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How To Lessons
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Melting Chocolate
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- Place a saucepan of water on cooktop
- Place your double boiler with chocolate on saucepan
- Turn cooktop onto a low heat setting
- Slowly raise heat
- Do not start with boiling water
- If using a gas cooktop you may have to turn the flame on and off as required for generally even the lowest setting will raise the water temperature too high over time.
- Bring water up to temperature
- Correct temperature for melting is 30° - 40°c
- If you do not have a thermometer carefully use your hand to feel the temperature.
- Water should feel like the temperature of a nice hot bath.
- If the water is too hot for your hand it is too hot for the chocolate.
- If steam is rising from the water this is also an indicator of the water being too hot.
- Stir chocolate regularly
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Melting Chocolate Trouble Shooting
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- Chocolate won't melt and/or has gone gluggy.
- Water is too hot.
- The chocolate has been cooked instead of just melted.
- Throw away batch, clean double boiler and start from fresh.
- Can I melt chocolate in the microwave
- Yes, but we do not recommend it as from the second the microwave starts it is straight away cooking the chocolate.
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Making Chocolates in Moulds
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- Spoon melted chocolate candy into a mould
- Tap the chocolate mould gently on the table this will eliminate air bubbles and fill all corners with chocolate
- Place the mould in the freezer for 5 minutes or until the chocolate has set the chocolate will have changed from a wet melted look to an opaque frosty look. If necessary freeze for longer.
- Remove from the freezer, carefully turn mould over holding just above the bench or table, give a tap and the chocolates will fall out.
- It should never be necessary to push chocolates out or bend moulds if chocolates do not fall out they need to be frozen for a little longer.
- Refill the moulds and repeat the process for the next batch.
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Flavoured Chocolates
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- Try adding a few drops of Home Style flavouring oil to the melted chocolate candy, this changes the flavour to make delicious tasting chocolates.
- Don’t forget to taste prior to setting in your moulds.
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Dipped Chocolates
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- Use a dipping swirl to coat your favourite food in chocolate.
- Yummy ideas; crystalised ginger, dried apricots, nuts, marshmallows, jelly jubes,fresh fruit well dried.
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Filled Chocolates
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- A shell of chocolate must first be set around the bottom and sides of the mould to hold the filling.
- Brush the melted chocolate candy into the mould with a paint brush
- Tap immediately to release the trapped air bubbles.
- Freeze for a minute
- Then recoat and refreeze for another minute
- Fill with your favourite filling leaving sufficent room to...
- Cover the filling with chocolate.
- Tap out airbubbles.
- Refreeze for approx 5 – 10 minutes
- Unmold when ready.
The list of yummy fillings can be as long as your imagination, however Home Style Chocolates make it simple with a range of premade fillings in jars. |
Colouring
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- Change the colour of the white chocolate candy by adding a little candy colouring, (a small shake a little like adding salt and pepper to your dinner)
- More colour gives a deeper shade.
- Mix colouring in well
- If the colouring does not dissolve easily you will find your white chocolate needs to be a little warmer.
- Mixing colouring powders achieves wonderful shades of different colours.
- Either make coloured chocolates Or make “painted” coloured chocolates …using a small brush and melted coloured chocolate paint into a suitable mould,
- Tap on table to remove airbubbles
- Freeze for a minute prior to spooning the contrast colour over the top,
- Freeze for 5 – 10 minutes until set.
The Home Style Chocolates range of colourings are a very concentrated oil based colour suitable for use in chocolate, cake icing, soap, candy floss etc etc.
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Hollow Moulds or Easter Eggs
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- Cut out, using scissors, matching parts of the moulds leaving a 2cm border round the shapes.
- Using the melted chocolate three quarters fill one half of the egg (or shape)
- Line the front and back together and join with bulldog clips
- Shake until the chocolate has covered all of both sides.
- Freeze for 10 minutes,turning frequently to ensure even thickness.
- When set, remove the bulldog clips, and carefully pull apart.
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Marshmallow Easter Eggs
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- Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon of gelatine
- 1 tsp of lemon juice
- 1 cup of sugar
- ½ a cup of hot water
- ¼ of a cup of cold water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 500g bag of Home Style chocolate buttons
- Food colouring optional
- Method:
- Place cold water in a bowl, stir in gelatine and stand for 5 minutes.
- Mix hot water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
- Add gelatine and boil for 5 minutes.
- Pour mixture into large bowl
- Put a bit of cold water in the sink and place the bowl in the sink to cool it down quickly
- Add lemon, vanilla and optional food colouring and beat until thick and creamy
- Once beaten the marshmallow should be thick and creamy.
- Preparation:
- Make a bed of flour in a dish and using a regular egg, push half sized indentations in the flour so as to make a mould for the marshmallow to be spooned into.
- Spoon into flour moulds
- Refrigerate about an hour or until the marshmallow is chilled right through
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a boiling water.
- Coat with chocolate.
- Using a knife ice the eggs with the chocolate to act as glue to join the two pieces of marshmallow together.
- Refrigerate until chocolate hardens.
- Wrap in foil.
So much and fun to make and yes much better than hopping off to the shops for your eggs.
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Modelling Chocolate
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Impress your friends with 3d type shapes,that are great to dress up desserts or use to make beautiful flowers for decorating cakes.
It is a chocolate mix that is suitable to model with, like an edible play dough.
It can be made with any of the chocolate candy – milk, dark, white, or white chocolate that has been coloured.
- Basic Recipe
- 500gm Chocolate
- 1/2 Cup Corn Syrup (liquid glucose)
- Method:
- Melt the chocolate, stir in the corn syrup.
- Mix until well combined and it forms a ball.
- Wrap in plastic wrap (gladwrap) place in the fridge and let it become a little firm (it should be a little stiffer than playdough.)
- If it is too firm, knead until pliable. Add a little more corn syrup if necessary.
Will keep for months in the fridge, by just adding more corn syrup to make pliable. |
Chocolate Leaves
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Continue to impress your friends!
Great for decorating desserts or cakes
Simply paint melted chocolate onto the back of a non poisonous rose or ivy leaf
Set in the freezer for 1 minute
Hold front of leaf towards you and carefully peel off |
Chocolate Curls
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Make a bar of chocolate either in a chocolate mould or set chocolate into dish
Unmold and peel curls with either a knife or a pototo peeler |
Piping Chocolate
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Add 2 drops of hot water at a time to melted chocolate
When chocolate thickens and holds shape place into a piping bag
Have fun! |