Salted Caramels

I have been craving salted caramels for a while now. Finally late the other night I got around to making them. Caramels take a while to make, so I was in the kitchen a little longer than anticipated. Once they were made I stuck them in the refrigerator for some quick cooling. When I took them out and tried to remove them from the parchment paper I realized they were stuck. Oh no! When I had put the parchment paper into the pan I must have put the wrong side down. It took me a while to to peel them off of the paper. Then, because I had messed up their shape I decided the best thing to do would be to re-melt them, but in a silicone mold rather than in a parchment lined pan. This time they came out perfect. The next day I dipped them in dark chocolate and topped them with a little fleur de sel. They are delicious!

New Flavors

A few weeks ago I made some truffles for a Guerilla Gallery art opening in Harrisonburg. It was put on by a good friend of mine. I did them as "art" along with some photographs of chocolate. The whole gallery was a huge success and my truffles went fast. I should have charged for them, but since it was a free art opening I wanted to be able to provide free truffles as well.

I made a total of 5 kinds of truffles, of which 3 were new flavors. Below are pictures of the new flavors. I was mostly pleased with them, but of course tweaking will be done before I make them again.

(Cinnamon Orange in a mild dark chocolate)

(Ginger Lemongrass in white chocolate)

(Red-wine Rosemary in milk chocolate)

Guerrilla Gallery

Flavors:
Chai Tea, Ginger Lemon-Grass, Espresso, Cinnamon Orange, Red-Wine Rosemary

What a wonderful weekend! Andy and I went back to our hometown this weekend and had such a great time. A good friend of mine created an art show in a vacant building downtown. It was called Guerrilla Gallery and it was up for one night of viewing only. She asked me if I would make some chocolate truffles for the event, so I agreed and then Andy and I decided to make a weekend of it. The truffles turned out great an the art show was fantastic...such talented artists! My friend who put the whole event together actually sold most of her artwork. She rocks! The truffles were also a hit, they were gone with the blink of an eye! Next time I need to put out a questionnaire so I can get some feedback. Overall it was a great time to make connections, get a feel for how my future truffle business will go, see some awesome art, and spend quality time with friends and family.