  my palate, though, the sweetness of milk chocolate and the saltiness of the peanut butter really complement each other well.  To really send this over the top, I stir in puffed rice cereal into the bark and then sprinkle with salt.  You can make this without the rice cereal, but why would you want to do that?                                                                                                                                     

What You'll Need:

1 sheet parchment paper
1/2 cup scoop of peanut butter
2 lbs. tempered milk chocolate
1/2 cup puffed rice cereal
2 pinches large flake salt
offset spatula, or a silicon spatula
chef's knife

Lay out the parchment paper.

Stir peanut butter into the tempered chocolate, incorporating fully, then fold in puffed rice cereal.

Pour chocolate mixture on the center of the parchment paper.

With your spatula, spread the chocolate out on the parchment.  Keep the thickness uniform (1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick).

Using your hand (a vinyl glove is nice on that hand!), drag your fingers through the chocolate to evenly distribute the cereal.  Sprinkle salt lightly across the top of the bark (Go easy -- a little goes a long way.)

When it's just set, but not wet looking, cut the bark with a chef's knife.  Start the cut with the tip of the knife and rock the rest of the blade into the bark.  Remove from the chocolate and continue.  If there's too much chocolate buildup on your  knife, wash it off, rinsing with cold water.  Make sure the knife is completely dry before cutting into the chocolate again.

Best scarfed up within 2 weeks of storage in an airtight container.

Here's to the rest of summer!!

PS:  favorite chocolate right now:  dark mocha truffle

PPS: currently butchering NOTHING on the uke.  Too busy!