I slept fitfully last night – probably from eating WAY too much sugary stuff the day before – and woke up at 4:45am. I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I got up and started working on chocolates. So far I’ve completed the prune-port-cinnamon-honey-white chocolate centers (to die for), and the ginger-lime (excellent, but could be a little more strongly lime-flavored). I have the saffron and the orange spice infusions ready to go, but need to temper some dark chocolate before I can finish them off. And the fig-cognac is waiting in the wings.
I have altered my plans somewhat. I botched the first set of dark chocolate molds, and have consequently lost my patience with the whole affair. So I am not going to use molds at all this year. Instead, I’m going to make all the truffles as dipped chocolates, and use a variety of shapes and chocolate transfer sheets to distinguish them. This makes hash out of my carefully prepared schedule (sic transit gloria mundi), so I’m “winging it” from here on out.
The main change this makes to my plans is that I now have to prepare my centers a day in advance, because it takes about half a day for them to get firm enough to cut. So I am focusing, for now, on mixing up tomorrow’s flavors, about seven of them. Then I will cut and dip the seven flavors I mixed up yesterday. Friday I will dip the prepared centers from today, and then mix up seven more flavors to be dipped on Saturday. Saturday I will dip the remaining chocolates and then run out on several errands, like buying ribbons for the boxes, Christmas cards to send with chocolates. Then Sunday morning I’ll take photos and put together my chocolates “index” (the insert that goes with the boxes and explains what flavor is what), and get together with friends to pack the boxes up for shipment. I’m really looking forward to the next few days! It promises to be an adrenaline thrill and very chocolatey, and what more could a girl ask for?
And now, the centers have probably “set” enough for me to move them to trays, so I’m going to scurry off and do the next three batches. Then I get to start dipping, hooray!
Photos later today, once the first batch get dipped…
