Artisan Chocolates - Handmade
Deborah Liu | Mommy School
Our kids love chocolate. When I found some cute silicone candy molds online, we decided to try making homemade chocolates. That is when the adventure started. And I do mean adventure in the truest sense.
Before you start, you need to decide one important thing.
- Tempering your own chocolate - It is hard, messy, but fun. It also provides a great science lesson.
- Working with candy melts - This way is easier and probably better if you have young children
Tempering Chocolate
If you temper your own chocolate, expect this to take some time. There are a few ways to do this, and I tried them two of them. Each has its pros and cons. You can just melt your own chocolate and then put them in the molds but it comes out a bit dull and sticky unless your refrigerate it. So try tempering to get real artisan style chocolates, and as an added bonus, it is less messy when you consume it.
Here is a link to The Best Way to Temper Chocolate My recommendation? If you want to temper chocolate, use the sou vide if you have one, but otherwise try the microwave or stove way.
Working with Candy Melts
Working with candy melts is much simpler than tempering real chocolate. Chocolate contains cocoa butter which is why it needs tempering to set properly. Candy melts are made of another fat like vegetable oil to make it easier to work with. Wilton makes a popular one which is easy to find at places like your local craft or big box store.
Place the chocolate into a plastic bag and cut the tip. Firmly pipe the chocolate into the silicone molds. Tap firmly to get air pockets out. Let it harden a bit, and then scrape the excess chocolate off the back with a bench scraper. Place in the fridge for 10 to 15 mins and allow to harden.
Molding Chocolates
Once your kids have mastered the solid chocolates, you can teach them to create filled ones. Here is a great tutorial on making filled chocolates. I like Nutella as a ready made filling. Just fill the chocolate molds the same way as above, but let it rest in the fridge for 3 minutes. Then turn it upside down to remove the excess chocolate and leave behind the shell. Scrape the back of the mold to flatten the back. Then pipe more chocolate to the back of the molds. Let it rest for 3 more minutes and scrape the back again to flatten it down.
Let it all set in the fridge until completely solid which usually takes about an hour. Remove and tap out the chocolates onto a flat surface like a cookie sheet. And viola you have filled chocolates.
