Chocolate

Chocolate snowflakes are easy to make using only a few tools:

• piping bag
• #2 piping tip
• chocolate
• silicone mat

See video here.

How to make chocolate snowflakes

1. Melt your chocolate in 30 second intervals until it’s fully melted. Use a spoon to mix your chocolate in between intervals. You’ll only need 1/4-1/3 cup of chocolate to make lots of chocolate snowflakes.
2. Place your piping tip into a piping bag. Put the piping bag over the edges of a tall glass.
3. Pour the melted chocolate into the piping bag.
4. Cut the piping bag tip and twist the end of the piping bag to get it ready for piping.
5. Begin piping the snowflakes. Touch the tip to your silicone mat, pipe it so it’s a bit of a thick circle.
6. Lift the tip of the piping bag and make a line. Push out a bit more chocolate so it matches the other end of the snowflake.
7. Make 2 lines perpendicular. Make 2 more lines diagonally for a total of 6 branches on your chocolate snowflake.
8. Add tiny branches to all of the chocolate snowflake arms.
9. Place the snowflake in the freezer for 20 minutes to set it.
10. Gently peel the chocolate snowflake from the silicone mat. Do not hold the chocolate snowflake for a very long time in your hand or it will start to melt.
11. Store your chocolate snowflakes in an airtight container.

What kind of chocolate do you need to make chocolate snowflakes

You can use any type of melting wafers for your chocolate snowflakes. Melt the chocolate down in a microwave bowl. Only microwave the chocolate for 30 seconds at a time. Stir the chocolate in between. This will prevent the chocolate from burning.

Why do you need to place chocolate snowflakes in the freezer to set?

The freezer sets the chocolate much faster than the fridge. The chocolate snowflake will be much easier to handle after coming out of the freezer since they will be a lower temperature than the fridge.

Can you use chocolate snowflakes on the Christmas tree

You can use chocolate snowflakes on the Christmas tree by placing an extra O shape on one of the arms of the branch. Thread a small ribbon through the O and you can place your edible snowflake on the Christmas tree.

Learn how to make your own chocolate leaves, fancy chocolate decorations, or chocolate writing at home.

Chocolate bark is tempered chocolate that looks like tree bark from the foods put into the chocolate.

The foods are placed on the top of the chocolate so they only sit in about half way in the chocolate.

The foods are generally not mixed into the chocolate. Since the foods are placed on top of the chocolate it gives more of a colorful look to the chocolate which makes it eye batching.

Chocolate bark uses tempered chocolate because the chocolate becomes easy to bite into and gives it a shiny look to it. Tempered chocolate isn’t as hard to bite into as just melted chocolate that has hardened.

See video here.

Chocolate bark topping ideas

• almonds
• cashews
• peanuts
• walnuts
• pecans
• pistachios
• dried cranberries
• dried apricots
• dried figs
• toffee pieces
• pretzels
• sprinkles
• candy cane pieces
• marshemallows

How to Make Chocolate Bark

1. Gather your ingredients you are planning to put into your chocolate bark. Prepare them accordingly – chop, dice, slice your foods so they are ready to put into your chocolate bark.
2. Line a baking pan with a silicone pastry mat.
3. Temper your chocolate.
4. Pour the tempered chocolate onto your silicone pastry mat.
5. Spread the chocolate out to the thinness you would like using a spatula. Try to make the edges full – not too thin of chocolate. Use the spatula to rim the edge of the chocolate if you have to, to make the edge thicker with chocolate. This will be helpful when breaking apart the chocolate bark later.
6. Sprinkle your ingredients onto the chocolate bark. Do not press the foods into the chocolate. Try to make sure ingredients an even distribution throughout the chocolate.
7. Keep the chocolate at room temperature while it’s curing. It will take about an hour to solidify.
8. Once the chocolate is a solid brick, peel the chocolate off the pastry mat. break the chocolate bark apart by using your hands to gently break off bits of chocolate that are about 2-3″. You want the chocolate bark to be big enough for someone to have a couple of bites.
9. Keep the chocolate bark stored at room temperature. It should stay good for minimum 4 weeks.

How to cut chocolate bark

Chocolate bark is cut but simply breaking the chocolate apart with your hands. This gives the chocolate bark more of an ununiform look to it, which is more desirable for serving. Chocolate bark is more of a creative dessert, therefore the uneven edges fits the look of chocolate bark than just cutting it into squares or rectangles.

How to keep chocolate bark from melting

To keep chocolate bark from melting, temper your chocolate before you make your chocolate bark. Tempered chocolate has a melting temperature of 37 degrees Celsius.

Do not keep your chocolate bark in the fridge or freezer, or this will bring the fat droplets to the edge of the chocolate turning it white.

Chocolate bark thins recipe

A delicious bark thins recipe is using toffee pieces and sea salt on top of dark tempered chocolate. Salted caramel and chocolate has complimenting flavors that go well together.

Chocolate bark can be made into a thins recipe by spreading the chocolate as thin as possible until it’s about 2-3 mm in height off of your silicone pastry mat.

Make sure you temper your chocolate first, then using a spatula, spread the chocolate thin. Add your favorite foods on top of the chocolate and let it set. Break apart the thin chocolate bark gently. Do not be too aggressive with it, or your topping with fall out of the chocolate.

Chocolate bark packaging ideas

Chocolate bark can be packaged a few different ways to give it an eye catching look to it.

• stack the chocolate bark on top of one another. Wrap the bark in cellophane and tie with a ribbon
• place the chocolate bark in a themed tin – Christmas, birthday, etc. Arrange the chocolate bark in the tin so it’s fanned out.
• put the chocolate bark in a glass – this could be a wine glass, drinking glass, etc. Have it stacked sideways in the glass. Wrap the glass in cellophane and tie with a ribbon.
• place the chocolate bark in an airtight container – decorate the container with a few decals

Chocolate bark gifts

Chocolate bark is an easy, beautiful, homemade gift you can give to a friend or family member. Making chocolate bark for gifts is thoughtful, and many people love having a handmade gift given to them over something purchased. This gives your gift more of a personal touch.

The science behind tempering chocolate comes at the cellular level between breaking and reforming bonds of crystals.

When chocolate is in a solid brick form, the fat particles of the cocoa butter are in a crystalized hard form. 

When the crystals are warmed, the cocoa butter makeup breaks apart these hard bonds to create a liquid state. 

Once the chocolate is allowed to cool, the bonds will form a more solid structure again.

Types of Crystals in Chocolate

There are 5 different types of crystals that can form and allow the chocolate to have different properties. 

If the melting temperature is too low, the chocolate will be crumbly and melt very easily. (Crystal type I)

If the melting temperature is too hot, the chocolate will be too hard. (Crystal type VI)

Chocolate that contains more cocoa butter will melt at a lower temperature.

Chocolate varies in their fat content, milk fat content, and shape of the fat molecules at a cellular level.

The best chocolate is made with Crystal type V.

Melting temperature for tempered chocolate

The melting temperature for Crystal type V in tempered chocolate is 34 degrees Celsius.

Tempering chocolate with Crystal type V will give the chocolate that shiny and solid chocolate you’re looking for.

After chocolate has been tempered, chocolate will melt around 37 degrees Celsius.

How long does tempered chocolate last

Tempered chocolate should last up to a year.

Tempering chocolate temperatures

1. Chocolate is warmed to 45 degrees Celcius to melt all of the 6 types of crystals apart.
2. Chocolate is cooled to 27 degrees Celsius. This process forms Crystals type IV and V. 
3. Chocolate is heated to 31 degrees Celsius. This gets rid of Crystal type IV chocolate and leaves Crystal type V chocolate only.

How to tell if chocolate is tempered

To tell if chocolate is tempered, look at the appearance of it. If the chocolate looks shiny and glossy it is tempered.

The chocolate should hold well at room temperature, and only begin melting at around 37 degrees Celsius.

How to store chocolate in summer

Store chocolate in the summer by placing it in an area that is between 15-17 degrees Celsius. You might store it in a crawl space, your basement, or a lower floor of your house. 

The ideal humidity for chocolate storage is <50%. This can be difficult in the summer, so try to put it in an airtight container to lower the humidity in the air around the chocolate.

How to use silicone molds for chocolate

Use silicone molds for chocolate by placing them right side up on your counter.

1. Once your silicone molds are in a clear work space, temper your chocolate.
2. Pour the chocolate into the molds. 
3. If you’re filling the chocolates with a filling, only pour the chocolate molds half full. Tip the chocolate mold around to get the entire mold covered in chocolate. Place the mold in the fridge until the chocolate hardens.
4. Remove the chocolate from the fridge. Gently spoon or pipe the filling into the molds, leaving a small gap to add more chocolate to the mold.
5. Retemper your chocolate. Pour the tempered chocolate overtop of the filling. Scrape the excess chocolate using a knife. Place the chocolates in the fridge until hardened.
6. Remove the chocolate from the fridge. Gently push the chocolate out of the silicone mold from the opposite side. 

How to store tempered chocolate

Store the tempered chocolate at 15-17 degrees Celsius in humidity of <50% for your chocolate to stay good up for a year. Place the chocolate in an airtight container. Chocolate can absorb aromas around it, so this will keep the chocolate from tasting anything like it should.

Why does chocolate turn white

Chocolate turns white from absorbing moisture in the air from refrigeration or freezing the chocolate. This causes the fat particles in the chocolate to come to the surface, giving the chocolate a white look to it.

To make your own chocolate spirals at home, you’ll need a potato peeler, and your choice of chocolate. Select a piece of chocolate that has a long edge to it – at least 2-3”. This because, the only the chocolate edge, the bigger your chocolate spiral will be.

See video here.

Remove your chocolate from it’s packaging, hold the chocolate in your hand so the longer edge is on top. Holding the chocolate steady, go in a quick motion by using the potato peeler to peel away from the chocolate to create a chocolate spiral. You should get the hang of it after a couple of chocolate spirals.

Experiment with different speeds to see how fast you ideally need to go.

For a shorter chocolate spiral, use the shorter end of the chocolate.

Make sure your fingers are no where near the potato peeler is going to go when you’re peeling the chocolate layers away. Even though potato peelers are not that sharp, it does still have the potential to cut you if you’re not careful.