Chocolate Covering
In the United States chocolate covering is very easy to find all over the place, however it is almost impossible to find in Great Britain, the only way to get it is through a few companies that specialize in sending it through mail. You can however, make your own chocolate substitute for covering a pastry by using bitter sweet chocolate with a high proportion of cacao solid and by adding twenty five grams of white vegetable oil for each 175 – 225 grams of chocolate. To make it a bit sweeter, add a bit of sugar glace. Besides home made bonbons you can make, if you so wish, some very simple chocolates or candy bars by dipping fruit and dry fruit in the chocolate.
Dry fruit can be quite difficult to hold onto but the bigger ones such as Brazilian nuts can be held with tongs and the smaller fruit such as hazelnuts and almonds can be held with fine tweezers. Once the fruit has been covered hold them over a bowl and let the extra chocolate drip before placing them to dry on a piece of wax paper.
There is also other great fruit that can be used to dip in chocolate such as strawberries, grapes, cherries, etc., if the fruit has a stem dip the fruit into the chocolate by holding on to the stem; if not you can use olive toothpicks. Only dip half of the fruit in the chocolate; then let it drip and place it to dry on wax paper. Since fruit has a lot of water in it, these little snacks do not conserve very well and it is necessary to eat them within a twenty-four hour period.
Decorating With Chocolate
Chocolate can be quite lovely to use to make decorations giving them a very nice look, not only to chocolate dishes but to pastries and desserts as well
Grated Chocolate: This is the easiest of all the chocolate decorations; simply grate the chocolate using a grater with thicker holes directly over the dessert you want to decorate.
Chocolate Curls: Use a potato peeler on the back of a thick chocolate bar; previously make sure the chocolate isn’t too cold as it will cause the curls to break, and make sure it is not too hot either as this will just cause the curls to not keep their shape.
Chocolate Leaves: In order to obtain this shape you can use any shape of leaves that are not toxic and that have very defined nerves; the leaves from a rose bush are perfect for this for example. Place the inferior part of the leaves on the melted chocolate and then place them over wax paper. Allow them to dry until the chocolate has hardened; then separate the leaves from the chocolate and throw the leaves away.
Chocolate Caraque: This is the professional version of chocolate curls. Melt the chocolate and then spread it with a butter knife over your working surface; make sure it has about half a centimeter of thickness. Allow it to harden and then hold the knife at a forty-five degree angle and use it to scratch at the chocolate opposite your direction forming long chocolate curls. Make sure to handle them with a lot of care as they are very fragile and break very easily.
Desserts Recipes How to Melt Chocolate Chocolate Pastries Hot Chocolate Drinks Cold Chocolate Drinks Chocolate Liqueurs
