Freezing Chocolates & Confections

[lapin d'or]

I have frozen chocolates a couple of times now and have been fairly happy with the result. I have only done this for stuff to eat at home when I have made too much to eat.

I may have lost a little bit of shine but I'm not that good yet that you would notice and I have done very little with coloured/painted shells so no experience of freezing those.

I pack up a small selection of different ones in each bag so I can take out a whole bag at a time. I do not have a vaccum pump so I carefully wrap in soft kitchen paper and then double wrap in plastic. As noted above they get put in the fridge to cool before freezing and then when they come out again straight into the fridge for a day and then left in the bag on the counter for a day before opening.

I am hoping this freezing process will help me do some taste comparisons later on so I can see if I like the same recipe with one chocolate more than another. I am hopeless at remembering how something tasted even a few days back.

The fillings I have frozen include ganache, fondant and marzipan. I have not tried any caramel or fruit jelly based stuff.

Jill

[alanamoana]

i like the tempering process that is being discussed: fridge, then freezer, then fridge, then room temp.

i've never frozen chocolates, but i'd like to hear what people find when they do freeze relatively liquid fillings. if there's more water available to freeze, does the filling expand more than more solid fillings? so do you get more cracking due to expansion?

i can't remember what wybauw said, so i'll have to check the greweling book.

let us know how it goes mary!

[cheripie]

Andrew Shotts also informed our class of the freezing option. (The reaction from most of us was You can what?! ) It's changed the way I make things since I can now make a whole batch and not worry about waste. I recently went through the process as described aboved and the results were fine. What I froze included a chocolate with a layer of raspberry pate de fruit and a layer of raspberry ganache. The inside was as before freezing. I noticed the outside did loose a bit of shine, but not bad. I decided next time to use smaller containers, since I did have some extra room and though I did try to add some filler, it would be better to have less air in there. (I don't have vacuum.)

I also realized if I use smaller containers, I can be more selective about what I defrost; not having to taking out a whole batch if I don't need it. Especially since the process takes several days.

Edited April 16, 2007 by cheripie (log)

[John DePaula]

i like the tempering process that is being discussed: fridge, then freezer, then fridge, then room temp.

i've never frozen chocolates, but i'd like to hear what people find when they do freeze relatively liquid fillings.  if there's more water available to freeze, does the filling expand more than more solid fillings?  so do you get more cracking due to expansion?

i can't remember what wybauw said, so i'll have to check the greweling book.

let us know how it goes mary!

←

Alana,

I believe that JPW said that he does freeze chocolates, at least at home to save for guests.

I know it's a common practice in France, using the methods already described by others' posts.

[Serj]

Hi,

What david said is exactly what we were taught at the FPS if that's any help...

[sote23]

yes, andrew did mention the freezing in class. instead of vacuum sealing, he heat wraps the boxes, and the whole container as well. maybe we can get him to chim in on the subject.

Luis

[Mary F]

Thanks everyone for the great response! I did remember Wybauw saying he froze chocolates, but my mind must have been wandering (bad habit) as I didn't have any notes on it.

I do like the pre-fridge to freezer, prev. my thought was just to go straight to the freezer and then defrost in fridge for 24 hours. I will be using everyone's advice and giving it a try.

[sote23]

Thanks everyone for the great response!  I did remember Wybauw saying he froze chocolates, but my mind must have been wandering (bad habit) as I didn't have any notes on it.

I do like the pre-fridge to freezer, prev. my thought was just to go straight to the freezer and then defrost in fridge for 24 hours.  I will be using everyone's advice and giving it a try.

←

I haven't tackled freezing chocolates yet, but will soon. I know chocolates can be frozen, but has anyone froze ganache? can it also be frozen?

Luis

[Serj]

Anything with over 25% fat can be frozen okay.

[sote23]

Anything with over 25% fat can be frozen okay.

←

good to know. thanks for the info.

luis

[Mary F]

Luis,

I have frozen ganache with good results. I used to allow to defrost in the fridge and then some time at room temp, and then enrobe. If I needed it for piping into molds I would throw in the microwave for seconds at 50% power. Now that we are using tempered chocolate for the ganache though, I might be messing with the temper if I do that. But your pieces for enrobing should do well.

[alanamoana]

Mary, I don't think it is a problem. Remember during the class that Wybauw micro'd some leftover ganache to demonstrate the slam filling method. I think he was just cautious not to take it too hot. You've probably been doing it right all this time!

[Stacey TC]

I have a small candy-making business and will be on maternity leave soon. A couple customers have asked if they could order toffee and caramel soon and freeze it until the holidays. I'm not sure what to advise- I'm seeing conflicting information about if it will affect texture or "stickiness"

Anyone have personal experience freezing these candies?

[Kerry Beal]

I don't know if the wrapping, heat or vacuum sealing, then taking them from the freezer to the fridge, then room temperature over a couple of days that you do when freezing chocolates will prevent the condensation problem or not. Certainly if condensation gets on the surface you are going to end up with sticky toffee.

Why not try some experiments, wrapped and unwrapped just freezing them overnight before taking them back out. Doesn't really matter how long they are frozen for, it's the thawing where the problems are going to happen.

The other thought is whether or not your toffees and caramels are fine until the holidays anyway. I know the chewy caramels I make would have a several month shelf life at least. The toffees (I'm thinking buttercrunch) tend to attract water, but sealed in a vacuum container would be fine.

[Stacey TC]

Thanks for the suggestions Kerry.

I have never tried vacuum sealing- I will look into that.

I do think the caramels are probably fine without freezing, if stored well. It's a very old family recipe and I can remember my great-grandma actually coming up from the cellar in the middle of summer with caramels in hand that had been made the previous winter. They always tasted great to me!

Edited October 8, 2007 by Stacey TC (log)

[David J.]

Can I safely freeze dual layer truffles with a layer of ganache and a layer of pate de fruit or marshmallow on top?

[Kerry Beal]

I don't know the answer to this - I suspect you are going to have to do some experimenting with indivual pieces to find out.

Let us know your results.

I kind of suspect the pate de fruit is going to weep when it thaws.

[David J.]

I don't know the answer to this - I suspect you are going to have to do some experimenting with indivual pieces to find out. 

Let us know your results.

I kind of suspect the pate de fruit is going to weep when it thaws.

←

I was afraid that might be the case. I'm making several different pieces to go in a variety box and I guess that I'll just have to leave the questionable items until last so I don't have to freeze them. That way I can freeze a handfull to check it out without risking whole batches.

So, does honey freeze well? I want to add the Buckwheat Beehives to the mix and they have a center of pure honey. Or maybe if it's a butter ganache it will have a low water activity and long enough shelf life.

[Kerry Beal]

I don't know the answer to this - I suspect you are going to have to do some experimenting with indivual pieces to find out. 

Let us know your results.

I kind of suspect the pate de fruit is going to weep when it thaws.

←

I was afraid that might be the case. I'm making several different pieces to go in a variety box and I guess that I'll just have to leave the questionable items until last so I don't have to freeze them. That way I can freeze a handfull to check it out without risking whole batches.

So, does honey freeze well? I want to add the Buckwheat Beehives to the mix and they have a center of pure honey. Or maybe if it's a butter ganache it will have a low water activity and long enough shelf life.

←

I think that honey has high enough solutes that it won't actually freeze but that doesn't mean you can't put them in the freezer.

[David J.]

I picked up a cheap food vacuum system that I spotted in the local grocery store last week. Today I tripped over a thread on it in the Kitchen Consumer area: Hand-held vacuum food saver, Can it be as good as it sounds?. The gist is that people really like it so I ran out and bought one today.

It uses ZipLock style bags with a one-way valve. Here is the one gallon bag before evacuating:

The directions said to be sure part of the food projected into the special ribbed area to ensure the vacuum sealed the food well. I was worried that this would mean that the truffles in the bottom wouldn't be sealed well, but that proved to be unfounded.

After:

The final result uses up a little more space in your freezer than other methods of packing, but it really did a nice job of removing all the air from the package.

Even though the instructions tell you not to reuse the bags, I think I can get away with it for truffles. The main reason against it seems to be the idea of juices getting stuck in the ribbed area and chocolates won't have that problem. A skeptical person might suspect the real reason is to sell more bags a-la the razor blade or printer cartridge model, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

This looks to be an easy and effective method for freezing truffles. Since the vacuum is manually controled you can even stop it before it gets total in order not to crush delicate items.

[Desiderio]

Great system, let us know how they thaw out ( spelling sorry ).

[readingrilke]

Can I safely freeze dual layer truffles with a layer of ganache and a layer of pate de fruit or marshmallow on top?

←

Hello,

We did it a week ago with a couple hundred PBJ's, all we did was put them on a full sheet pan, wrap them in cling film tightly and straight into the freezer...no special bags, vacuum, etc.

Took them out and put them in the low boy over night and took them out the next morning...taste like heaven...so...go figure....

[David J.]

Can I safely freeze dual layer truffles with a layer of ganache and a layer of pate de fruit or marshmallow on top?

←

Hello,

We did it a week ago with a couple hundred PBJ's, all we did was put them on a full sheet pan, wrap them in cling film tightly and straight into the freezer...no special bags, vacuum, etc.

Took them out and put them in the low boy over night and took them out the next morning...taste like heaven...so...go figure....

←

Great! That's just what I was hoping to hear.

[miladyinsanity]

I don't know the answer to this - I suspect you are going to have to do some experimenting with indivual pieces to find out. 

Let us know your results.

I kind of suspect the pate de fruit is going to weep when it thaws.

←

I was afraid that might be the case. I'm making several different pieces to go in a variety box and I guess that I'll just have to leave the questionable items until last so I don't have to freeze them. That way I can freeze a handfull to check it out without risking whole batches.

So, does honey freeze well? I want to add the Buckwheat Beehives to the mix and they have a center of pure honey. Or maybe if it's a butter ganache it will have a low water activity and long enough shelf life.

←

I think that honey has high enough solutes that it won't actually freeze but that doesn't mean you can't put them in the freezer.

←

Umh, if it doesn't freeze, wouldn't it mean that it wouldn't weep and therefore be okay?

[Kerry Beal]

I don't know the answer to this - I suspect you are going to have to do some experimenting with indivual pieces to find out. 

Let us know your results.

I kind of suspect the pate de fruit is going to weep when it thaws.

←

I was afraid that might be the case. I'm making several different pieces to go in a variety box and I guess that I'll just have to leave the questionable items until last so I don't have to freeze them. That way I can freeze a handfull to check it out without risking whole batches.

So, does honey freeze well? I want to add the Buckwheat Beehives to the mix and they have a center of pure honey. Or maybe if it's a butter ganache it will have a low water activity and long enough shelf life.

←

I think that honey has high enough solutes that it won't actually freeze but that doesn't mean you can't put them in the freezer.

←

Umh, if it doesn't freeze, wouldn't it mean that it wouldn't weep and therefore be okay?

←

It was the pates de fruit I was concerned about the weeping with, not the honey.