I bought a bag of unsweetened Callebaut *small pieces* from a website, Chocoworld or something like that - if you google, you should find it, if not, let me know and I can find it for you.
I was not successful at getting the "snap" through manual tempering, (maybe Karla had more patience than I do! LOL) but interestingly enough, I accidentally achieved a result that does "snap" through slightly modifying the ingredients, pouring them into a shallow candy mold and freezing.
I also prefer to pour the melted chocolate over whole almonds - both to lower the overall carb count and because that's how I prefer chocolate - with nuts !
After much trial and error, I've ended up adding the erythritol at the beginning of the melting process, with the chocolate pieces in the top of the double boiler - otherwise, the end result is very grainy (IMO).
I find the almond butter mellows out the "fruitiness" of the polyol and the bitterness of the chocolate. I like dark chocolate, but I do have my limits on bitterness! LOL.
I like your idea of powdered cream. Expert Foods sells small bags of it online, if you are familiar with their low carb products?.
Right now, my focus is on the correct amounts and ratios of sweeteners - liquid Splenda, a couple drops of white powder stevia, a couple teaspoons of erythritol, etc. Another lowcarb friend has suggested I blend in xylitol.
I just need to avoid maltitol. It is the only SA that truly gives me problems.
A couple small pieces of my "chocolate mistakes" are enough to soothe the savage soul and do not trigger cravings.
My desire for starches and sweets continues to ebb and I expect over time, it will completely fall away. It's just that now, for the time being, a little bit of something good keeps me from falling completely off the wagon.
I suppose this is an addiction like smoking, and like a smoker, this is "my patch" that helps me reduce gradually.
On the bright side, it would be nice to have a tried and true recipe for special occasions.
I hope I haven't bored you too much!
barefoot