Chocolate Roses

First Batch

Second Batch

This is my favorite

the first rose I made for this batch. Doesn't look like a rose though :D

Chocolate Clay/Modeling Chocolate Recipe

I started making chocolate lollipops in 2008 but felt restricted with just a few molds available in the metro. There were times when I just have to shrug off an idea because I can't find any mold of the exact shape that I want. That is until I came across several articles on the internet about Chocolate Clay. Finally, I don't have to worry about not getting the right mold for a project. Here's the base recipe that I've been following. You can make adjustments depending on your project.

Ingredients:
16 oz. chocolate (semi-sweet, milk or white chocolate will do) - chopped
1/3 c. light corn syrup
*although most of the time, I use 1 block of white chocolate (the ones that you buy from Chocolate Lovers) and 1/3 cup of corn syrup

Materials:
double broiler (or two pans - one smaller than the other)
rubber spatula (silicon preferably)
waxed paper

Other things to consider:
Room temperature and humid climate

Since I don't have double broiler, I use two Pyrex bowls (but for this post I'll be using Pyrex bowls and pans interchangeably)

Put water on larger pan (just enough so the water won't spill when you put the smaller pan inside the larger one). Don't boil - main indicator for me that the water is ready to melt my chocolates is if I can see small bubbles starting to form at the bottom of the pan. Put in your chopped chocolates. Stir constantly. Make sure you put in the large chunks first.When you notice the bottom part of the chocolate started to melt like the image below, that's the time you put in the small chunks:

Keep stirring until about half of the chocolates have melted then remove from the fire. Take the small pan out of the large one and keep stirring until you get this:

Once your chocolate reached that consistency, start pouring the corn syrup.

Make sure the corn syrup completely blends with the chocolate. Pour into the waxed paper sheet. Leave it uncovered for 2 hours.

Knead it until it becomes smooth. Put it in an air tight container and store it in room temperature. The end result should have the texture of a tootsie roll. If you want to color your chocolate clay, use oil-based coloring gel (some uses powdered food coloring too)

Chocolates

According to Wikipedia,

Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America, with its earliest documented use around 1100 BC. The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor.

Chocolates are made by harvesting Cacao pods.

Cacao pods are harvested by cutting the pods from the tree using a machete, or by knocking them off the tree using a stick. The beans with their surrounding pulp are removed from the pods and placed in piles or bins to ferment. The fermentation process is what gives the beans their familiar chocolate taste. It is important to harvest the pods when they are fully ripe because if the pod is unripe, the beans will have a low cocoa butter content, or there will be insufficient sugars in the white pulp for fermentation, resulting in a weak flavor. After fermentation, the beans must be quickly dried to prevent mold growth. Climate and weather permitting, this is done by spreading the beans out in the sun from 5 to 7 days.

It is quite a long process to produce chocolates. Variations are made based on the quantity of chocolate liquor and chocolate butter. We know that the most common ones are Dark Chocolates, Milk Chocolates and White Chocolates. I am more of a Dark Chocoholic but I'm okay with Milk or White. What about you?


 Source: Wikipedia

Welcome to Chocoholic's Haven

I love chocolate thus I am a chocoholic. I've decided that it's time to share what I love the most: eating chocolates, knowing more about chocolates and most of all, making crafts using chocolates.

Feel free to stick around! :)