Small painted detail in molded chocolates

[Becky R]

At this point, I know enough to be dangerous about molding chocolate, and wanted to run a few questions by the experts!  Here are some of my first attempts.  Unfortunately, the mold that most are gravitating to for gift giving is the little package.  In this batch, I hand painted the 'ribbon' in the mold, but it wasn't dramatic enough, so I added some color after un-molding.  They like it but I don't, I just can't seem to get it smooth with enough coverage.  Tried airbrushing it yesterday (.7mm fan, small fan, and even the straight nozzle) but that's not going to be neat enough either.  Suggestions?  Is it a matter of not having the CB at a workable temperature?  Wrong brush?  It just seems that it's difficult to get the CB to really adhere to the slick mold with a brush in a way that looks presentable.  I have a .5mm nozzle set coming for my Grex so who knows, maybe that will work better?  I just had another idea.. would tempering/coloring white chocolate and piping it in be better?  It would be tedious but everything about this particular mold is tedious LOL>

 

I also want to paint in horse head silhouettes and suspect I'll run into the same issues.  I then started thinking; maybe if I start with a thin layer of clear tempered CB, there would be more texture to paint on?  Also, would this suffice to provide the extreme sheen so that it's not necessary to worry about subsequent colors being so carefully tempered?  How many thin coats can you do (allowing them to dry in between) before you run into CB pulling away from the chocolate? In a Chef Rubber video, it was recommended to use 65 PSI and 93 degrees to spray, but would that temperature end up ruining an underlying clear temper?  

 

I sure would appreciate expert input here!

  

Edited November 15, 2023 by Becky R (log)

[pastrygirl]

That's why most of my designs are abstract 😅  But seriously I think painting will be tedious any way you do it and just takes practice.  Piping white chocolate into the mold might flow nicely to fill the ribbon on top but the sides would be a pain.  Piping white chocolate on the finished bonbon could be cute and you could add a little bow.  And faster if you're doing a zillion for the holidays.

 

CB should be liquid but not too hot (low 90's F), molds should be room temp (mid 60's to low 70'sF).  A different brush might help, play around.

[Becky R]

6 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

That's why most of my designs are abstract 😅  But seriously I think painting will be tedious any way you do it and just takes practice.  Piping white chocolate into the mold might flow nicely to fill the ribbon on top but the sides would be a pain.  Piping white chocolate on the finished bonbon could be cute and you could add a little bow.  And faster if you're doing a zillion for the holidays.

 

CB should be liquid but not too hot (low 90's F), molds should be room temp (mid 60's to low 70'sF).  A different brush might help, play around.

Thank you! I was thinking if I piped the white, I'd have to do each side until it dried... very time consuming for sure.  Maybe after the fact would be the way to go!

[Kerry Beal]

Yeah - I don't paint those molds - life is too short!

 

At most I mold as is - then fluff with interference powder to make them 'purdy'.

Edited November 15, 2023 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Becky R]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

Yeah - I don't paint those molds - life is too short!

 

At most I mold as is - then fluff with interference powder to make them 'purdy'.

Interference powder?  Not sure I've run into that as of yet!

[Kerry Beal]

aka pearlescent powder, mica powder 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

13 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Yeah - I don't paint those molds - life is too short!

 

At most I mold as is - then fluff with interference powder to make them 'purdy'.

 

What's wrong with the unadorned sheen of perfectly tempered chocolate?

 

[Jim D.]

6 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

What's wrong with the unadorned sheen of perfectly tempered chocolate?

 

I always love your down-to-earth approach to all things food!  As far as I know the history of decorating chocolates  with colored cocoa butter, we have Norman Love to thank (!) for the idea.  When my sister brought me boxes of various European chocolates from her travels, there was nary a decoration in the whole lot--perhaps a curlicue of contrasting chocolate or a single nut, but no garish colors.  Alas, the idea of decorated bonbons has caught on in the U.S. (and now other places as well, even the Canary Islands--as evidenced by one eG member).  I remember that another eG member, who lives in Italy, asked me in some detail about the selling of chocolates in the U.S. and was quite surprised at the price some chocolatiers charge for their decorated bonbons.  To paraphrase: he thought Italians would never pay that for a chocolate--and added that they would not be favorably impressed by the decoration.  We live in an "artisanal" age, and people will indeed pay more for chocolates that are "too pretty to eat."  I have not yet had the nerve to try to sell undecorated chocolates, but it would be an interesting experiment.  Every time I have a substantial number of decorated bonbons come out of the mold with severe damage, I am tempted to try the experiment.

[Kerry Beal]

I sold undecorated chocolates for quite a number of years. Meant i had to have all sorts of molds with various patterns on them. Of course I was bitten by what you can do with colour just because playing in the chocolate room is really all I care about.

 

The interference powder basically I’ve always used when I’ve had a problem with Bloom on something like a dipped rice crispy square, which is such a great insulator. The interference powder makes it look like it was meant to be. 

[Becky R]

Gosh everyone... I didn't see all the responses, so I apologize for not saying anything.  Thank you for chiming in!  I FINALLY figured out how to deal with these crazy 'packages' that most of my folks want 😩 Anybody ever play with chocolate gelatin ribbon?  It is actually pretty simple. The challenge here is it's just such a small area.  I was initially trying to put some twists in the 'ribbon' but that's just not consistent enough without fighting with it and I'm already spending too much time on these crazy things.  Cut strips, put chocolate 'glue' dots at the bottom of each side and stretch them.  They look better in person as it is always hard to get pics of sparkly things.  I like this better than the hand painted ones that show brush strokes (in the gift box on the right in the last pic.. you'll also see some of the ones with twists on the left in that pic.  Too much trouble.)

 

[Becky R]

On 11/16/2023 at 1:08 AM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

What's wrong with the unadorned sheen of perfectly tempered chocolate?

 

Aha, but you are assuming that my chocolate comes out perfectly tempered every time!  Still learning, and it's a LOT easier to hide little flaws with dashes of color!

[Jim D.]

5 hours ago, Becky R said:

Gosh everyone... I didn't see all the responses, so I apologize for not saying anything.  Thank you for chiming in!  I FINALLY figured out how to deal with these crazy 'packages' that most of my folks want 😩 Anybody ever play with chocolate gelatin ribbon?  It is actually pretty simple. The challenge here is it's just such a small area.  I was initially trying to put some twists in the 'ribbon' but that's just not consistent enough without fighting with it and I'm already spending too much time on these crazy things.  Cut strips, put chocolate 'glue' dots at the bottom of each side and stretch them.  They look better in person as it is always hard to get pics of sparkly things.  I like this better than the hand painted ones that show brush strokes (in the gift box on the right in the last pic.. you'll also see some of the ones with twists on the left in that pic.  Too much trouble.)

 

 

Your packages turned out quite well and are very attractive.  As long as your production remains small, you are all set.  I don't imagine you would happily contemplate making 500 of these items. 

[Becky R]

28 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

 

Your packages turned out quite well and are very attractive.  As long as your production remains small, you are all set.  I don't imagine you would happily contemplate making 500 of these items. 

Not a chance.  Also, the fight isn’t over unfortunately.  That batch of ribbon ended up hardening to the point where it really isn’t pleasant to eat.  I’m trying again with a different mixture, because I really do love how it looks.  The person who insists on these stupid things just told me she’ll need more than her initial order.  I may have to say only one of these per box or raise the price if she has to have more!  It was fun for a while!  LOL. Oh well, at least I provide you pros with some comic relief as I learn the hard way!  The other issue is 3 of the 5 molds I have with this pattern are kind of concave, so you can’t get a good clean scrape.  It also has a dimple in every mold right in the middle cavity.  Hubby loves this one since there are automatic rejects from every batch due to that mold flaw…

[Becky R]

It seems that glycerine is my new best friend.  1/2 tsp added to the recipe allowed the 'ribbon' to roll out much thinner, and so far, 🤞it stays pliable so that you really don't even notice it when you plop the whole candy in your mouth.  So now I'm wondering... what other ways could this be used?  I wonder what would happen if you, for instance, had tiny shapes cut out of it to put down in the cavity and then poured chocolate right on top of it?  I may just try some experiments here!  Anybody know where I can find a tiny tiny horse head cutter?   .  It seems like the luster dust wouldn't stick to the mold but I'll be sure to report back LOL

[keychris]

more faffing about = more $$$ cost to the client in my humble opinion

[Becky R]

1 hour ago, keychris said:

more faffing about = more $$$ cost to the client in my humble opinion

True.  This, thankfully, is just a hobby for me.  Nice break from running my insurance agency and horse farm

[Saltychoc]

On 12/2/2023 at 5:37 PM, Becky R said:

Not a chance.  Also, the fight isn’t over unfortunately.  That batch of ribbon ended up hardening to the point where it really isn’t pleasant to eat.  I’m trying again with a different mixture, because I really do love how it looks.  The person who insists on these stupid things just told me she’ll need more than her initial order.  I may have to say only one of these per box or raise the price if she has to have more!  It was fun for a while!  LOL. Oh well, at least I provide you pros with some comic relief as I learn the hard way!  The other issue is 3 of the 5 molds I have with this pattern are kind of concave, so you can’t get a good clean scrape.  It also has a dimple in every mold right in the middle cavity.  Hubby loves this one since there are automatic rejects from every batch due to that mold flaw…

A good scrape when capping? If so - have you tried double capping? You need to be able to cool the first layer quite quickly but it can really help. The other (and just as time consuming) option might be to pipe the capping chocolate one row at a time and scrape with a smaller offset spatula. But at this point you are putting so much time into these it might be better to have the reject snack afterward!

 

As for the horse head - you could always get one 3d printed. There are a ton of people on etsy that custom print them. I've also seen people use a cricket cutter to cut the shape out of cardstock. Think cutting out the center of the circle not the shape of the circle. And then using that as a stencil to spray the shape onto the mold.

[Becky R]

9 hours ago, Saltychoc said:

A good scrape when capping? If so - have you tried double capping? You need to be able to cool the first layer quite quickly but it can really help. The other (and just as time consuming) option might be to pipe the capping chocolate one row at a time and scrape with a smaller offset spatula. But at this point you are putting so much time into these it might be better to have the reject snack afterward!

 

As for the horse head - you could always get one 3d printed. There are a ton of people on etsy that custom print them. I've also seen people use a cricket cutter to cut the shape out of cardstock. Think cutting out the center of the circle not the shape of the circle. And then using that as a stencil to spray the shape onto the mold.

Thank you!  The issue with the scraping is that it's not level, but I finally figured out that if I scrape side to side with an Oxo squeegee, I can get it MOSTLY clean.  I then go back in with a small silicone spatula to get between the cavities a bit.  It's just annoying that it can't be scraped as normal, but when you do, the scraper tool rides the outside rims and doesn't come close to the center.   Lots of little packages with an extra foot from this faulty mold.  At least my husband ground down the point so I CAN tap out the air bubbles now.  First time I couldn't even do that because that tiny point was the only thing to touch the counter without tipping the mold at a severe angle.

 

Funny you should mention 3D printing.. I did make contact with someone a few days ago, but just hadn't fully followed up as of yet.  I have a Cricut but that seems like it would be a slow way to do a bunch of cavities, so I'm going to try something else first.   If anyone is as stupid as me and decides to do a special project, I tell you what, this stuff is AMAZING.  https://www.eat-the-evidence.com/gummy/flexible-chocolate-chocolate-gummy/#recipe. I actually ordered a tiny horse head cutter, and I'm thinking I *might* be able to cut out the shape and put it right down in the mold.  We shall see... probably getting myself into trouble again, but this time I'm not showing any of my horse friends until AFTER I've figured out how to do it!  LOL

 

I did the packages in 'silver' and definitely didn't like the look.  This helped a little, but CR 'silver' sure leaves a lot to be desired.  

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by Becky R
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[Becky R]

I'm a lot happier with how the silver bells turned out this year!  Last year I tried to do 'silver' CR CB, but this year, Monegasque Luster Dust (my edit is that I just realized that this batch was made from their white dust, not their silver) and an extremely light mist of PME Edible Pastry glaze did the trick.  They feel good in your hand, and the edible dust is sealed in. Sure beats the color of the package above....

 

Edited December 3 by Becky R
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