Fondant Logs

A dipped confection that assumes you already have a batch of fondant on the counter — the book expects the cook to know the basic boiled sugar paste. Everything here depends on the state of the chocolate at the moment the nuts go on.

• The fondant is not includedThe recipe presumes a standard cooked fondant: sugar and water boiled to the soft-ball stage, about 238F, cooled undisturbed to roughly 110F, then worked until it turns white and opaque and rested. Commercial fondant can be substituted, though its texture differs from a home-boiled batch.
• Cork-shapedSlightly tapered cylinders, about an inch long and half an inch thick — the shape of a wine cork rather than a log with bark. Roll them on a cool marble or a work surface dusted lightly with cornstarch, not flour.
• Chill before dippingFirm the centres before dipping -- Set the shaped centres on a tray to firm up in a cool place. A firm centre keeps its shape in warm chocolate and gives a thinner, neater coat; do not chill them so far that condensation forms on the surface.
• Melted chocolate means tempered chocolateChocolate simply melted over hot water will set soft and streaked with grey bloom. Temper real couverture, or use a compound coating, which needs no tempering and sets hard on its own.
• Timing is the hingeThe nuts must go on while the coating is still tacky but no longer fluid, a short window that varies with the room and the chocolate. Work in batches of three or four pieces rather than dipping everything first.
• Chopping the walnutsChop fine and even, then sift out the dust in a coarse sieve. Powdery fragments cake on the surface and dull the finish; pieces the size of coarse sand adhere best.
• Yield and keepingKeeping -- Store airtight in a cool room, not the refrigerator, where condensation will make the surfaces weep; they hold for a couple of weeks.