Pecan Buttercrunch

2/6/18 In Chocolate Artistry Class, we prepared Pecan Buttercrunch. The components for this confection include Toffee, Tempered Dark Chocolate, Kosher salt, and toasted pecans.


All photos: https://animoto.com/play/ADepOlD8XyJng23PNO00cA

Simple ingredients for toffee

Chefs demos

We begin

Cook and stir

Toffee

Dark Chocolate Toppings

Packaged

Cranberry pistachio white chocolate bark

Bereavement Meal

2/9/18 Make Sweet Potato Rolls on 2/3 for a bereavement meal for a church member. Edith was a fun and lively friend. She has been ill for many years and hasn't been to church very often, but she will be missed.

2/9/18 Cook's Books from the CCC Library

2/9/18


Here is a very detailed guide for making chocolate confections at home by Carole Bloom. The book opens with technique and ingredients information. Then there are chapters for Truffles, Chocolate Candies, Caramel Candies, Nut Brittles and Marzipan, Fudge, Nougat and Divinity, and Fruit Candies. As with many older books (1992 edition), there were very few photos and illustrations.




Another book by Carole Bloom, The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices, and Other Ingredients is large in scope (645 pages), with much detailed information. This is an excellent resource for a large variety of recipes and baking info organized by ingredient. As with the previous book, I rely upon photos and illustrations for bakes I have not prepared before.

 

A small jewel of a book about chocolate. The book opens with a history of chocolate and a description of how it is processed. There are a small variety of chocolate recipes from Chocolate Facials to Mole to Truffles. The history was especially helpful.


With 4,800 baking and pastry terms and definitions from all over the world, lose no time searching for baking terms. Who knew bakers and pastry chefs have a patron saint: Saint Honoré. All those times fretting over baking outcomes, I could have been praying to our patron saint. What is the difference between a gateau or torte? Here is a quick reference for information for that obscure term. Knowledge is power!!