Discover Chocolate and Live La Vida Cocoa!
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Susan Van Horn
- Female
- Los Angeles, CA
- United States
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Latest Activity
Susan Van Horn replied to George Trejo's discussion Freezing Chocolates"Thanks so much, Lana. Yes, I do put them in a FoodSaver bag, single layer, and then vacuum seal it. This is the information I needed! Perfect!
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Susan Van Horn replied to George Trejo's discussion Freezing Chocolates"Lana ~ When I have vacuum packed my finished rolled chocolates, the "vacuuming" has ended up cracking the shells. Now, I didn't have them in layers in a box, either. I am just wondering if putting them in boxes will help mitigate this…"
Susan Van Horn replied to Sarah Mander's discussion Newbie Help!! - Lots of chocolate questions"That's what I thought. Thanks for confirming.
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Susan Van Horn replied to Sarah Mander's discussion Newbie Help!! - Lots of chocolate questions"Wouldn't the 115° cream take the tempered chocolate out of temper?"
Susan Van Horn replied to Dirke's discussion Equipment for making caramel / recipe"Daniel ~ If you are using a confectionary guitar, does that mean that your caramels a quite soft? I thought that the strings on guitars were too fragile to cut caramels that had some chew to them. And if yours are soft, how do you get them to keep…"
Susan Van Horn replied to Amy T's discussion tempering choc too thick"You're the best for giving me this information. I will use it on my next attempt. Thank you so much. And you, too Brad, for your help."
Susan Van Horn replied to Amy T's discussion tempering choc too thick"Wow. I have a Chocovision Delta and the same thing happens to me. It ends up in a ball after even less than an hour. I have increased temp to 92/93° but it is no help. I have no idea what to do. I was using Callebaut 811 on this try."
Susan Van Horn replied to mary amsterdam's discussion chocoflex for ganache"Ah. Ok. I was wondering how you did it. I make my own so, if anyone knows how to do it that way, let me know. Thanks for your response!
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Susan Van Horn replied to mary amsterdam's discussion chocoflex for ganache"I am curious as to how you manage to fill the molds without the caramel cooling too fast or the caramel in the pan overcooking? I have considered doing this, too, but it seems like I would have one or the other problem with the caramel. Thank you…"
Susan Van Horn left a comment for Mark Heim"Hi Mark, I'm hoping you can help with 2 things since you appear to be well versed in the science of things, and I just can't seem to figure this one out.
!. What do I need to do to get a nice, easy crunch to my toffee? Most of the…"
Ryan left a comment for Susan Van Horn"Susan score the finished product into individual pieces (really only scoring the chocolate itself but be sure to go deep enough that it scratches the surface of the toffee) If you have problems with chocolate adhering try wiping toffee with moist…"
Susan Van Horn left a comment for Ryan"Ok. So just to make sure I understand, you are scoring BOTH the Toffee and Chocolate, right? And when you bend it back to break, it breaks on your cutmarks, correct? That's what I am hoping it does so that I can get same-sized pieces. Thanks so…"
Ryan left a comment for Susan Van Horn"hi susan, my comment about scoring toffee is that you can score it with the point of a knife through the chocolate when the chocolate is slightly tacky (not fully set) and then once it sets fully by folding the piece away from the scoring mark it…"
Profile Information
- Dark, Milk, White?
- Dark, Milk
- Most memorable chocolate experience:
- It used to be the first time I had chocolate lava cake but, now it is the first time I successfully made a beautifully tempered, delicious truffle!
- My favorite chocolate is:
- smooth dark
Comment Wall (14 comments)
- At 1:41pm on October 25, 2012, Ryan said…
Susan score the finished product into individual pieces (really only scoring the chocolate itself but be sure to go deep enough that it scratches the surface of the toffee) If you have problems with chocolate adhering try wiping toffee with moist paper towel before applying chocolate. Hope that helps, good luck.
- At 3:14am on October 23, 2012, Ryan said…
- hi susan, my comment about scoring toffee is that you can score it with the point of a knife through the chocolate when the chocolate is slightly tacky (not fully set) and then once it sets fully by folding the piece away from the scoring mark it will break similar to cutting glass.
- At 2:30pm on August 28, 2012, Joe clark said…
- Took pictures , sent you some I think
- At 10:13pm on July 15, 2012,
PHLChocolate said… Thanks Susan...It's a journey to say the least but one I am enjoying. I am excited, overwhelmed, busy, having fun and many more things all at once. Good luck with you future plans as well!
- At 6:27pm on July 12, 2012,
Andy Ciordia said… Glad to be a guinea pig! I always say if I can help others learn something that caused me headaches and concussions then I'll do it. Wisdom shouldn't take so many bruises to learn from hehe! If by the end of the "toffee project" we can all understand more about this very odd relationship then everyone will have won a great boon that I wasn't able to find anywhere else. :D
- At 5:51pm on April 20, 2012, Debbie Berman said…
THANK YOU.
- At 12:21pm on June 11, 2011,
Craig Boreth said… Hi Susan:
No new news just yet. Hopefully this week.
Craig
- At 2:05pm on April 4, 2011,
Lourdes Paez said… - All the best in this phase, I am also in a similar stage looking for new opportunities and paths to take my business and my love for cacao and chocolate. I am involved with many cacao growers in Ecuador, so if you need beans in the future let me know. enjoy this time
- At 8:57pm on April 3, 2011,
Dan Corson said… hi Susan.
We are still a few years out for full production on our cacao farm. Our first trees have just come into full ripeness- but that is couple of years early. We have 1/3 forestero and 2/3 trinatario. I am trying to start up a cacao-growers cooperative in our area of the Hamakua (N. of Hilo on the Big Island). We are already selling some beans through our friend Tom Sharkey, but are looking to expand with others in this geographically similar area so we can brand the beans that have a similar terroir. Once I get up our website, I will send it off to the group.
So you are a chocolate maker in LA? What part? I assume you have a shop?
aloha,
Dan
- At 5:14pm on April 2, 2011, Lourdes Paez said…
- thanks for the advice, are you a chocolate maker?
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