Grating chocolate.

hm2be

I am trying to decorate a cake for my sons 3rd birthday. I need to grate chocolate to decorate. The chocolate shreds are supposed to be feathers. I tried to grate some dark chocolate and it just crumbled. Am I using the wrong chocolate or is there a special technique to it.

organic_wanabe

Try putting the chocolate in the freezer for a time before grating - this was mentioned on a cookery programme. Good luck!

Claire70_2

You need to make sure the chocolate is hard and dry, if you use moist chocolate you just end up with a mess.

If you cut it into small pieces you can use a blender to grate it up

Gingernutmeg

You could try freezing it, that makes it easier to grate. Or, if you want curls, you could try freezing the chocolate and then going down the side of it with a potato peeler. Also, cooking chocolate tends to work a bit better for this, as it's got more fat in it than expensive chocolate, and milk works better than dark. Dairy milk works for this too.

hm2be

Thank you all. I will try again.

morwenna

Feathers of what size? If you need small ones, fridge the chocolate and grate. If you need big (maybe tail) feathers fridge the chocolate and use a potato peeler on the flat side of the bar to get long curls.

hm2be

The feathers are supposed to be large. I bought a new peeler and tried different types of chocolate and it just crumbles. I have now put in freezer. Will let you know how it goes.

nickyhutch

Melt it, then pour over the back of a large plate and let it set. Put it in the fridge. THen use a melon baller or a knife or similar to scrape off pieces/curls.