HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY
ISN’T THIS PAGE LOOKS WONDERFUL?
DO YOU THINK THESE ARE THE RESULTS OF HARD LABOR?
YOU COULD NOT BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH
Color Shell-molded Chocolates
When you look at these chocolates you immediately thinking about the hard work the producer had to go through to create these beauties.
I have no other response, except repeating the previous sentence:
YOU COULD NOT BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH
Here is what you need:
- A professional chocolate mold with heart-shape design
- Good quality chocolates: Dark, milk and white
- For the filling, whatever you like to flavor the basic ganache with (i.e. fruit purees, various nuts, liquors, coconuts, coffee, etc.)
- Food Coloring (preferably powder forms)
- Cocoa butter
- Transfer Sheets
- Chocolate Spatulas
Preparation
If you want to be real fancy, you could purchase an airbrush machine. You have more option with the machine because you can control the spraying.
Anyway, most of the chocolates that you see here are finger-painted. What that means?
You can either use just cocoa butter that you warm up and mix with the food colors to obtain the desired colors.
I used white chocolate mixed with the food colors.
Once I obtained the desired color, I took a clean mold, dipped my finger (please use disposable gloves on your hand) into the chocolate and started creating designs with my fingers that contained the colorful chocolate inside the cavities of the mold.
I let the chocolate settle at room temperature for a few hours; if refrigerated 30 minutes is sufficient.
Then I took the desired chocolate (dark, milk, or white) that is tempered and proceeded to create molded chocolates.
First I poured the melted, tempered chocolate into the mold and filled all the cavities to the top. Then turned the mold upside down to pour out the excess chocolate (you can tap on the side of the mold to make sure to get rid of all the excess) and let the mold rest on a wire, face down, so that excess chocolate continues to drip out of the cavities and also to cover the walls of the cavities with the chocolate to the rim.
After about 2 hours at room temperature, I turned the molds back up (cavities facing me) and piped in the desired ganache filling that I prepared while the molds were resting. You should leave, about 1/8 inch from the top free from the filling to leave space for the closure.
Now you let the chocolate in the mold rest for 12 hours.
After 12 hours, you pour the melted, tempered chocolate over the filling, remove the excess with the chocolate spatula and let the chocolate settle for about 1 hour in the refrigerator.
After 1 hour, take the mold out of the refrigerator, turn it upside down, tap the mold on its side a bit and Walla! The bonbons will fall out of the mold.
You should have beautiful, shiny, bonbons on the tabletop, or wherever you have unmolded the bonbons.
Purchase a professional grade mold, buy top quality chocolate, including lots of white chocolate, food colorings (I like either powder form or color emulsion), cocoa butter – this is what we call finger painting
MORE LATER…
