Molded solid chocolates

[Darienne]

I know this was covered in the last year, but I have finally given up searching.

Confectionery partner, Barbara, and I made solid molded chocolates for her to sell at an upcoming Christmas bazaar type thing. I told her I was sure that you were supposed to leave the chocolate to harden for 24 hours before packing them, but couldn't remember why. Then recalled that the tempered chocolate would actually harden in the first 24 hours?

Does this preclude packaging them before that time period...assuming I have the time period correct? Or what?

Thanks.

[Sebastian]

Actually, it will continue to harden for many months. If you're moulding solid chocolate (no fillings, no inclusions), what you're going to be concerned about is degree of temper and if it'll bloom or not. After 24 hours, you should have a pretty fair idea of if it's going to bloom or not (ie did it demould properly, did it stick to the mould, does it have proper gloss, what's the snap like, etc). If the answer to any of those makes you uncomfortable, give it a good 24 hours, and if after that time it hasn't bloomed, chances are unlikely that it'll do so w/in the next couple of weeks (assuming proper storage conditions).

[jaroj]

Hello,

I've been asked to make molded solid dark chocolates (no ganache or filling) this is for a promotional campaign of a local company. My question is, since solid dark chocolate is very hard how can I make it softer to bite as a final product.

I recenlty made a test with a semi sphere mold using tempered chocolate and after demolding I tried to bite into it the piece and nearly broke my tooth, On past trips to Europe have bought solid molded dark chocolates and they are hard but very edible.

Is there a secret too this??

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Jaroj

[Lisa Shock]

One trick is to make a thinner shape.

More sugar will make it less 'snappy' and a bit more grainy.

Another thing you can do is treat your chocolates as if they were going to be filled but just temper two batches of the same chocolate. One gets the usual treatment, and you make the outer shells with it. The other you whip lightly with a hand whisk to incorporate air bubbles and carefully fill the molded shells with it. This way, your center has tiny air bubbles, which are usually a flaw, but in this case will help make them easier to eat. You could try doing a variation on aerated chocolate with a vacuum sealer, but, that's really hard to control precisely.

[Kerry Beal]

Lisa's idea of the thinner shapes would be my first choice - don't know if you are obligated to use a particular mold or not though.

Another thing that would soften the bite would be to add up to 4% by weight of butterfat (ie clarified butter). It will change the tempering temperatures a bit though.

[dhardy123]

I agree with Lisa. Do an aerated chocolate but you can use an iSi whipper

[jaroj]

Thank you for your ideas. I haven´t used the iSi whipper therefore I dont know if it would be to difficult to control the flow of chocolate since the molds have a small diam of 2.5cm (dome shape and a square shape)??, regarding the manual whisk would I this for a couple of minutes?

Kerry regarding the clarified butter how much does it affect the tempering temperature 2°-3° or more. Clarified as I understand would mean I have to heat the butter to separate the fat??

jaroj

[pastrygirl]

I have not tried aerated chocolate in the isi whipper, but I have tried doing it in the kitchenaid, and did not get anything approaching a foam. I had wanted to try the isi, but both of mine were full at the moment. Neither the whip nor the paddle with the KA got tempered dark chocolate remotely mousse-y. I imagine it would be difficult to achieve precision control with the isi, but it seems like it should not be a problem to over-fill and level the molds off with your scraper. Not sure if you would even need to bottom them, since the aerated chocolate would be solid and stable.

As for clarified butter, yes, cook gently until all of the water has simmered away and the milk solids fall to the bottom and start to turn golden. Then you are adding only fat and not any water which could seize your chocolate. Depending on how much flavor you wanted to add, you could cook the butter a little longer and brown it, or use coconut oil or another oil. The right olive oil could be interesting. I make two filled bars, one is milk chocolate with a filling of crushed pretzels, browned butter, and milk chocolate - sort of a pretzel gianduja, the other is dark with a filling of white chocolate, coconut, and coconut oil. Both the butter and the coconut oil make their respective fillings softer.

[Kerry Beal]

Thank you for your ideas. I haven´t used the iSi whipper therefore I dont know if it would be to difficult to control the flow of chocolate since the molds have a small diam of 2.5cm (dome shape and a square shape)??, regarding the manual whisk would I this for a couple of minutes?

Kerry regarding the clarified butter how much does it affect the tempering temperature 2°-3° or more. Clarified as I understand would mean I have to heat the butter to separate the fat??

jaroj

Probably looking at temperatures more like milk chocolate than dark - so 2 or 3º C cooler likely.

[dhardy123]

I have not tried aerated chocolate in the isi whipper, but I have tried doing it in the kitchenaid, and did not get anything approaching a foam. I had wanted to try the isi, but both of mine were full at the moment. Neither the whip nor the paddle with the KA got tempered dark chocolate remotely mousse-y. I imagine it would be difficult to achieve precision control with the isi, but it seems like it should not be a problem to over-fill and level the molds off with your scraper. Not sure if you would even need to bottom them, since the aerated chocolate would be solid and stable.

Nope, that is the best thing about aerated chocolates. You don't have to bottom them as you start with tempered chocolate. I did this using an iSi whipper:

[Lisa Shock]

And, for the record, I am sorry, I did not in any way mean to imply that you could get anything mousse-like with a whisk. I just figured that slightly bubbly, what we'd ordinarily fix as flawed, chocolate would be better than well tempered chocolate with the bubbles worked out of it. And, by lining the mold first no one would see bubbles. I was trying for the lowest-tech solution possible.

Nice aerated chocolate dhardy123!

Ultimately, I just don't think that solid chocolate is generally served as thick as filled bon-bons.