Cold Hands, Hard Chocolate

Wednesday was our last Practical for Basic.  It was a very laid-back class since it was after the finals.  Only six out of our group of nine showed up.  We made dark chocolate truffles, white chocolate truffles, and muscadines (milk chocolate and praline truffles).  We split up in pairs and each pair made one of the three.  My partner and I made the muscadines.  We made chocolate to pipe out onto the tray, let them sit in the fridge, covered them with tempered chocolate, and then rolled them in icing sugar. 

You have a very short time to work with the chocolate before it gets too hard to pipe out of the piping bag.  My partner was able to work hers with her hands to warm it up and pipe it.  I did not have that much luck.  I was sqeezing so hard I busted one piping bag and the nozzle busted out of another.  This was even after I tried working it with my hands, but they just weren't warm.  To cover the chocolate with more chocolate we just dipped our hands in the tempered chocolate and rolled the truffles in our hands.  Usually cold hands are a good thing when working with chocolate, but not in this case.  The chocolate hardened on my hands quickly.  It was like wearing chocolate gloves.  It didn't really matter.  I still had a lot of fun in our last class.

Getting messy

White and dark chocolate truffles

Muscadines

Our group with our chef (the one with the tall hat)

Right now I'm in Bern, Switzerland visiting my friends Jill, Tom, and their two and a half year old TJ.  They are expecting another baby in August.  I worked with Jill at Deloitte & Touche in the bay area, seems like years ago.  We were put together as roommates at our new hire orientation and have been friends ever since.  I don't seem them nearly often enough and am thrilled to see them.  They moved to Bern for Tom's job last July and will be heading back to California in June.  We are going to Grindelwald (in the Alps) this afternoon until Monday.  This is the view of Bern from their apartment.