pastrygirl

if you're putting toppings on them a la Rockefeller, I don't see why you couldn't use a small vessel or a larger gratin style dish and bake or broil them to heat through

@Jim D. I’m sure you’re right that colors will be much brighter with a white backing, I just meant they don’t get totally lost on dark chocolate. for example, this is green sphene on dark chocolate these are half splattered, half sprayed with gold

I think it depends on the formulation of the colors you're using. Are you mixing your own or purchasing them? I use Chef Rubber and Roxy & Rich colors, most of which are opaque, especially metallics (silver, gold, bronze). I pretty much never back with white. You could color white chocolate, but anything mixed into milk or dark will get lost in all the brown.

Welcome! If there was a cheap and easy way to get the same effect, far fewer of us would have invested in airbrushes My advice is to explore techniques other than smooth full color coverage. Paintbrushes, sponges, finger-painting, throwing CB at molds abstract expressionist style, luster dust, contrasting shades of chocolate including fruit couvertures, magnetic molds or hand dipping plus transfer sheets ... lots of ways to get splashes of color into your assortment.

What format is your active ingredient? Does the whole batch of chocolate have to infuse at 115 for certain length of time, or are you just wishing the whole heating and cooling process was faster?

Another option I found recently, nice sturdy set-up boxes made in USA https://tap-usa.com/collections/rigid-boxes

There was a local production of this with (iirc) Julia's niece performing the part, it was really charming and fun. I had the gig of making chocolate cake to serve to the audience after the show.

@Tri2Cook are you looking for something flat like a Valrhona feve or just small? Here's a small hemisphere: https://www.chocolat-chocolat.com/home/chocolate-molds/c378126051/p17741679.html or here's a tiny coffee bean: https://www.chocolat-chocolat.com/home/chocolate-molds/chocolate-molds-chocolate-world/cw1001-to-cw1900/p16408050.html

Since I like to do things the hard way, I have to suggest using your existing dome molds and piping them 1/4 to 1/3 full.

You'd really want to check with your local dept of agriculture for protocol on canning low-acid foods to be shelf-stable, you don't want to mess with botulism. That said, a local company swore to me that they simply pack their caramel sauce into jars while hot. Maybe if it is above the 280F ultra-pasteurization temp and high enough sugar, it's fine? Since time is limited, can you do them as refrigerated products? Then all you need is appropriate labeling with ingredients & allergens.

Now onto heart-shaped ones for Valentine's day

do share ... I guess m&ms are sugar-coated chocolate but don't know what temps sugar panning happens at. I'll find some scraps to play with while I'm doing inventory this weekend, will see how hot sugar has to be to stay liquid and what happens when a cold piece of chocolate hits it. I have a lot of experience with these two materials, really don't anticipate them playing together well but maybe I'll be surprised.

Well, once you guys figure out how Cedric Grolet manages to circumvent the laws of thermodynamics and bend the properties of cocoa butter to his will, do let me know, it'll be handy in summer when I'm trying to temper chocolate in my 90F kitchen.

Also consider a simple food warmer or two. Not as precise as the more expensive Mol d' Art or Martellato melters, but if you just need melted chocolate to transfer to your tempering machine as needed, they work. An 8" deep full hotel pan will hold 20+ kg of chocolate. https://www.webstaurantstore.com/avantco-w50-12-x-20-full-size-electric-countertop-food-warmer-120v-1200w/177W50.html

Pretty sure, yes. Do we agree that the first dip is white chocolate? Sugar cooked to caramel is around 325F. You could let it cool a little and still be runny, let's say you get it down to 250F. White chocolate melts around 100F. If you froze the apples to buy time, you'd cool the sugar every time you dipped and cause crystallization, it would be impractical for production. The cooler the caramel is, the thicker the shell and this looks very thin. i just don't think the sugar would stay liquid with repeated heating, cooling, and agitation and I don't think white chocolate would stand up