Did you know it’s National Chocolate Week in the UK?
To join in the festivities, here are some of the chocolates I’ve been playing with recently…
Maude’s daughter is a mad keen dragon buff, so I made her a flight of them for her birthday. I used a 50:50 blend of Callebaut 811 (54% dark) and 823 milk…
There were large Lord of the Rings’ style beasties…
…and smaller Chinese snake dragons. I love the detailing of the scales!
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This crocodile was made for a friend’s birthday, but he broke in half as he was being unmoulded – hence the join in the middle of his back. He’s made mostly of 54% dark with a little milk chocolate added for sweetness…
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Some musical instruments for Will (who plays the saxaphone) and Bethany (who’s an accomplished pianist). Small Man insisted that the trumpet was his alone…
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As I’ve mentioned before, I buy almost all my moulds from Candyland Crafts in the US. The shipping to Australia is expensive, but the moulds themselves are just $1.99 each – cheap enough to splurge on a new one for each occasion. The detailing and quality are astonishing for the price.
I was placing an order for Christmas moulds and couldn’t resist picking up this 3D chef to make a gift for my friends at Chefs’ Warehouse…
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Learning to temper chocolate takes a little practice, but once you find a technique that works for you, you’ll never be caught short for a last minute gift again.
I wrote up the method I use here, but it’s a little fiddly. If you google tempering, you’ll find easier techniques, which usually involve melting two-thirds of the chocolate and then stirring in the remainder until the right temperature is achieved. You might also find this article by David Lebovitz useful. It’s all about trial and error – and in this case, all the mistakes are delicious!
Remember, getting chocolate to temper is reasonably easy, but keeping it there is tricky. Dark chocolate needs to go into the mould while it’s between 88 – 90F (milk chocolate: 86 – 88F), but if it cools below that, it can drop out of temper and won’t set properly. The real secret to success is to find a way to keep the chocolate at the right temperature while you work it. I use heat mats for this purpose – I like the Australian-made ones from Shin Bio, but my friend Christina tells me that a hot wheat pack wrapped in a plastic bag works just as well.
Hope you all enjoy National Chocolate Week – and thanks to the Frugal Feeding Blog and C from Cake, Crumbs and Cooking for the headsup!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Love to see your candy!
I’m just so bad with chocolate and molds- in fact the last two time I tried to use white chocolate to dip cookies into, it seized up and became a nasty mess. And my chocolate always blooms- it comes out of the mold fine, but within a couple of days, it has that filmy look. So- I’m sticking with bread.
:)
Heidi, that’s exactly what happens when the chocolate isn’t in temper – if it’s not at exactly the right temperature (within a range of a couple of degrees), it either won’t come out of the moulds cleanly, or if it does it will bloom fairly soon after. It’s quite fiddly! I find white chocolate particularly difficult to work, as the temperatures need to be cooler than dark or milk, and I always end up scorching it (which is probably the one time when the mistakes really aren’t edible!).
Those dragons are absolutely amazing!!! Every time you post one of your chocolate adventures, I decide that I just need to get brave and try it…but it hasn’t happened yet….soon! :)
Abby, the thing I like best is the huge range of moulds, which lets me make a custom gift for friends. Recently I made a chocolate electric guitar for Ben, to keep him going while he’s saving up for a real one.. ;-)
These are beautiful Celia – you must be incredibly popular if you give these as gifts. Hope you had a nice break.
Thanks Sally, it was a nice break! :) I don’t know if I’m popular, but the presents certainly are! :)
Wonderful dragons, I wouldn’t mind one of those flying past me – You are so good with those moulds. It looks effortless !
I have never truly managed to temper chocolate, I don’t have the patience and the skill. I hadn’t heard of Chocolate Week till Suelle and C left comments on my blog recently saying they were doing things for it… I looked it up this morning – apparently it started up about eight years ago with Divine Chocolate as the main sponsor. Lots of chocolate companies involved and events and so on. Lovely for chocoholics :D
Jo, I remember you doing a good job with chocolate tempering! :)
Here’s my favourite dragon movie ever..
Ooh! That’s a bit exciting !!! Never seen that one. Thank you :) The only one I see regularly is the one in the current TV show Merlin, who is voiced by John Hurt. I am bored by the show (it is only very loosely based on the Arthurian tales) but John Hurt is very convincing as a gravelly voiced dragon.
Having said that… Dan Lepard has just advanced tweeted/teased us with next Saturday’s Guardian recipe…. A meringue based chocolate mousse and checkerboard biscuits. I’m a bit over excited now… !!
I’d love to know what a checkerboard biscuit is! Is that like a battenburg cake?
Couldn’t post the link from the iPad for some reason but here is a link to Dan’s flickr photo of the upcoming delight http://www.flickr.com/photos/danlepard/6234177901/
Oooh, they look great!! I’ll have to check out the recipe on Saturday, those biscuits look particularly appealing… thank you! :)
Lovely, I can just hear the crackle as I bite into these chokkies in my mind.
Lizzy, thanks for stopping by! These chocs don’t crackle, but I did make some that did a little while ago.. ;-)
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/07/17/paillete-feuilletine-and-fair-trade-chocolate/
You are clever Celia – they look beautiful as ever. I particularly like those dragons, and totally agree about the detail – amazing! Mustn’t click through to that website for ordering the moulds though (well, perhaps not until payday!)
Thank you for the lovely link :-)
C, I’m really looking forward to what you’ll be baking this week! :)
I love the crocodile. What great moulds. The idea of tempering chocolate makes me very nervous but like you say, even your failures will be delicious so why not just have a go.
Hi Charlie, thanks for stopping by! The only time you can’t eat your failures is if you overheat the chocolate to start with and scorch it. Then it tastes like charcoal! ;-)
National chocolate week? Well then it’s our patriotic duty to eat as much as we can!What fun shapes! Of course the chef is my favourite :) but the rest are so cool to, great job.
Yes, as a Commonwealth nation, we should support all UK national events! ;-) The chef was fiddly to work – he didn’t end up as hollow as I’d hoped, and the first two attempts didn’t fill the mould properly, so we had a couple of half-chefs to eat.. ;-)
I will try tempering chocolate some day I hope, but in the meantime it is fun to see all your beautiful creations. The dragons are so cool. The large one does look like a perfect Smog (dragon from the Hobbit). How nice of you to make little chefs for the people at the Warehouse. I’ll bet they will be surprised!
Melanie, he’s a perfect LOTR dragon, don’t you think? The guys at Chefs loved the chefs – I only wish my chocolate making skills were good enough to make a chocolate chef that would stand up! Mine kept falling over! :)
Don’t you just love a country that has a National Chocolate Week? I discovered this about the UK last year and have been sulking a little ever since as we don’t have one. Of course, as a truly devoted chocolate fan I try to celebrate it in some small way on most days of the year! ;-)
Wise words, A, every day should be chocolate day.. :)
It sounds very technical!
Those moulds are just beautiful. I can’t believe the detail in them. You have very lucky friends! I can’t wait to see the Christmas chocolates.
Oooh Claire, I’ve found a mould I really like for Christmas this year! It’s fun to be able to try something new each year!
Love that crocodile. Think you should put crunchy bits in it next time….he looks too “smooth” right now….
He’s covered in bumpy scaly ridges! :)
I meant “smooth” as in slick. Crocodiles should have crunch…it suits their personality. I think with all these shapes the flavour should suit the personality of the animal/mineral/vegetable that they are representing. Just my humble opinion from the sidelines…and a little challenge for you! :)
They all look wonderful, especially the shiny scales of the dragons.
I still hyperventilate a little at the the thought of tempering, maybe it’s something I’ll revisit in say…ten years!
Brydie, I know you’ve got it nailed! It can be really daunting the first few times, but it becomes second nature pretty quickly. I taught my friend Christina a few months ago, and since then she’s gone through a 10kg bag of Belgian chocolate! :)
Must have known this, just bought bucket load, literally….of 5kg Weiss a French Dark choc 72% – packed in a black rectangular bucket with handle. Will take photo, such a handy re-usable container.
I’ve never heard of Weiss before, Roz, I’ll have to check it out! Thanks!
Yep. Lots of chocolate for me!
Your chocolate is so beautifully glossy, very nicely tempered!
Yep. I bet you’re LOVING chocolate week, girlfriend! Enjoy! :)
they look STUNNING! my 8 year old has been reading the How to Train Your Dragon and would love me to tackle dragons – but I’m yet to achieve tempering! My attempts are always startlingly BAD tempered!
Bad, but I’ll bet they were delicious, Anne! :) We didn’t see How to Train Your Dragon, but apparently the movie was wonderful!
You do such incredible things with chocolate. I love the musical instruments.
Thanks Norma! The musoes loved their musical instruments too! :)
what a great idea you have there in making personalised chocolates as gifts..you’re very thoughtful celia..:)
That’s very kind of you, thanks Jane! :)
LOL I love that crocodile mold! Who knew that they even made them? :)
You should see all the Halloween moulds they have, Lorraine! :)
I don’t need an excuse to eat chocolate – but this week I will make an extra special effort :)
Good on you, Tandy, any excuse to each chocolate is a good one! :)
LOL Celia – luckily children don’t care too much if the results aren’t great!
we absolutely adore the How to Train your Dragon books – they are really gory in a way that totally appeals to 8 year old boys, and full of helpful information about vikings, pirates and, of course, dragons!! The movie was good, but as always, pretty disappointing after reading the books and a bit annoying that they compressed heaps of different stories into one movie. Still, would recommend it – Toothless the lazy and annoying dragon is a very funny character!!
Will have to try the heat mat before I give up entirely on achieving well tempered chocolate – I love your pics as they give me hope that ONE day I can tackle it.
Anne, I hope you give it a go! Chocolate tempering is simply about getting the chocolate to a particular temperature and keeping it there while you work it! A thermometer and something to keep the chocolate warm are all you really need! :)
Wow, those dragons are exquisite!
I cannot wait to go to the Chocolate Show tomorrow! Yay for Chocolate Week! Maybe you and the other Aussies here should start having chocolate events of your own…
Kate, lucky you! I hope you have a wonderful time at the show! :)
MMMMMMMMM,…all of your home made chocolats look so tasty & alternative!!
I love the special moulds,..;How cool is that?!!! :)
Sophie, I love being able to buy a mould for someone special to make a customised gift for them! I’ve made chocolate racing cars for my friend Pete, musical instruments and notes for the school music teachers, little donkey chocolates for Ben, and fire engines for little James! :)
Celia, these look fantastic! I’d love to give chocolate tempering a go, but I am a bit nervous about it all. I was looking at the site for the moulds, and I can’t find anywhere a ball park figure on international postage. Can you give me a rough estimate on the price of shipping to Aus?
Thanks,
– E.
E, the shipping varies depending on how many you order and whether or not they can get them under certain weight limits. Over a certain number and they have to be shipped express, which costs a lot more. Last time I ordered 20 moulds and the shipping was about $25 airmail. I’ve also seen chocolate moulds available at kitchenware stores locally, but never with the extensive range that I can get from Candyland Crafts. Hope this helps and you get a chance to give the tempering a go! :)
Wonderful chocolates Celia and you are such a fabulous friend. As you know I was keen to master tempering this year, but I haven’t got any nearer to it yet or bought myself a thermometer and now I hear you talk of heat mats, I’m getting even more risk averse – I haven’t quite given up hope though ;-)
Choc, don’t let the idea daunt you – a little bit of kit and you’re good to go! Thermometers are cheap now, and wheat packs are everywhere for a few dollars.. :)
Amazing job with these..I love how you did it!!!!
Thanks Sandra! :)