Chocolates are rich, luscious offerings for the taste-buds. They are loved all over the world in form of bars, soufflés, puddings, ice-creams, milk shakes and much more.
Making chocolates at home is not as difficult as it seems. One can experiment in one’s kitchen and make as many mistakes as one wants. The trophy is the much satisfied looks on the faces of your friends and family after savouring your creations.
Here are a few tips to make chocolates at home to send chocolate hampers UK:
- Understand what is chocolate: Do you know enough about chocolate? From where it is derived, what are the different types and what are the methods used to make them. Do a bit of research from online sources/ specialty chocolate shops/ experienced chocolate makers in your friends circle and family.
- Get the tools: When doing research, also gain knowledge about tools that will be useful in making chocolates. Collect these tools over time and use them till you become a pro at making chocolates at home. Most important are chocolate moulds which can be bought at crafts stores.
- Make sure your moulds are FDA certified for safety and durability.
- Chocolates come in different flavours. Some types are dark, milk, semi sweet, white and bitter sweet. You can find them in blocks if you are not able to make them from cocoa beans.
- Sugar is an important ingredient in most recipes of chocolates. While buying from grocery stores, ensure that it does not contain any trace of salt, flour and other kitchen ingredients.
- Another crucial ingredient is unsalted butter. Salted butter can ruin the taste of the dish. You must never substitute margarine for butter, as it will stretch the cooking time since water content is much higher than butter.
- Chocolate can be liquefied in three ways: It can be heated in an oven, microwave or a double boiler. When making candy, it is useful to utilize a thermo meter such that the temperature is monitored.
- If thermometer has a bulb, ensure that it does not touch the sides of the pan because it might give a faulty reading.
- When chocolates are melted, it is time to pour into a mould. Use a teaspoon to spoon the chocolate and fill in the moulds. This is also the time to add ingredients like candy sprinkles, marshmallows and peanuts.
- If you want to remove air bubbles, hold the moulds a few centimetres above the ground and drop them on the table. This must be repeated several times so that all air bubbles are removed.
- Check on the chocolates after 5 to 10 minutes. The longer it will take for the chocolates to set when the bigger is the mould. If you spy a greying figure at the bottom, it implies that the chocolate is ready to be removed from the mould.
- After you remove chocolates from mould, place them in a serving dish or a packet which is to be given away.
- Wash the moulds with hot water, avoiding soap lest it ruins the stickiness of the moulds. They should be dried completely using a dry piece of cloth and stored safely so it looks like new when you use them again.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes: Feel free to experiment in chocolate making as it is in the privacy of your kitchen and you will learn from your mistakes. Send what you made as chocolate by post. This is a gift which will be much appreciated. For additional inspiration and tips on your chocolate-making journey, visit colourpop.org.