ResolvableOwl
Notorious Lyear
Hmm, I finally decided to not take part in this challenge, although it is fun and intriguing, yet in a more … well, minimalist way than elsewhere. It would have exceeded the soapmaking budget that I can justify towards myself. 
But I don't want to withhold the recipe I came up with (and skim that bonus points for usage of the mould contents). Since it is purely imaginative, I'm feeling bad posting it into the gallery thread, so it goes here instead.
Go, come with me for a short trip to the supermarket – the shopping list isn't long! Since today is a friendly and sunny spring day, we'll take the opportunity to have a bike ride.
After chaining the bicycles and grabbing our saddlebags, we enter the store, and head straight towards the oils. But wait! On the way, we already come by the Asia shelf and take a can of coconut milk (25%ppo = 4.5% coconut oil in the oil blend) with us. Later on, at the oils, we find out that our favourite locally sourced canola is sold out, so we take a bottle of cheap no-name refined canola oil (60%) along. A quick peek on the label: 25.5% poly-unsaturated fats – Phew, that'll be low enough in the final recipe, so that the SMF know-it-all's wouldn't complain about exceeding DOSsiness.
We amble into the confectionery and baking section, and take a cup of baking gianduja/nougat (20%ppo = 4.6% hazelnut oil + 2.2 cocoa butter) with us – wait, let's better take two! We had no breakfast today, and we need the cups as soap moulds anyway. Would IrishLass intervene with our evil plan to overshoot her favourite sugar addition level by a factor of nearly two? Whatever. We'll need it to add some nice brown colour to it anyway, and the cocoa and hazelnut oils are just luxurious; let alone the smell! Hope that some of it makes it over into the finished soap.
Finally, we make a detour to the romantic home decoration section, and pick up a bag of canola wax candles (29%).
Difficult to tell if the cashier is frowning under her face mask upon our weird selection of items, or if she's only tired and looking forward to weekend already. On the way home, we agree that the sunshine and the trees blossoming everywhere actually don't justify doing anything inside, and decide we should have a siesta with a hot beverage and a good book (or just watching the birds building nests and the bumblebees getting nectar-drunk) later on in the afternoon.
Anyway, we're here for some serious work. Once at home, let's see what we've brought with us:
Since @FragranceGuy didn't put restrictions on lye, we calculate our soap recipe with 5% KOH replacement, and dissolve 12.6%ppo NaOH and 1.1%ppo KOH in as little water as possible (3% lye discount). Thank you that you've opened the coconut milk can already! Actually, it'd be more useful to first get these annoying candles out of their casings, and the wicks out…
Some time later, we've managed to peel out the canola wax, weigh it, melt it up in a pot on the stovetop and step-wise add the canola oil – all while attempting to not eat up all of the gianduja early. Mind to switch on the oven already, at lowest level?
We chop up the gianduja addition, throw it into our soaping cup, and add just enough of the hot canola mix to stir it into a smooth, brown liquid. Then we add the coconut milk and the remaining canola, and stick-blend to emulsion. What, you insist on adding ROE? C'mon, that's against the rules of the challenge! We didn't source it in the supermarket! On the other hand … what they don't know won't hurt them … and in the end, it's us who have to deal with rancid soap or not, in a year coming.
Carefully dribbling the lye solution into the murky mayonnaise, everything combines with the help of our merciless mains-operated magic wand. Whoa, look at that colour! The alkaline makes the cocoa turn darker, and the dirty cappuccino colour quickly turns into something that doesn't look too different from the original gianduja. How convenient that we have the empty little PP cups at hand already, pedantically cleaned by the tongue of a true gourmet!
Little later, we notice onset of trace. We place the moulds on a baking sheet and fill them up with the soap batter, 125 g each, just like the gianduja, so easy to confuse! A spatula helps to scrape the last drips of paste out of the beaker. They try to fool us with false trace from the solidifying canola wax? Hehe, no chance – it's CPOP time!
Once in the oven, we eventually have time for some patience! Let's catch our breath, soak the tools in hot water, take off the gloves and glasses, and look up a delicious, infernally spicy Thai recipe to use up that half-empty can of coconut milk. Actually, for some inexplicable reason I'm not hungry at all … but we should use up that ginger in the fridge soon, we have fresh lemongrass, and, by the way, when did we have rice last time?
(Should I tell you about that one recipe that claims for 15%ppo rice purée?)
And so the endless story of soapmaking continues …
But I don't want to withhold the recipe I came up with (and skim that bonus points for usage of the mould contents). Since it is purely imaginative, I'm feeling bad posting it into the gallery thread, so it goes here instead.
Go, come with me for a short trip to the supermarket – the shopping list isn't long! Since today is a friendly and sunny spring day, we'll take the opportunity to have a bike ride.
After chaining the bicycles and grabbing our saddlebags, we enter the store, and head straight towards the oils. But wait! On the way, we already come by the Asia shelf and take a can of coconut milk (25%ppo = 4.5% coconut oil in the oil blend) with us. Later on, at the oils, we find out that our favourite locally sourced canola is sold out, so we take a bottle of cheap no-name refined canola oil (60%) along. A quick peek on the label: 25.5% poly-unsaturated fats – Phew, that'll be low enough in the final recipe, so that the SMF know-it-all's wouldn't complain about exceeding DOSsiness.
We amble into the confectionery and baking section, and take a cup of baking gianduja/nougat (20%ppo = 4.6% hazelnut oil + 2.2 cocoa butter) with us – wait, let's better take two! We had no breakfast today, and we need the cups as soap moulds anyway. Would IrishLass intervene with our evil plan to overshoot her favourite sugar addition level by a factor of nearly two? Whatever. We'll need it to add some nice brown colour to it anyway, and the cocoa and hazelnut oils are just luxurious; let alone the smell! Hope that some of it makes it over into the finished soap.
Finally, we make a detour to the romantic home decoration section, and pick up a bag of canola wax candles (29%).
Difficult to tell if the cashier is frowning under her face mask upon our weird selection of items, or if she's only tired and looking forward to weekend already. On the way home, we agree that the sunshine and the trees blossoming everywhere actually don't justify doing anything inside, and decide we should have a siesta with a hot beverage and a good book (or just watching the birds building nests and the bumblebees getting nectar-drunk) later on in the afternoon.
Anyway, we're here for some serious work. Once at home, let's see what we've brought with us:
Since @FragranceGuy didn't put restrictions on lye, we calculate our soap recipe with 5% KOH replacement, and dissolve 12.6%ppo NaOH and 1.1%ppo KOH in as little water as possible (3% lye discount). Thank you that you've opened the coconut milk can already! Actually, it'd be more useful to first get these annoying candles out of their casings, and the wicks out…
Some time later, we've managed to peel out the canola wax, weigh it, melt it up in a pot on the stovetop and step-wise add the canola oil – all while attempting to not eat up all of the gianduja early. Mind to switch on the oven already, at lowest level?
We chop up the gianduja addition, throw it into our soaping cup, and add just enough of the hot canola mix to stir it into a smooth, brown liquid. Then we add the coconut milk and the remaining canola, and stick-blend to emulsion. What, you insist on adding ROE? C'mon, that's against the rules of the challenge! We didn't source it in the supermarket! On the other hand … what they don't know won't hurt them … and in the end, it's us who have to deal with rancid soap or not, in a year coming.
Carefully dribbling the lye solution into the murky mayonnaise, everything combines with the help of our merciless mains-operated magic wand. Whoa, look at that colour! The alkaline makes the cocoa turn darker, and the dirty cappuccino colour quickly turns into something that doesn't look too different from the original gianduja. How convenient that we have the empty little PP cups at hand already, pedantically cleaned by the tongue of a true gourmet!
Little later, we notice onset of trace. We place the moulds on a baking sheet and fill them up with the soap batter, 125 g each, just like the gianduja, so easy to confuse! A spatula helps to scrape the last drips of paste out of the beaker. They try to fool us with false trace from the solidifying canola wax? Hehe, no chance – it's CPOP time!
Once in the oven, we eventually have time for some patience! Let's catch our breath, soak the tools in hot water, take off the gloves and glasses, and look up a delicious, infernally spicy Thai recipe to use up that half-empty can of coconut milk. Actually, for some inexplicable reason I'm not hungry at all … but we should use up that ginger in the fridge soon, we have fresh lemongrass, and, by the way, when did we have rice last time?
(Should I tell you about that one recipe that claims for 15%ppo rice purée?)
And so the endless story of soapmaking continues …
Creative juices flowing 
Yes, I selfishly created this challenge because I wanted to learn, but I’m THRILLED that fellow soap makers are having fun AND making great soap. If anyone wants to save me a half bar to sample, I promise I won’t cry. Well, maybe tears of joy 
).
I didn't do that the last time I used it and it was scratchy!
