Home made chocolate slabs

Jem8472

catherinevegh wrote: »

Hello there,
Just found this thread last night and I've read up to p18...then the last 2.
The Pizzas look brill.
I have tried making small chocolate coins then stick other sweets on top, my idea being small gifts for people we forgot. ( did I say forgot....never we made these especially for you!!!!!)
However my problem is that it went well they looked great but as soon as you picked them up to put in cello bags they started melting. Has anyone else found this or is there a way to avoid it.
PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To save you looking the whole thread here is some of my previous posts.

well after lots of reading from lots of websites. To mold chocolate and get that finish, that "snap" and the melting point of the molded chocolate (body temp) so it does no melt as soon as you pick it up, you need to temper it.

To temper you have to heat to 45C to melt the choc. then let it cool to about 27c to start forming the correct crystals in the cocoa butter.
Then you need to agitate the mixture to help form the crystals.
The the chocolate needs to be heated up to about 31c to melt some of the other crystals that are not needed and it gets to a more workable temprature.

Thats it really.


I do a slightly different method. I melt most of the choc let it cool it about 27 and add about 3-4 squares. this seeds the melted chocolate with the right type of crystals in the cocobutter to hopfully temper it.

If you search tempering chocolate you will find loads of info. But it is a lot easier said than done, chocolate is hard stuff to work with!

JustLittleOldMe_2

Jem8472 wrote: »

To save you looking the whole thread here is some of my previous posts.

well after lots of reading from lots of websites. To mold chocolate and get that finish, that "snap" and the melting point of the molded chocolate (body temp) so it does no melt as soon as you pick it up, you need to temper it.

To temper you have to heat to 45C to melt the choc. then let it cool to about 27c to start forming the correct crystals in the cocoa butter.
Then you need to agitate the mixture to help form the crystals.
The the chocolate needs to be heated up to about 31c to melt some of the other crystals that are not needed and it gets to a more workable temprature.

Thats it really.


I do a slightly different method. I melt most of the choc let it cool it about 27 and add about 3-4 squares. this seeds the melted chocolate with the right type of crystals in the cocobutter to hopfully temper it.

If you search tempering chocolate you will find loads of info. But it is a lot easier said than done, chocolate is hard stuff to work with!

Hang on... so its not just as easy as melting it over hot water, pouring it into a mould, lightly tapping the mold and then throwing it in the fridge!?
Oh no!!
So what temperature do you heat it to? And how do you know the temperature? What number on the hob?
Im all worried now, and ive just bought some molds from ebay to do it! help!

irishgirl62

How do you write names on the chocolate slabs?

angelkay

i made these slabs last year and they went down really well, i used a cotton bud to wip the inside of the silicone trays which made the chocolate shinier when it was turned out. i used a loaf tin and first melted white chocolate and used that to pipe the persons name on the bottom of the loaf tin (have to do this backwards so that the name is the right way up when its turned out) then when it was set i poured in the milk choc, like the lady above i meltedthe choc till almost all the chunks had disolved then i stirred in some choc and stirred it till it was all melted - there were a few wee lumps of un melted choc but it didnt go all white and bloom when it set so i think that it helped. then as the milk choc was setting i sprinkled on milky way stars, mini smarties, marshmallows and choc chips for the littlies, for the adults i did ferero rocher and match sticks, kit kat pieces and matleesers, nuts and dried fruit, ithink i did add a fe pics to this thread of the first slab i did but the writing was a bit messy they did get better .... promise lol

irishgirl62

thanks angelkay i dont think i can write backwards lol

lidl is having these silcone moulds on sale tomorrow I am not sure if lidl offers are same nationwide?

http://www.lidl.ie/IE/home_ni.nsf/pages/c.o.20091029.p.Baking_Moulds

Jem8472

JustLittleOldMe wrote: »

Hang on... so its not just as easy as melting it over hot water, pouring it into a mould, lightly tapping the mold and then throwing it in the fridge!?
Oh no!!
So what temperature do you heat it to? And how do you know the temperature? What number on the hob?
Im all worried now, and ive just bought some molds from ebay to do it! help!

Tempering chocolate is only if you want it to have that snap that chocolate has. Also if it is not tempered it will melt at a lower temp than body temp. so you get messy fingers eating it.

angelkay

irishgirl62 wrote: »

thanks angelkay i dont think i can write backwards lol

lidl is having these silcone moulds on sale tomorrow I am not sure if lidl offers are same nationwide?

http://www.lidl.ie/IE/home_ni.nsf/pages/c.o.20091029.p.Baking_Moulds

lol it was easier that i thought but then i wanted the persons name to be in the chocolate rather than sat on top as i wanted one side to be completely smooth so i could sprinkle the extras on the other side. you could just pipe it ontop once it was pretty much set, if its too runny the choc you use to pipe on the name will just sink thru it. i got my trays from poundland, i got teddy bears, butteflies, mini cupcake cases and the loaf tin. i used the mini ones and put 1 letter on each so the person got their name in individual chocs which was quite effective too

qwiksave

Any chance we could see some pics angelkay? They sound clever, writing IN the chocolate!

angelkay

angelkay wrote: »

this was my first attempt, i didn't wait long enuf for the white to set before i poured in the milk choc and when i piped the others with white i used a smaller hole in the bag so it didn't come pouring out and it was easier to write with - i was pleased with it at the time lol but the rest were loads better once i got the hang of what i was doing for some reason i can't find any pics of the others and i made loads

Kim_Possible

Can i ask, if want to decorate my choclate after it comes out of the ice cub tray, say with white chocolate, is this possible or will be be messy?