Modifying chocolate molds

[pastrygirl]

I have two pairs of clear polycarbonate 3-d egg molds that I bought last year. These: http://www.jbprince.com/chocolate-and-sugarwork/egg-12-cavitiesities-1-piece.asp

I tried them once as whole eggs, and they worked fine but it seems like a pain to have to puncture then reseal them in order to fill them (which I have not actually tried, it just seems like it would be awkward and ugly). I am considering trying to hack off the nubs that align the halves so I can use them as half egg molds and be able to scrape across the top of the mold, filling and closing as usual. There is also a lip around each egg, but I think if I removed the two pins I could manage the lip. Thoughts or experience? Thanks!

Edited February 12, 2015 by Smithy
Member request: fixed broken link (log)

[Smithy]

I have no experience with this, but the molds remind me of those clever little 'walnut' molds where you make two halves of a nut-shaped cookie and then put them together with frosting. Is that something that could work in molded chocolate?

[Kerry Beal]

Link still needs fixing as it doesn't link to the egg molds - but I know the kind of mold you are referring to.  

 

I think even if you get the pegs off you'll find that lip challenging if you decide to fill.  I tend to do those kind of molds as hollow eggs - putting some chocolate in one half, putting them together and then turning them over and over until they are evenly coated.  

 

Of course I have a crapload of egg molds of all kinds so I'm not dependant on those for filled eggs.  

[keychris]

That's kind of what they're designed for, Smithy, (but they make a whole egg at a time without having to stick the two halves together), but Pastrygirl wants to put a filling inside them, which would involve (I imagine) putting a small hole probably at the base and injecting the filling into the egg. You could probably do it with a wide gauge needle and a big syringe, but it would be time consuming, and of course you'd have to then seal the hole afterwards.

 

I would just use some coarse grit sandpaper and sand off the alignment nubs - I've never done it on that side of the mould before though, only on the base of a few I had that wouldn't sit flat.

 

Hmm, now I want to inject caramel into eggs. I might just try that this easter

 

Edit: Link works for me, Kerry.

Edited February 13, 2015 by keychris (log)

[pastrygirl]

Hmm.  Yeah, Kerry the lip around each cavity would leave a lot of excess chocolate on the top of the mold.  I guess I should at least give filling the whole eggs a shot.  I'd like to make something akin to a Cadbury cream egg, but not disgusting.  Just plain hollow eggs seem not very special.  The alignment nubs are about 3/8" tall and would need a chisel or hacksaw or something.   I don't know if polycarbonate would shatter or break cleanly.  I could have returned them last year but never got around to it, so I'll have to play around with them and find a way to put them to use.

[keychris]

Perhaps you could spray them so that whilst they're just hollow, they're still pretty?

[Edward J]

I've "modified" several molds--Callebaut molds in particular such as two piece poly carbonate Santa molds.  I never quite understood the logic (or lack thereof...) of such molds, they are completely bordered, so you can't clip them together and fill them from the bottoms, they have no aligning pins leaving me to scratch my head as to how to "glue" the two finished halves together.

 

So I took the molds to my bandsaw and installed a finer blade.  I cut the cavity out from the edges, then I cut a bottom out in the cavity.  Then I temporarily clamped the two halves together and drilled a 1/8" hole about a 1/4" away from the edges in each corner. Then I sanded the bottom of the mold level and smooth.  I did this with two Calle. Santa molds and one squirrel mold.  I was cursing the eejit who thunk up this style of mold and Callebaut for selling such a p.o.s. all the time I was doing this.

 

To use I decorate the mold as usual, brush on a thin layer of couvertute (with a silicone brush, best thing I've ever used) then put the two halves together.  I place a length of bamboo skewer/satay stick in each hole to keep the halves aligned, clip together, and fill as usual.  I've been using this mold for 5 or 6 years now.  The subject of the mold is great, but the intelligence--or lack of- in mold design is unspeakable. 

 

I've got serious issues posting pics on this site, but I'd be happy to p.m. you with pics of the molds  

[JeanneCake]

The link worked for me as well, and I saw this in the description:

 

Egg Molds

Each mold produces half eggs. These molds are designed to work in pairs. They work best when they are used to make hollow whole eggs. 

Please note: The nubs, holes, and guiding lips around the edges of the cavity, (these ensure that the molds line up) may make it difficult to scrape the chocolate when using the molds to make half egg shapes.

 

So I am not sure it is worth going through all the aggravation, instead, would you consider buying a different type of mold?

[ChocoMom]

Last year, I threw in the towel after trying and trying to get smooth edges. I finally decided to do some very cool half eggs, filled with everything from caramel, to marshmellow and krispies, or fluffernutter ganache.   I used Notter's design with the gold flakes and colored cocoa butter to create some gorgeous half-eggs.  So, even with some very "childish" fillings, the eggs looked elegant.

 

Before I went that route, I did do some of the whole egg designs - which were a pain in the behind. I cast the half eggs, filling each half to the brim and letting them settle, then "glued" them together with more chocolate. When they were done, I took a hot knife, and melted the seams. Then I chilled the eggs, and proceeded to spray them with colored cocoa butter- which provided that lovely velvety finish, and covered those awful looking, melted seams.  It worked, but I won't do it again.

 

I had some of the inexpensive molds that can be clipped together with the big plastic clips, so I used those for the bunnies, lambs and other eggs. Cheap as they are, they at least provide a small hole to pipe in the chocolate!   On the more sturdy polycarbonate molds, I used some old C-clamps I found in my Grandpa's tool box. They worked, but I still had to melt those seams.

 

Uh oh. I better quit typing now. It appears that the bedtime glass of wine just hit me like ton of bricks.

[pastrygirl]

 

So I am not sure it is worth going through all the aggravation, instead, would you consider buying a different type of mold?

 

Of course, who doesn't love getting new molds to play with?  But new molds are not in the budget right now and since I dropped the ball on returning these, I have a stubborn sense that I should get some use out of them.  Hollow figures are fine for bigger or more interesting shapes, but these are the size of a small chicken egg.  Decorating with color or even wrapping in pretty foils would help.

 

EdwardJ, I don't have a bandsaw handy, but I'm happy to hear polycarbonate can be trimmed and sanded without ill effect.

 

thanks!

[JeanneCake]

Or filling with flavored marshmallow? and then sealing it so it's still a half egg, but at least filled with something?  Is it hard to seal the bottom with chocolate when it's a marshmallow filling? (I don't know anything about chocolates, just pastries

[Edward J]

 

 

EdwardJ, I don't have a bandsaw handy, but I'm happy to hear polycarbonate can be trimmed and sanded without ill effect.

 

thanks!

 

 

I've got a photo tutorial on another site if you're interested in the process, feel free to pm me. 

[pastrygirl]

Or filling with flavored marshmallow? and then sealing it so it's still a half egg, but at least filled with something?  Is it hard to seal the bottom with chocolate when it's a marshmallow filling? (I don't know anything about chocolates, just pastries

 

So, Jeanne, just to enlighten you if you ever want to get into chocolate (and want to know what kind of molds are the most aggravating), the first pic is a normal one piece mold, the top is completely flush so you can scrape all the excess chocolate off and get nice smooth, flat bottoms and edges.  You fill the mold, dump it out, scrape it clean, let the shell set, fill with ganache or whatever, let that set, add chocolate to seal the bottoms and scrape the bottoms level.  But with these you will always have a flat bottom.

 

 

 

This is the two-piece egg mold, held together with rubber bands.  You can see there is a gap due to the raised rim around each cavity.

 

 

 

Here you see the raised lip and the alignment pins.  I think the lip would be hard to trim off, but the pins could be done away with.

 

 

With these, you have to pipe chocolate into the cavities (can't ladle in and scrape off the excess because the lips and pins get in the way), sandwich the molds together and shake them around to distribute the chocolate.  There is no scraping, maybe some trimming of the seams. 

 

These molds look like they have open bottoms so they can be filled and dumped out.  With these pieces the artistry is in the decorating.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Professional-Polycarbonate-3D-Chocolate-Mold-SANTA-Mould-LARGE-3sizes-MadeInUSA-/301047853282

[JeanneCake]

I am a glutton for punishment, but I think I'll stick to pastry !

[ChrisZ]

Thoughts or experience? Thanks!

My wife was looking for a solid egg-shaped mould that was in 1 piece, ie. you did't need to make 2 halves and join them. With a bit of internet searching she found some guy in china that makes all sorts of moulds out of silicone. She emailled to ask if he had what she wanted and although he didn't, he offered to make one for her. It cost $8, arrived quickly, and works very well. However it is a single mould so only 1 egg is made at a time. It's hard to describe but basically once it is filled up and set, you just turn in inside-out and the silicone stretches enough that the egg pops out. I'd take a photo but I don't know where it is. It's not suitable for mass-production but I guess you could buy several of them if you needed large quantities.

I was impressed at how quick, fast and cheap the process was. I like watching Heston's TV shows and he often uses custom-made moulds as part of the overall theme of a dish. It looks impressive and expensive but in reality, it's possible to DIY silicone moulds and certainly cheap enough to do yourself over the internet.