Chocolate Making Recipes: Tips for Great Gifts This Year
To start, you will need chocolate that can be made into candy with the minimum of fuss. Some brands that I suggest are Guittard A'peels, Melt n' Mold Chocolate or Mercken's. These products are ideal for most basic chocolate making recipes and work effectively in molding products, as well, since they don't require the chocolate to be tempered once it has been melted. If you opt for a chocolate such as Callebaut, which contains a higher cocoa content, getting great results means you must temper the chocolate after it has been melted. This adds time and ups the level of difficulty and potentially, frustration. Worry about working with these grades of chocolate after mastering the basic process, first. Chocolate based recipes require you to first melt the chocolate, which can be done in one of two ways. The first way is to boil water in the bottom bowl of a double boiler and then remove this immediately from the heat source.
The chocolate is then put in the top section of the double boiler where it is stirred until it melts completely. Make sure that no water is added to the chocolate as it will ruin the consistency, and only apply enough heat so as to melt the chocolate; never cook it. Another method used to melt chocolate is using a microwave. Set the microwave on high heat for sixty seconds while allowing the chocolate to melt in a microwave proof bowl. You can repeat this process every 30 seconds as needed until the chocolate has reached the desired consistency. Because not all microwaves are the same, make sure you adjust these instructions to fit the peculiarities of your own appliance. Easy Chocolate Making Recipes You Can Do at Home Nut clusters are made using whole skinless nuts or chopped nuts and adding them to your melted chocolate. You can use small candy cups as molds or simply place the clusters directly on a cookie sheet, where they should be refrigerated for at least fifteen minutes. You also may enjoy "haystacks" with your chocolate which is done by adding shredded coconut. Ingredients such as popcorn, pieces of dried fruit, or any other ideas that may strike your fancy can be mixed in the melted chocolate. If you are making candy without molds, this is the quickest and easiest way to produce your chocolate making recipes without the extra equipment. Another delicious idea is to take ridged potato chips and dip them halfway into the chocolate. BBQ flavored potato chips may also appeal to some people's tastes; try different flavors! Use your imagination to come up with other tantalizing combinations for chocolate making recipes that appeal to you. Chocolate Making Recipes Using Flat Candy Molds Using a squeeze bottle or a teaspoon, fill each cavity in a flat style chocolate mold. When they are all full, gently tap the mold on the counter top or other hard surface. This will cause any little air bubbles to surface. If you want to make chocolate suckers or lollipops, you simply use your hard candy lollipop molds. Just make sure that you place the sticks in the chocolate with a twist. This helps the chocolate "stick" better. As instructed earlier, always gently tap the filled mold, making sure to not dislodge the sticks. Then, take your molds and place them carefully into the fridge to help them cool and set. While cooling, the candy shrinks slightly. This enables the candy to slide right out of the mold once it has cooled and is ready. Use a paper or cloth towel to place them on while removing the candy from the molds to keep them from breaking. You don't want all your hard work to break or dent at this point. If you have a difficult time removing the chocolate, give them a little extra time in the refrigerator.
For molds with more detailed designs, you may find they offer a slightly more difficult time when extracting the chocolate. Just be cautious, and either refrigerate them longer, or be very gentle in separating them. For decorations, you can make colored chocolate and squiggle it on with your squeeze bottle or dribble it from a spoon. Or, roll them in sprinkles, shredded coconut, cocoa powder, finely crushed nuts, or whatever suits your fancy to decorate your yummy candy; the delicious possibilities for your chocolate making recipes are as unlimited as your imagination!
