Handmade chocolate transfer sheets and trade shows

[chocoera]

You know how some cake decorators print edible images for cakes? Is this possible for chocolate transfers? i know of a wonderful company that makes transfers, and even has made logo ones for me...but i was looking into making my own for the mere fact that i have a lot of design ideas, but it might only take 5 sheets instead of 20....

question is, is there acetate paper and a printer and edible ink/cocoa butter that someone can buy to design their own transfer sheets? my husband is a graphic designer so it would be a great fit if we could do some things ourselves for certain projects....any thoughts on that?

also, does anyone have a schedule or know of any chocolate shows coming up? or perhaps any chocolate trade shows or anything related to the industry that is happening in 2011? (besides our awesome eG workshop of course!)

thank you!

[tmriga]

The acetate sheets can be bought at many art/craft stores. I know Blick sells very large ones that can be cut down.

Colored cocoa butter can be bought from ChefRubber.com

I do not know about printers, and I do not forsee a regular printer working without clogging as the cocoa butter cools. I know you can use the clear silicone stamps sold in craft stores. I used some to do monogrammed cookies for my grandson's wedding.

Theresa

[justDeb]

Canon makes a printer that allegedly works with cocoa butter. Check out the previous thread here

[Edward J]

Alot of ink has been spilled on this subject, and there are quite a few interesting devices out there.

But to keep our facts straight, the transfer sheets are silkscreened on acetate, not printed on. There are a few E-gullet-ers who have attempted this, and with good results, but with a lot of effort and experimenting.

Then there's machines that "print" directly onto chocolate, but it must be printed on white chocolate and the pieces must be 100% flat and of even thickeness.

Good luck!

[RWood]

I don't think there has been anything made for cocoa butter printing at home.

The canon printer will work with edible inks, I have a set up that I've been using for a while.

I use the Chocolate Artist software and their special sheets for printing, a Canon MP620 printer with edible ink cartridges.

The software could be better, with better editing capabilities, but it will work. This software only prints for magnetic molds though.

I would think that if you come up with designs and print them with the edible ink, they could be used for a larger printed area.

I've found that regular acetate sheets don't work because they don't have anything for the ink to absorb into. The ink will stay wet and smear, plus it doesn't print solid.

I personally am not going to get into the whole screen printing thing, I have too much else going on for that. But, this system has worked for me for what I need doing logos, photos, etc.

Here are a couple of logos that I have done in the past. I airbrushed the back of them with white cocoa butter to make the designs show up on dark chocolate and to keep the colors true.

I just went to the Fancy Food Show in San Fran over the weekend. Only a few chocolate people there as far as transfers and such. Mostly just food, not so much equipment. I did get to meet the people from Chocolat-Chocolat in Montreal though, which was nice.

[RobertM]

There are method's to silk screening transfer sheets - I'm not the expert on that one. There are two "big" industry shows in Atlantic City, NJ (Google The Philadelphia National Chocolate Show) - that show is no where near what it used to be, but, it can be interesting to go to on a semi-regular basis. It was just held the weekend of January 8, next one is in September.

RCI holds a conference every year, and I believe there may be a small trade show associated with that (perhaps it's PMCA - my advanced age is preventing me from recalling directly)

[lebowits]

The "Fancy Food Show" will also be coming to Washington DC in July. The link is here.

[mostlylana]

I'm interested in attending a trade show to see equipment and packaging options. For those who have attended both, which would you recommend - The Philadelphia Candy Show or the RCI show?

Thanks!

[Kerry Beal]

There are method's to silk screening transfer sheets - I'm not the expert on that one. There are two "big" industry shows in Atlantic City, NJ (Google The Philadelphia National Chocolate Show) - that show is no where near what it used to be, but, it can be interesting to go to on a semi-regular basis. It was just held the weekend of January 8, next one is in September.

RCI holds a conference every year, and I believe there may be a small trade show associated with that (perhaps it's PMCA - my advanced age is preventing me from recalling directly)

The PMCA has the trade show in the afternoon of the first day.

[chocoera]

wow...lots of info to sort through! i will google the suggested shows, and am making my husband read all the transfer ideas....i will let you know what he thinks we can do, sounds as complicated as i was expecting

[Marmalade]

Who is your supplier for edible inks, I see there are quite a few out there...will any of them work for chocolate? Also, if I understand correctly, you use the special paper. Do you buy it from Tomric or will other papers work? Thanks for the help!

[Baylee Chocolate Lady]

I bought the software and the blank transfer sheets from Tomric. The ink cartridges and refill ink is from KopyCake, I believe. I got my magnetic molds from Tomric although there are a few other companies that make them. We do have to print on white chocolate to get a good picture. I haven't had luck with airbrushing the back of the design with white, but maybe I should try again. RWoods' pictures are great.

[prairiegirl]

The special sheets are called chocosheets. There are a few suppliers that make this. Cake Art intl is a manufacturer and they have resellers all over the globe. The american supplier charges too much so I have ordered thru Home Chocolate Factory and they gave me a trade account so I get a discount. The chocosheets have not been very good in the last year so I have switched back to using the ones made by Chocolate Deco Artist who are also in England. They have resellers in North America such as Tomric and Chocolat-Chocolat. I find that they mark up the cost and it is cheaper to order directly from England. If you google chocosheets you will get a list of who makes these sheets.

Ink: PhotoFrost, Icing Images and several other suppliers carry the cartridges.

I use to airbrush the backs with white but have long stopped using that technique. I prefer to put a thinned out layer of white chocolate (70% white chocolate, 30% cocoa butter) mixed with white coloured cocoa butter. I use this method because the design of the magnetic molds cause the roof of the chocolate to slowly cave in. Having this thin layer acts as a support beam in the chocolate.

I have done thousands of transfers and have an opinion on whats out there so if you have any questions feel free to contact me.