How to temper chocolate

Last year before christmas a friend told me you could make your own pralines at home. Before, I had made round pralines of different kinds of truffles, but this was different - she informed me about praline molds. In other words, plastic forms in different shapes that use use a special method to fill to get perfect pralines that look store bought! I absolutely loved it, so I bought two praline molds from chokladgallerian.se. (Another tip is pralinformar.se or just using ebay)
Then I started experimenting with mixed results. So now, this Christmas, of course I'm experimenting with new flavors again. I have already made a batch of heart shaped pralines that turned out really good! I'm going to give you the recipe later, but first to prepare you for the upcoming praline recipes you need to first know how to temper chocolate!

So what is tempering chocolate you ask? Well it's a method of preparing the chocolate before making pralines. By tempering chocolate it gives it that smooth shiny surface that is so typical of pralines, and also in contrast to untempered chocolate it won't melt instantly when held in a warm hand - making sure to prevent a messy experience.

At first when I heard of tempering I expected it to be hard or that you needed special equipment of some sort that only professionals could handle, but it's actually not that hard and the only "special equipment" you need is a thermometer.

So what do you need?

♥ Chocolate (of any color and quality)
♥ A bowl
♥ A pot of hot water and a stove
♥ A thermometer that can show temperatures between 20-60 °C
♥ A spoon for stirring.


Not much right? So let's begin tempering! :)

I used white chocolate from Fantasy for tempering this chocolate (which I also used to make the shells for the pralines, but I will show you how to make chocolate shells for pralines another time).  It's a great chocolate that usually is kind of expensive, but since I bought is at ÖB (a special store that sells left over product from companies who have produced more than the grocery stores want to buy from them) I got them at a cheap price :)

When you have chosen your chocolate break it into pieces and put it into a bowl. You are going to melt the chocolate and heat it up to a certain degree, then cool it down so the chocolate crystallizes, and then finally heat it up slightly to work temperature. This is the process called "tempering". But the temperatures are a little different depending on what type of chocolate it is. 

♥ Dark Chocolate Is supposed to be heated to 50-55°C, cooled down to 27-28°C, and then once again heated up to a working temperature of 31-32°C.

♥ Milk Chocolate is heated up to 45-50°C, cooled down to 26-27°C, and then heated up again to a working temperature of 29-30°C.

♥ White Chocolate is heated up to 45-50°C, cooled down to 25-26°C, and then heated up to a working temperature of 28-29°C.

Since I used white chocolate the pictures will reflect the temperatures of white chocolate tempering.

 

 After breaking the chocolate into a bowl put it on top of a pot of hot water on the stove and stir until the chocolate melts. Keep track of the chocolates temperature with a thermometer.

Since I used white chocolate, I wanted to heat the chocolate up to 40-45°C. Be careful not to overheat! Once the chocolate has begun to warm up it easily rises in temperature. If you overheat the chocolate it will go bad, become crumbly and unusable!

 After heating up the chocolate you now need to cool it. It can be done in several ways. One way is to spread out the chocolate on a clean marble table top (it's what professionals use). Now if you don't have a marble table top at home you can put your bowl into a sink of cold water and stir the chocolate around in the bowl. (Be careful not to let any water into your chocolate, getting a few drops of water in the chocolate won't ruin it, but it will have a dappled appearance of different shades when it dries.) You can also add room tempered chocolate to the bowl and stir as this also cools down the chocolate. Keep once again track of the thermometer until the chocolate cools to the goal temperature.

When you've cooled down the chocolate to the desired temperature you need to once again reheat it, though this time it's only to working temperature which is only a few degrees higher than the crystallization temperature, it is therefore important to keep track of the thermometer. If you heat up the chocolate higher than the specified temperature the tempering will be useless and you have to redo the whole process from the beginning! Chocolate can be tempered as many times as you want to, so you do not have to worry about ruining the chocolate if you make a mistake, but it will take time to redo so keep an extra eye out for the last heating of the chocolate as the temperature rises very suddenly and very quickly!

After doing this you are finished with tempering your chocolate and you may now use it for making  praline shells or other baking where you want tempered chocolate.

As you noticed it's not very hard, but i required constant supervision when heating up the chocolate as it is a very precise process.

Next time I will show you the pralines I made with this tempered chocolate and of course give you the lovely recipe <3

//Wayu


   

Lussebullar

Yesterday i finally managed to go to bed earlier than usual, and though i didn't wake up well rested i actually got out of bed on only one snooze and managed to get to class on time even though i had to get up at eight. Now the rest of my classes and seminars and finally the test next week will all be early ones so i will try to keep this earlier rythm even though i'm dead tired.
Even though i'm so tired from the lack of sleep i've still somehow managed to get into a pretty good do-stuff rythm, well at least with baking and house stuff - schoolwork not so much.
But i have made another batch of knäck, this time with chocolate flavor! :)

I've also managed to clean my room (though it all went to hell yesterday when i received my huge package and had to build it together and stuff), write two complain mails to companies about money issues (one has given me too litle money in return, the other has taken too much money from my account in a transaction), wash my clothes, and even tempered a batch of white chocolate and made shells for my first batch of pralines :) (i will write a guide later on how to temper chocolate and make shells for pralines)
It's been a really good roll and now i'm even at the gym and getting ready for a work out, then i have to go grocery shopping for the last week here in örebro before christmas! :)
Today, as i mentioned above, i managed to get to class on time, well when we came we got a post it from the teacher, wrote our name and then were parted into small groups. We were then supposed to switch notes with eachother and write one good thing about the person on the post it.
So when it was done this was my note:

(the picture says "happy, fun and good company", "spreads joy", "don't know at all but very cute", and "way too fun to be in stockholm so often")
The one who didn't know me at all is a new girl, i'm guessing she's only here for this course though.
Either way it made me happy :D
At break time our school also gave out "lussebullar"(a swedish saffron bun that you eat at lucia), ginger snaps and some candy :) and we of course gracefully accepted! ;)

All in all it's been a great day so far, let's hope it continues this way :)
//Wayu

Wayu the carpenter

Today at school I was teacher for the class.
To explain this, let's begin by explaining that right now I'm reading a prevention course. In other words, how to prevent mental illness and promote mental well being. This is done for example by scientifically tried exercises for children and adolescents that teach them about empathy, self-awareness, morals and so on. It was one of those lessons that I today held together with one of my classmates. You see, next term we're going to practice this for real by going out to schools and teaching the classes from a prevention perspective. So, before going out to a real class, we try it out in a trial environment - the classroom. So, today my classmates were pretending to be a bunch of 14 year olds and I was supposed to lead them through a 20 minute exercise. A few of them decided to be real bitchy about it and went all rouge teenager on us haha! ;). I don't mind though, I handled it alright and it's actually really good practice. After all - there's usually at least one child in every class who's a bit of a trouble maker and when we hold an exercise for real we need to be able to handle the children who will make it hard for us. And it's usually the trouble makers who needs our presence there the most, so it's all good.

Thankfully, the exercise went well with only a few minor problems. I have stage fright so standing in front of the class is really scary, but I also know it's something I need to work on. After all, It's not nearly as bad as it used to be as I've practiced on it. :)

Right before I went to school I got a big package delivery weighing 17.5 kg according to the box ;) So, when I got home I decided to open it and start building! I have after all been waiting for this package!!

 So this is the package I received! If you read on it you might get a clue what it is ;) But when It's all fixed up and I've removed all the remaining packaging and placed it in it's right place I will take a few pictures and show this utter beauty that I got at such a bargain price! (I will tell you how much, where and what it is later)

Building instruction and a preview of what it is in the package ;)

Another sneak peek. A close view of the key and lock.

Now I will keep building and stop showing you sneak peeks! I can't wait until it's finally done and I can put it up! :)

For now I will let you guess what it is! I promise you that even with the sneak peeks and clues in the pictures it will be hard to guess exactly what it is! It might look normal at first, but there's a secret with it that made me buy it!

So what do you think it is? ;)

//Wayu

what's been happening lately

Now, as you might have noticed my blog have been a little empty for two days now, well, that's simply because when I wanted to write, I was too busy, and when I wasn't busy I didn't feel like writing. It happens from time to time.

Well either way I'll tell you what's been happening lately :)
First of all me, Robert and my dad had decided to go climbing on sunday, so Robert and I were on our way to meet up with my dad when Robert got a text from his friend at school. Apparently he was invited to go to the Nobel Night Cap (The after party to the Nobel prize dinner and ceremony) and was very excited. I however have never really been very interested in fancy dinners and parties so when it turned to be on a school night (On monday night, meaning I would with travels and all miss both my obligatory seminar on monday, and my lesson on tuesday + miss my last chance to interview a classmate - a very important homework for the course) I declined. After telling my family and friends a few thought I was pretty crazy to turn down the nobel price party, even if it was only the nightcap. Maybe I was, after listening to the experience robert had, it seemed pretty fun. Yet, for me it would never be an experience of a lifetime as it seems to be for robert. :)

Either way, it seems he had fun but he was a little off in his own world the entire sunday as he tried to plan who else to bring as I wasn't coming, and where to rent a tuxedo, rearranging his schedule and so on. The only time he relaxed and thought of something else was when we went climbing with my dad.

Robert climbing one of the easier bouldering walls (you're supposed to only follow one color, in this case  - yellow) as he showed us how to do it.

Robert have been climbing for a while now and have received some kind of certificate so he could teach us a little. We tried a climbing style called "bouldering" which is when you climb without the safety lines. Of course, you don't climb on very high walls as you don't have a safety line if you should fall - the walls were never higher than about three-four meters. It sounds like it would be easy, but it wasn't. The walls weren't always flat and finding a place to put your hands and feet weren't always easy. And we didn't even try out the really hard ones!

The hardest walls. They were of course climbed only by professionals with safety lines, and got to see some climb it - it was truly awesome!

Unfortunately it wasn't all fun and games - we also had an accident. My dad got a bit stuck with one foot as he jumped off one of the walls, and so he landed poorly on his other foot - causing him to sprain it. At the time, we didn't get any ice (we were actually offered it but my dad said he didn't need it. He's pretty stubborn) as it seemed like my dad was fine, he could move the foot and walk on it. He even kept climbing. It seemed like it was fine - but yesterday I got a call from mom saying they had been to the emergency room as his foot had swelled up and turned blue. And yes, it was sprained. So now, he will have to rest for two weeks - something which is hell for my very athletic father (he works out every day - and often more than once a day). But thankfully it was not broken!

Our little cozy dining table while we were putting everything on the table.

After our climbing we went home to eat a nice Sunday dinner with my family and it was really good! I believe it was pork fillet and jasmine rice with a delicious cranberry infused cream sauce. Unfortunately it was way to good for me to wait to take a picture before it was all gone haha!

Ah, what can I say? I guess it happens ;)

//Wayu

Christmas concert

Yesterday me and robert met up with his mom, her friend and roberts little sister to go see a christmas concert called "The show of christmas". Robert's mom is very nice and treated us on dinner and the concert last year and also this year. It's a nice experience, though we were all a little disappointed as the show this year was not nearly as good as last year.

First of all it was supposed to be a christmas show, but even though the consert was over two hours, there were only a few christmas songs. The rest were new and old pop hits from swedish artists - overall not very christmasy. :p  They also had trouble with the sound and the mics through the entire show, which was a shame.

Even though it didn't give us the christmasy feeling we were expecting it was still very nice! We ate dinner and talked about recent events and last years show, then we ventured to "globen" (The globe) where the show was held. On our way there we were treated to a cup of "glögg" - a swedish hot christmas beverage, that tastes kind of like hot juice, with almonds and raisins. It's a very traditional swedish christmas beverage and to us swedes it smells like christmas. While we were standing in line and drinking our glögg outside in the cold there was a small performance for us. It was a man in uniform doing poi. He used a stick with fire on both ends, swinging it around with dance-like movements.

In the end we got in and watched the performance. And even though it had some difficulties with the sound it was nice and fun. And the few christmas songs that they  played got the entire crowd going, singing along and lighting up our phones. Yes, our phones. At one point one of the artists asked the crowd to light up our phones and use them as candles to get some christmas spirit. It looked really beautiful, in a few seconds the consert hall went from a black nothingness into a great black starry sky.

The view from our side of the consert hall when everyone lit up their phones. Really spectacular and beautiful. It's a shame it's not captured too well on the camera though.

The stage as the audience were lighting up there phones.

We were actually playing a little bit with two people on the other side. Obviously we couldn't see them, only the light of their phones but when we moved our lights from side to side, their lights did too, and when we moved our lights up and down, their lights followed. So from time to time we played around with eachother when the show wasn't as thrilling.

After the show we talked some more before we went our separate ways, but all in all it was a great evening, and hopefully we will do it again next year. After all, dinner, family, friends and a christmas concert is a pretty winning combination ;)

//Wayu

Swedish x-mas candy - knäck

So i told you before that i would make a swedish caramel like candy called "knäck" right? Well i did, and i will also give you the Way too easy recipe for something this delicious!

I also like to make my knäck with different flavor combinations. Original knäck is with almond flavor and that's the original recipe i will give you, but i will also give few flavour suggestions that i have tried over the years ;)

Okay so here's what you need:
~~~~~~~~~
1dl sugar
1dl cream
1dl baking syrup
20 almonds
A little bit of butter

A deep bowl that can handle the microwave.
"Knäck" forms
~~~~~~~~~

It's a really easy recipe as you can see, and also very easy to remember!

Now you should begin by chopping the almonds into pieces and putting out the knäck forms on a platter.

Then you should start measuring up the three main ingredients: sugar, cream and syrup and put them into your microwave safe bowl. Mix them together.

Now you should put the bowl in the microwave for about 9 minutes. Remember, pretty much nothing happens the first minutes, but the last minute or so is crucial so keep an eye on it :)

Test to see if it's done by using the "ball test" (dripping a little bit of the mixture into ice cold water and then see if you can make a ball of it, if you can - then it's done. f you can't - put it back in the microwave).

When it's done, put in your chopped almonds and the secret ingredient for succes: a little bit of butter. (it makes the paper forms not stick to the knäck for easy removal when eating). Mix it all together and start dripping the knäck into the forms. You will need to be fast as the knäck will stiffen as it gets to room temperature. If it gets too stiff just put it back in the microwave for a few seconds and go at it again.

And then, voila! Wonderul, delicious swedish knäck!


Tips from experience:

♥ When putting the paper forms on a platter dab a bit of water on the plate, the form will stick to the plate until it dries, minimizing the spilt knäck when the thin paperforms fall over.

♥ Use a really big bowl. At least four to five times more than what you put in should fit in it as it will multiply in volume when it boils.

♥ If you're worried, protect your microwave from the cleaning by putting a plate underneath the bowl in the microwave, if it spills it will all fall on the plate - not the microwave floor. But be careful when you remove the plate! 9 minutes in a microwave will leave it scalding hot!


Flavouring tips:

As i mentioned before i like to flavour my knäck with other things than almonds. Here's a few of my favourites! (instead of the almonds)

♥ Chocolate knäck - add some cocoa powder and a little bit more cream.

♥ Citrus knäck - add a little splash of lemon juice.

♥ Coconut knäck - add coconut instead of the almonds

You can mix in pretty much anythig instead of the almonds :)

Try it!

//Wayu

Delivery from mom

Yesterday when i got home, this is what i found on the hall table.

The small package is something fun i've been trying out and will give a review on shortly! Let's just say it's a service that sends you small packages of something good for now ;)
The bigger package is not as fun.
Maybe you remember that one of my shoes were starting to break and none of the shoe makers in Örebro could fix it? Well, when i was in stockholm this weekend i went to my shoemaker in stockholm to get it fixed, and he of course accepted it and fixed it for a cheap price! My mom was supposed to go and get them for me on saturday so i could wear them back to örebro on sunday, unfortunately, she forgot :p so instead she went and got them on monday and sent them to me by mail. And well, that's what the big package is, my gorgeous shoes all fixed and whole again <3

That wasn't the most fun packae delivery, but i will recieve some fun stuff the following weeks. I ordered a few things from groupon a few weeks ago and so they should be arriving in the following weeks :) <3

//Wayu

Help me choose a new coat for winter

It's getting freakishly cold here in sweden (yesterday, it was minus 16 degrees celcius!) and i still haven't bought myself a new winter coat. I have my old black wool coat that I bought when I was in the gymnasium, but it's getting old and has tears in it. It's time to get a new one. Now, I looked around on the Internet at my favorite boutiques, but I didn't find anything that was just... right. So I had an idea. Maybe I can find a cute coat on ebay?

Well, search and ye shall find! I found a gold mine! For about the same price as a new wool coat at the internet stores of the west, you can find extremely cute and classy wool coats that are CUSTOM MADE in the east! Hallelujah!

Now the bigger problem here is... what to choose, what to choose? With so many cute ones, how can one pick? I decided I will put up a few of them and so maybe, you guys can help me pick? ^-^

Entry number one! (This is kinda like a coat pageant lol!)

The first one is an adorable light gray-brown double breasted coat with white lace and a brown bow.

 

The second one comes in two great colors that I like. It's a beautiful coat with a wide skirt and a small cape with fake fur and of course a pretty neck-bow. (Note that the muff on the picture unfortunately does not come with the coat)

 The third one is a cream white lacy double breasted coat with a lot of bows and cuteness :)

 And the last one is a grey patterned double breasted coat with black details, a small cape and a neck bow.

So what do you think? Which one would suit me best? And keep in mind that I have the cute bow hat of doom that somehow should fit :)

Side note: All the pictures in this post are borrowed from ebay.com, from a seller called Lolita4321, I do not own any of the pictures. I you are interested in any of the above items, visit the sellers ebay page by clicking here.

//Wayu

Sweaty and happy

My work out has been a little off lately, i have been doing a little yoga at home, but i started missing cardio and the gym. So, today i went to the gym after class and ran on the treadmill, did some strength and even a little yoga and stretch. Tomorrow i will do some yoga at home before class, and then on wednesday i'll hit my favourite body balance class at the gym! That ought to kickstart my work out routine again!

Sweaty and happy after the cardio

//Wayu

Winter wonderland

It's been snowing pretty much nonstop this weekend, and today it finally let up and the sun came out. Today would have been a perfect day for skiing or ice skating. Usually i'm not much for it, but today was such a nice day that i would have gone for it. I might have to make someone go ice skating with me next weekend, haha ;)
Right now i'm on my way to my parents place for the usual sunday dinner. And on my way to the train i took some pictures of the beautiful winter wonderland that sweden has become over the weekend.

But it's only lunch time, Why am i going to sunday dinner so early you ask? Well, it's getting closer to christmas so we need to start baking!

This year i'm in örebro until the 21st so there won't be much time to bake when i get back. In other words, we have to start now!
I believe i will bake the first batch or so of swedish "knäck" today - a delicious kind of almond flavoured toffee. I will give you the easy piecy recipe later. I use a cheat version that's so much easier to make but still as good!

What are you baking for christmas?

//Wayu