Chocolate "Planks" and curls

[ange]

I play a little at home with decorating cakes for a little hobby, and I've tried without much luck to make those chocolate planks you see standing up around the side of cakes.

I'm looking for some clues on how to make these nicely. The ones I have tried have ended up so thick I may as well have stuck a block of chocolate on the sides!

I don't really have any 'equipment' as such, which is probably part of the problem, but am willing to spend a little so that I can make these work.

I also wanted to make some long curls, like the cigarello's you can buy - but have had trouble getting the chocoalte to actually curl around - it crumbles and breaks.

Can anyone give me some clues on both of these two items?

Thanks

[David J.]

I play a little at home with decorating cakes for a little hobby, and I've tried without much luck to make those chocolate planks you see standing up around the side of cakes.

I'm looking for some clues on how to make these nicely. The ones I have tried have ended up so thick I may as well have stuck a block of chocolate on the sides!

I don't really have any 'equipment' as such, which is probably part of the problem, but am willing to spend a little so that I can make these work.

I also wanted to make some long curls, like the cigarello's you can buy - but have had trouble getting the chocoalte to actually curl around - it crumbles and breaks.

Can anyone give me some clues on both of these two items?

Thanks

←

You don't need much in the way of equipment, just some marble, accetate and an offset spatula. The plaques are made by spreading a thin layer of chocolate on an accetate sheet and cutting the chocolate (not the plastic) with a dull knife just before the chocolate sets. You can also use square cutters if you want. Use colored cocoa butter on the sheet first if you want to make patterns.

Check out my trip report with Norman Love at the FPS for a great demo of making three color cigarettes.

[alanamoana]

I play a little at home with decorating cakes for a little hobby, and I've tried without much luck to make those chocolate planks you see standing up around the side of cakes.

I'm looking for some clues on how to make these nicely. The ones I have tried have ended up so thick I may as well have stuck a block of chocolate on the sides!

I don't really have any 'equipment' as such, which is probably part of the problem, but am willing to spend a little so that I can make these work.

I also wanted to make some long curls, like the cigarello's you can buy - but have had trouble getting the chocoalte to actually curl around - it crumbles and breaks.

Can anyone give me some clues on both of these two items?

Thanks

←

you will also need to know how to temper chocolate as these are both made using tempered chocolate. there are demos on tempering linked in the baking and pastry index if you take a look.

with the cigarettes, it is more about timing than anything else.

with the chocolate plaques, it is about practicing getting a thin layer of chocolate on the acetate or transfer sheet.

if you want to practice with the plaques, you can use candy melts or coating compound which will take a transfer very well. i don't know how well this stuff works for cigarettes.

[RuthWells]

I play a little at home with decorating cakes for a little hobby, and I've tried without much luck to make those chocolate planks you see standing up around the side of cakes.

I'm looking for some clues on how to make these nicely. The ones I have tried have ended up so thick I may as well have stuck a block of chocolate on the sides!

I don't really have any 'equipment' as such, which is probably part of the problem, but am willing to spend a little so that I can make these work.

I also wanted to make some long curls, like the cigarello's you can buy - but have had trouble getting the chocoalte to actually curl around - it crumbles and breaks.

Can anyone give me some clues on both of these two items?

Thanks

←

The difficulty with making curls has everything to do with temperature. After the chocolate is tempered and spread out on your surface, keep an eye on it until it begins to set up and then start testing. If your curls shatter, the chocolate is too cold. If it collapses and won't hold a curl, it's too warm.

As with most things, as you practice more you'll start to get a feel for it.

[Lior]

There is an online video at callebaut's site - on decorations of all sorts. If you can't find it, let me know.