• Home
• An Occasional Chocolate
• Product Review # 2
• Review Product # 3
• Product Review # 4
• Resources

Chocolate Mold

April 12th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Making Chocolate At Home Or In the Workshop – You Can Use The Chocolate Mold

Why do you need a chocolate mold machine? Because after you have created the filings you need something to give it a form for the candy and the mold can do this. When you need a mold that has the capacity to hold two pounds of chocolate or even more such as thirty-three pounds of chocolate, what you need is benchtop mold machines. Actually such machines are available for various capacities. Then there are those chocolate mold machines, used in commercial productions that can produce, temper and melt in excess of than two hundred pounds of tempered chocolate every hour.

Planning To Make At Home – There Are Various Molds For You

What is the desired shape and size of your chocolate? Based on this, you will need to select a chocolate mold that you will work with. But the good news is, there is room for a lot of experimentation as molds are available in various shapes and sizes. So you can try a shape that you haven’t before. If you are just a beginner then it is recommended that you try your hand with one color basic chocolates that also have a solid body. Once one gets to know about the finer details of the chocolate mold, there is every possibility of making terrific designs for the chocolates.

So are you ready to start off at home? First melt the chocolate and having done this, now the mold needs to be filled up with this. You can use a disposable decorating bag, melting bottle or a spoon for this. Once the chocolate mold is filled, you will need to tap it a little bit to ensure that the chocolate doesn’t have any air bubbles inside. Having done this, now keep the chocolate mold in the freezer or refrigerator. This will allow the chocolate to settle down. Keep checking, when you see frost at the bottom of the chocolate mold then you know that it is ready.

When you think that it is done and the chocolate is ready to come out, turn it upside down, but just an inch above the surface, and the chocolate should come out gently on its own. Use a waxed paper or a parchment as the surface. To add to the look and make it look more realistic, you can also use coloring for your chocolate. How do you add color? One way of doing this is by painting the chocolate when it is in the melted form and inside the mold, but before it has been molded. You may want to use a decorative brush for this.

To be creative with your chocolate, select from various chocolate mold options. There are various sizes and shapes you can select from in each category. So become wild with your imagination and creativity – just select a chocolate mold you need for it and get going.

Chocolate Easter Bunny Pretzels

February 24th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Chocolate Easter Bunny Pretzels

I am always looking for festive new ideas for the holidays. I have two kids and I seem to always be sending goodies to school for various occasions and holidays. Last year I found something in my local craft store I had not seen before. Probably not new, just new to me.

In my never ending search for different chocolate molds, I found an adorable mold to make Easter Bunny Pretzels. This was such a clever idea. Instead of using the traditional white sticks, the area where the sticks would go was wide, made to hold a pretzel log. So instead of just having plain old pretzels dipped in chocolate, or plain chocolate bunnies on a stick, I had chocolate bunnies on a pretzel. The kids loved them!

So next time you are browsing the chocolate molds isle, take a look for these. I have looked for this type of mold for other holidays and have not seen any. So keep your eyes peeled, and let me know what you find and where you found it.

Chocolate Candy Painting

February 20th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

My favorite holiday is Easter. Why, because I really enjoy making gorgeous masterpieces for the Easter Baskets! If you have never “painted” your chocolates before, don’t run off scared. It is really easy. Depending on the size of the mold and the detail in it, you can use a small paint brush or a toothpick. Just melt a very small amount of the desired colored. Sometimes one chip is all that may be needed. For instance, the eyes on an easter bunny, or the green stem of his carrot. Simply paint the designs in your mold and let set. Once all of the detail is finished and set, you can fill your mold. After the entire mold is set, and you turn out your chocolate, you will be impressed with the how easy it is to get great results. And you don’t need to paint all the detail, just pick out a few accents to paint.

Chocolate has to taste good too!

February 20th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Has this ever happened to you. You go to a party or function and you see the most beautiful chocolates adorning the dessert table. Maybe someone has made a gorgeous display of homemade chocolate that has you salivating for just a little taste. Then at the end of the evening , everyone is offered some to take home or enjoy before they leave. You are excited, the time has come.  You thank the hostess and rush off to your car. When you are sure no one is watching you rip off the ribbons and clear wrapper that protected these little gems all evening and pop a morsel in your mouth to savor. But… the chocolate isn’t melting in your mouth, it tastes a little like - plastic? Thats it, the evening is a bomb !

Ok,Ok - so I am a little dramatic. Well, maybe a lot dramatic. The point though is that if your chocolate creations only look good, but lack the flavor and texture that only a good quality chocolate can bring, you have let yourself down. Why spend hours on making a delicious looking candy that tastes like….

Don’t be put off by price either. I am not insinuating you need to spend a fortune. Sites like An Occasional Chocolate sell only high quality Guittard Chocolate that is inexpensive and but  the taste is fit for royalty. So, remember, you want them to taste as good as they look!

Melting Chocolate

February 19th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

If you are like me, you enjoy making chocolate as much as eating it. And these days, anytime someone in my family throws a party, I am delegated to make the chocolate lollipops.

Melting chocolate can be a tricky business. I prefer to melt the chocolate using a double boiler. A double boiler is one pot set over another that has simmering water in the bottom. If you don’t have a double boiler you can improvise, by placing a stainless steel bowl over a pot of simmering water. The only problem with this method is you risk getting water into the chocolate, which will make it seize, but if you’re very careful the double boiler method works fine. Do not allow the simmering water to touch the bottom of the top pot (or bowl as the case may be).

Remember to melt the chocolate slowly and don’t make it to hot or it will be clumpy and burn.

Chocolate

February 19th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Everyone loves Chocolate, each American eats almost 12 pounds of chocolate per year. And there are many ways to enjoy it. We eat it in candies, cakes puddings and pies. We drink it warm and cold. And ice cream, so many different flavors of chocolate. Before the 1900’s, only the elite were priveleged enough to have this wonderful confection. Now, you can probably find something chocolate in every home.
And now we know that dark chocolate contains small amounts of anti-oxidants known for its anti-aging properties. It’s a fact that plain dark chocolate products containing a minimum 70% or more cocoa solids are the healthiest and the best way to satisfy a craving for chocolate, without consuming too much sugar and saturated fat. Chocolate that is good for you, life couldn’t be any better.

Copyright © 2007 Chocolate Lovin

Credits: Work From Home | Matteo Turchetto | Andreas Viklund