Making bars of Chocolate as Christmas gifts.

JJ.

:wave:

I'm hoping to make chocolate bars as small Christmas gifts this year, but am a bit stumped at which Chocolate is the best to use. Also, would I need to temper it? Would the bars not hold their solidity if I didn't? I'd really appreciate any help. I can rustle up a cake and biscuits no probs, but I'm a bit perplexed with this, lol..

the_why_bird

Any kind of chocolate you think is tasty and complements your toppings should be fine (though I haven't tried melting ultra-dark chocolate, I don't know if it melts differently).

I would definitely temper it, otherwise it's going to be messy to eat and melt as soon as it's out of the fridge. Fine for something you intend to eat right away but not for gifts.

browneyedbazzi

The type of chocolate to use depends entirely on your taste - some people love dark chocolate, other prefer milk. You will also find that some additions are nicer with one type that the other (I think hazelnuts are lovely with milk chocolate but a bit wrong with dark) but again it's all about taste.

Tempering chocolate isn't about it holding solidity - it is about making it lovely and shiny and giving it a nice snap. If you want the bars to look really pretty and shiny then you might want to temper the chocolate, but in reality not many bars use tempered chocolate.

Also, don't put chocolate in the fridge, the cold is likely to cause it to 'bloom' which alters the texture and appearance.

iammumtoone

If you are giving as gifts, yes I would try to temper the chocolate. If it doesn't work don't worry it will still be melted chocolate which is fine and perfectly ok to eat, just tempered looks nicer. I have never had much success in tempering chocolate myself I did read the other day that to temper you need to use at least 500g otherwise it will not work very well. Thats the reason mine never worked I only ever try to do small batches. Hope that helps, good luck with it.

floss2

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

The type of chocolate to use depends entirely on your taste - some people love dark chocolate, other prefer milk. You will also find that some additions are nicer with one type that the other (I think hazelnuts are lovely with milk chocolate but a bit wrong with dark) but again it's all about taste....

Now you see, I'm the other way around, I love hazelnuts with dark, but not with milk chocolate!

OP, I've found this to be a great help

JJ.

:beer: Thank You all so much for your input, and the link, thanks Floss2. I'm going to look to see if I can find a thermometer on Thursday, as I do think it would be better to temper it, given all the info. I'd like to make them in advance, so it's my only real option, if I don't want them to turn soft! lol.

Then again, I might just make a shed load of brownies, shortbread and cakes! :rotfl:

browneyedbazzi

If you really want to do chocolate but think the bars might be a bit tricky, you could do truffles instead - they are quite easy to do an very forgiving....and you simply make them ahead and you can keep them in the fridge for ages.

C_J

I'm going to have a go at making chocolate slabs as gifts for people I work with. I bought a lovely silicone slab mould (it has Christmassy words all over it: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/18503/Peppermint-Bark-Mould) from Lakeland last weekend, and the lady at the till suggested sprinkling crushed candy canes all over the top (blank side) and dusting it with a little bit of gold edible glitter.

I bought the cellophane bags (they come with red ribbons) from Poundland.

VfM4meplse

C_J wrote: »

I'm going to have a go at making chocolate slabs as gifts for people I work with. I bought a lovely silicone slab mould (it has Christmassy words all

I did this recently instead of buying cakes for a birthday. Nothing quite as structured as your mould (non-stick silicone sheets worked fine) but it allowed me to release my inner Jackson Pollock!