Hollow 3D Figures

While I didn't pursue a professional chocolatier program until 2018, my first introduction to chocolate making came while I was around ten or eleven years old and part of a Girl Guide troop. One Wednesday night, we gathered in the basement of the Salvation Army temple and our troop's leader demonstrated how to make various solid and filled bonbons. Of course, she was using Wilton candy melts (compound chocolate) instead of "real" chocolate, so there was no tempering involved, but we learned processes for shelling, filling, and capping. I remember the chocolate being kept warm with an electric skillet, the molds being painstakingly painted with a Testors paint brush (the kind you use on model cars), and the can of condensed milk that had been transformed into caramel by boiling it. I was hooked. And my dear parents indulged my interest, taking me to the religious book and bible shop in the mall, which for some reason was the place to buy candy melts and molds. 

I've come a long way since then. But every now and then I think back to one of the techniques she talked about that night -- creating hollow 3D figures. She described two-part molds that snapped together. You would pour some chocolate in one piece, snap them together, and then rotate to coat the mold until the chocolate solidified. It sounded easy enough, and at some point I used my allowance to buy a 3D Christmas tree and a 3D Santa mold, but I never tried it.

While hollow 3D figures wasn't part of my professional chocolatier program, as I engaged in research for various assignments, I stumbled upon videos demonstrating how 3D molds are used in factories. Instead of clipping or snapping together, the molds are now commonly held together with magnets. And instead of a person rotating them by hand, they are placed on a machine that slowly rotates in multiple directions. Smaller, artisanal shops may have 3D molds that aren't fully enclosed when clipped together. They fill them with chocolate, let them sit for a few minutes, and then pour out the excess chocolate to leave a hollow figure. 

The production, of course, is a little different if you want to have a surprise in the centre of the hollow figure, like M&Ms or Smarties. Anyone who's made hot chocolate bombs knows this process: mold the two pieces separately, add your fillings to one side, and then attach the other half either by melting it a little on a hot pan or by "gluing" it into place with more chocolate. I've made cocoa bombs before, including some Grinch-inspired ones with a friend -- but I've never made a one-piece, hollow chocolate figure. Until now. 

This week, on chocolate night, I decided to try it. I have a few egg molds that can be combined for this purpose. I grabbed some white chocolate left over from Christmas, prepared it using the direct tempering method, and poured it into one half of the mold. With binder clips, I secured the other half and began rotating. Once I was confident the chocolate was well distributed, I let it sit for a minute and then flipped it over and let it sit for another minute. Then I tossed it in the fridge to set. Fifteen minutes later, I pulled it out and was saddened to find I couldn't unmold it. I thought perhaps I'd messed up the temper. I made the mistake of using too much force and I cracked the egg in half. Still unable to get the chocolate out, I put it in the freezer for 5 minutes and the two halves then popped out cleanly. The next day, it was clear that the chocolate had been in perfect temper, but I had been too impatient. So I tried again.

My second attempt was with leftover dark chocolate. I repeated the process, but this time when I took it out of the fridge, instead of trying to unmold it, I popped it into the freezer immediately for a quick cold "shock." And the hollow egg unmolded perfectly! Huzzah!

Pleased as punch, I set it aside on a crumpled paper towel so that it wouldn't roll around. And then I turned my attention to "fixing" the white chocolate one. I could have melted down the chocolate and molded the egg again, but instead I decided to put a surprise inside. I took the first half of the egg and smoothed the edge by melting it on a hot frying pan. Then I filled it with candy before smoothing the second half and applying that on top while the chocolate was still melted. I patched the bottom with a little melted chocolate. Voila! Done. 

I'm very excited with how these turned out and for the possibilities going forward. The only challenge I have now is that the foil I usually wrap chocolates in isn't big enough for this jumbo Easter egg. Consequently, I'm going to need a creative packaging solution. But there's plenty of time to sort that out by Easter. 

Leprechaun House

Last week I was in the mood to make something with my chocolate supplies. I went to the sideboard they are stored in and pulled out a new silicone mold I had purchased from Temu before Christmas. In November when I saw it, I had ambitious ideas that I would make a series of small chocolate houses to give to friends. Of course, time got away from me and I made tiny gingerbread houses instead. Still, I have been thinking about that mold and wanting to try it. Who says "gingerbread" houses are only for Christmas? There is a trend on YouTube right now for crafters to make gingerbread crafts for Valentine's Day and Easter. And my sister, who was very late taking down her Christmas tree this year, has taken to saying, "There are no rules."

Well, if there are no rules, then why can't I make a chocolate gingerbread house for St. Patrick's Day?

I grabbed a bag of green candy melts and set about guessing how much (compound) chocolate I would need to fill the cavities for the four walls and two roof pieces. It wasn't particularly scientific, but I piled chocolate wafers into each well and then tossed in an extra handful for good luck. It was approximately 8.5oz of chocolate based on how much is left in the bag. And it did the trick.

Now, I have to pause here to comment about candy melts. The selection available lately is dreadful. Bulk Barn has the Merckens brand, but only has three colours (yellow, orange, and blue as of writing this post). Atlantic Superstore carries Wilton brand, but only in chocolate and bright white. Michaels stopped carrying Wilton brand a few years ago and ever since has only stocked Sweet Tooth Fairy brand, and while they have a better selection of colours, the colours are not true. The red and blue that I've had in the past are much lighter than the packaging would suggest. And the green? Well, the bag is lime, the name says "light green," and it looks like mint. Good candy melts are hard to find.

Anyway, as I mentioned last week, silicone molds are a little finicky to work with. Nevertheless, using a bench scraper I was able to level the chocolate in the mold (mostly). After it had set in the fridge for 15 minutes,  I carefully unmolded the pieces. I was very impressed with the detail. Originally, I thought I would assemble the house using royal icing, but decided to try assembling with leftover candy melts instead. It worked great and set up far more quickly than I would have anticipated. I left it for a few days while I contemplated how best to decorate it.

Now, I don't have any St. Patrick's Day chocolate molds. (Shocking, I know!) So I had to get creative. First I tried melting some dark green candy melts left over from another food craft project, but no matter what I did, they wouldn't melt. I'm not sure if the humidity of last summer got them or if candy melts actually do have an expiry date, but they simply would not cooperate. So instead, I melted some of the light green ones and added oil-based food colouring. I got the colour I wanted, but I hope no one eats it because the taste is incredibly bitter. 

I used the darker green to pipe two shamrocks on a piece of wax paper. I also filled a few candy-shaped molds to use as architectural columns. And finally I made a green teddy bear (because there are no rules, right?). I eventually also made another trip to Bulk Barn (it's getting to be a weekly thing) and acquired some orange, green, and rainbow candies. Armed with a small bag of royal icing, I began decorating.

With sour punch straw columns, cry baby trim, life saver windows, and a sour strap walkway, it's a Leprechaun's ultimate dream home! I particularly like the orange door and the molded candy ridge cap. 

As for the silicone mold from Temu, I'm very happy with it. It's not perfect -- the roof pieces could be a little wider to create an overhang. But it's detailed and cute, and the heart on the back reminds me of a claddagh ring. I can imagine making little chocolate "gingerbread" houses in a variety of colours -- and I'm betting a white one would look great as part of my Christmas decor. 

Until then, this leprechaun house is perfect for St. Patrick's Day. 

 

C is for Cookie

I've been a fan of Pinterest since it first started. And I've spent an inordinate amount of time on the site as its infinite scroll served up inspiration for cupcakes and crafts. The height of my pinning was probably in 2015, when I had mono and spent three weeks alone in my apartment (which, in retrospect, was great training for the pandemic that followed five years later), but it's still my go-to for favourite recipes and new ideas. 

And so when I needed an idea for a friend's birthday treat this month, I turned to Pinterest again. I have a board titled "Baking and Dessert Inspiration," which seemed like a good place to start. As I scrolled, I was reminded of various treats I've made over the years -- a giant peanut butter cup, a Battenberg cake, a Robin Hood-inspired archery cake, a peanut butter layer cake, polar bear cookies... And I found a few ideas that I had forgotten. Like Cookie Monster Oreos.

Sandwich cookies dipped in colourful candy melts had a moment about six or seven years ago. Maybe a little longer. The designs were very creative. One of my favourites was the polar bear faces that used smarties for the ears and nose. I also thought the frogs, complete with sour candy tongue and pretzel legs, were adorable (and they were a hit with the recipient). Adding eyes and a mini chocolate chip cookie to make Cookie Monster? Brilliant.

Armed with Pinspiration, last Sunday I set off to buy a small package of Oreos at Dollarama, and then popped into Bulk Barn in search of blue candy melts. Unfortunately, there were none left, so I decided to colour white candy melts with some oil-based food colouring. I also picked up blue sanding sugar and a small bag of miniature chocolate chip cookies. 

A few days later, I pulled together my supplies and grabbed candy eyes from my stash. I cut the mini chocolate chip cookies in half, paired up eyes, opened the bag of sprinkles, and melted the candy coating. Then I added some (okay, a lot of) blue food colouring and a few drops of black. Stir, stir stir! Next I dipped an Oreo in the candy coating, pressed half a cookie into the mouth area, added the eyes, and sprinkled the blue sugar on top. 

I stood back to critique my work. Cute, but not quite right. The straight edge of the chocolate chip cookie didn't quite align with the curved side of the Oreo, and so it looked a bit off. 

I grabbed a paring knife and carefully shaved away some of the cookie, creating more of a crescent moon shape. And voila! 

Lather, rinse, repeat! Before I knew it, I had a set of Cookie Monster Oreos lined up like little soldiers, ready to go in the fridge for 10 minutes to set. 

Am I happy with the results? You betcha! They are cute and they taste great. Who wouldn't love a Cookie Monster Oreo? They're the perfect birthday surprise for a friend. 

And, upon reflection, dipped sandwich cookies need to make a comeback. 

Candy-Filled Witches' Hats

Last night we hosted a small Halloween gathering. In advance of the soiree, we scoured the internet looking for holiday inspiration and flipped through a few party-planning books that I had forgotten I owned until going through boxes as part of my annual new (academic) year clean-up. After much deliberation, we settled on candy-filled witches' hats. 

First we painted the sugar cones with chocolate, dipped them in some sprinkles, and let them set. Then one at a time, we painted the "brim" of the hat (we used digestive cookies) with chocolate, filled the cone with our chosen candy (Reese Pieces of course!), and inverted the cookie brim onto the open end of the cone, holding it there for just a moment before quickly flipping the whole thing back so that it was point up and the chocolate could set. 

Now, once we mastered this manoeuvre, none of the candy fell out and in about 15 minutes they were set and sealed. But our first few attempts required the intervention of a knife to push a few wayward candies back under the cone. 

Making 8 of these, including setting time for the chocolate and clean up, took about an hour. And we did use compound chocolate to make life easier and avoid the additional time required for tempering.

These are certainly a cute option either as a sweet treat on the table display or popped in cellophane bags as a take-away from the party. I also think it would be fun to stuff these with pieces of cake and some frosting. 

Hope everyone has a spooktacular Halloween!

Compound vs Real Chocolate

Much of the commercial chocolate that we consume isn't actually chocolate. In many cases, it's compound chocolate -- a product that generally contains cocoa, but does not contain cocoa butter. If you don't see cocoa butter listed as an ingredient, then it's not "real" chocolate. Of course, there are also confectionary coatings that don't have any component of chocolate in them -- candy melts fall into this category.  

There are some good reasons for swapping out the cocoa butter for an alternative fat (like palm kernel oil). For one thing, cocoa butter is polymorphic, which means that it can take on different structures and thus display different characteristics. Chocolate's ideal structure is beta-5, which is its most stable form. It is achieved through the tempering process and results in the smooth, glossy surface and snappy solid form that we seek in well-made chocolate. When chocolate is not in perfect temper and takes on one of the other structures, the texture, appearance, and mouthfeel are affected. It may be soft or crumbly, or have a dull, grey, or mottled appearance. Compound chocolate, however, doesn't require tempering. It also has a higher melting point than real chocolate, which means it is less likely to melt with handling and can remain stable in warmer conditions. Coating "chocolate" can also be purchased readily in a variety of colours, whereas real chocolate usually has to be coloured by the user (who may add oil-based food colouring or laminate chocolate to a coloured cocoa butter layer). And, finally, compound chocolate is cheaper because it doesn't include cocoa butter. 

Consequently, compound chocolate (or confectionary coating or candy coating or candy melts) is a good option for beginners, for food crafting with children, for large batch/mass production of treats, etc. 

So why am I thinking about this right now as a professional chocolatier when normally I would emphasize the need for only the best couverture chocolate? 

I have an idea for a Christmas present to give to friends this year. It's more about the form (a cute piece molded and assembled from chocolate) and less about the formula (it won't be a layered bonbon or a carefully crafted truffle or other elaborate flavour experiment). Nevertheless, at the end of the day, the item is still meant to be eaten. It would be easier to use compound chocolate to avoid the tempering process, improve ease of storage, and create colourful, displayable, Instagram-worthy treats. But the chocolate won't taste as good as Callebaut. 

The question is, Does that matter?

I know a few people who don't mind candy melts, either as a colourful bark or as coating for cookies. They like the sweeter profile. They likely realize it isn't "real" chocolate, but they appreciate it in various applications despite that. (Personally, I don't mind candy melts, but I definitely notice the difference...) But we've also all had the experience of buying (or receiving) cheap chocolate from a dollar, discount, or grocery store, with its waxy texture or dull flavour -- and it can be very disappointing when the expectation and the reality don't match. 

Does food crafting make the use of "fake" chocolate more acceptable? Or should we be striving to emulate the chocolate genius of Amaury Guichon? Vote and comment below! 

Thanks for voting!