Chocolates

These are rather time consuming but incredibly satisfying once you get the hang of things, and delight anyone who you give them to. They require patience and a lot of care, be warned! The key with chocolates is to use good quality, cooking chocolate such as Montezumas or Greens and Blacks.

It is hard to give exact measurements for chocolate-making, but here are the key ingredients:

  • Milk chocolate
  • Dark chocolate
  • White chocolate (probably less of this than the dark and milk)
  • Double cream
  • Optional: 'Choco Writers' - pens that allow you to write with chocolate
  • Optional: Silver balls to decorate

You will also need;

  • Small chocolate moulds
  • teaspoons and knives to put the chocolate in the moulds
  • A fridge / cold place eg. larder for the chocolates to cool and set in

Layered chocolate method:

1. Melt a small amount of the dark chocolate - you can always melt more (about 50g?) - and ensure that your moulds are entirely clean and dry, or little pockets of water can leave holes in the finished chocolate

2. with a teaspoon, pour a little chocolate into each mould, filling it a quarter to a third of the way up. Take care to pour into the centre of each mould, but if a little chocolate goes on the sides, just use a knife or (clean!) fingernail to push it back. 

 

3. Put the moulds into the fridge or cold place and wait for about 10mins until the chocolate has completely set. Meanwhile, you can melt the milk chocolate.

 

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the milk and white chocolate, but remember to complete these ASAP, so as not to melt the chocolate below it.

 

5. Wait until the chocolate has completely set before turning out onto a plate. If you have a Choco Writer and silver balls, try placing a tiny amount of chocolate onto the corner of each of your chocolates using your Writer (heated in hot water beforehand) and stick a silver ball carefully on top.

With the above chocolate I used the same method, only the other way round so I put white chocolate in first, then milk and finally dark.

Filled Ganache Chocolate method:

1. Melt a little milk chocolate in a bowl and, as before, pour a little into each mould. This time, however, use a knife to spread the chocolate around so that it coats the entire mould, with a gap in the middle to form a shell.

 

2. Leave in the fridge to cool

 

3. While the shells are setting, break up some solid dark chocolate into small pieces in a bowl. For a more solid ganache, use the same weight of chocolate and double cream, but if you want it to be smoother and softer when it sets, use slightly more cream than chocolate.

 

4. Heat the cream in a pan until it is not quite simmering, but hot enough so that you can only hold your finger in for a couple of seconds. Pour it over the broken up chocolate and stir until all of the chocolate has melted. Don't worry if it doesn't, just heat the ganache over hot water until it does.

 

5. By now the chocolate shells should be ready, so take those out of the fridge if they are and quickly put a little bit of ganache into the dip in each chocolate, not quite filling the mould to the top.

 

6. Pour with a teaspoon some more melted milk chocolate over the top of each to cover the ganache and seal the shell 

 

7. Leave in the fridge for longer than you would do normally - for 15-20mins- as it is too easy to take them out before the sides and middle have completely set and find yourself with a collapsed chocolate. 

 

If you want to, you can replace the ganache with caramel and use the same method for the shell.