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 Making
Chocolates Introduction
Refined
to a specialist culinary art, making chocolates by hand blends the best
ingredients available to mouthwatering perfection. Texture, aroma,
presentation and above all taste have to be just right to make a chocolate
irresistible.
Origins
Cocoa was first brought to Europe from Mexico and parts of
South America by the Spanish invaders and later from West Africa, Ghana
and Nigeria in particular. Cocoa was first drunk in Spain 400 years ago.
But it wasn’t until the early 19th century that a successful
formula for making solid eating chocolate was discovered.
Since then, the craft of the chocolatier has become refined
into a specialist culinary art. French, Belgian and Swiss chocolates in
particular are renowned worldwide.
 Basic
techniques
Cocoa plants – Cocoa tree thrive in the hot, wet climates
of West Africa and South America. The fruit of the tree, or bean pod,
contains the seeds, called cocoa beans. The beans are removed from the pod
and put out in a dry warn place. The initial stages of fermentation and
drying and the subsequent factory processes of roasting and mixing are
important as it is these that give the final product its chocolate colour.
While the beans are roasted, to develop flavour and aroma,
the shells are winnowed (removed). Inside the beans are nibs. These are
ground into two products, chocolate liquor (ground particles) and cocoa
butter (the natural oil of the cocoa bean). From these, various types of
chocolate are produced.
Dark chocolate – More cocoa butter is added plus sugar and
a tiny amount of lecithin ( an emulsifier to make the chocolate smoother
and easier to work) and vanilla. A cocoa percentage of 55%, with 45%
sugar, makes strong, expensive chocolate.
Milk chocolate – More cocoa butter is added, plus sugar,
condensed or powdered milk and a tiny amount of lecithin and vanilla. A
cocoa percentage of 40%, with 60% sugar and milk, makes a strong milk
chocolate.
White chocolate – The chocolate liquor is removed. Sugar,
condensed or powdered milk and a very small amount of lecithin and vanilla
are added. So it’s hardly chocolate at all/
The couverture – The chocolate used by chocolatiers is
known as couverture. It has slightly more butter added, to make it more
fluid and easier to work.
Working with chocolate requires a lot of practise. Under a
microscope one can see that cocoa butter consists of crystals (not sugar
but fat crystals) which can be in several shapes and sizes,
‘Tempering’ chocolate (i.e. heating and cooling it to specific
temperatures) ensures as high a proportion as possible of one specific,
stable form of crystal. This will give a uniform shiny, ‘snappy’
chocolate.
This stable crystal arrangement is easily upset, spoiling the
whole look and taste, so the chocolatier must be extremely careful. Heat
and moisture are the main elements which the chocolatier must handle with
extreme care. Too much heat will produce a grey, speckled, mottled
appearance known as ‘fat bloom’. Moisture will irreversibly affect the
structure of the crystals (not the fat crystals) to re-form into larger
shapes.
Storing chocolate correctly is particularly important.
‘Sugar bloom’ (when white spots appear on the outside of the
chocolate), can appear due to moisture. This may happen, for example, when
chocolates are stored in the fridge.
Making chocolates by hand is an expensive business and very
labour intensive. It’s important to get the shine, no air holes and just
the right thickness. Corners are cut, but the product won’t be as good;
even the inexperienced taster will detect the difference.
Making the chocolates – There are two methods of making
chocolates: the enrobing method which makes chocolates with a smooth,
creamy, but slightly firm filling and a covering of tempered chocolate;
and the moulding method for soft fillings.
Making ganache – Ganache is a smooth, creamy filling made
by heating chocolate, double cream and a little butter. The proportion of
each ingredient will vary according to the preferences of the maker.
The key to a delicious ganache lies in the subtle flavouring
which is blended into this rich mixture. To discover the perfect balance
of ingredients needed to create a sensational mint, coffee or fruit
flavouring can take months if not years of experimentation and practise.
Flavour is not all, the ganache also must be of a smooth but firm
consistency.
This mixture needs to be turned into slabs so that it can be
cut into individual pieces. To do this, the molten ganache is poured into
stainless steel frames sitting on greaseproof paper. The ganache is
smoothed flat with a palette knife and covered with greaseproof paper. It
then goes into the cold room to set or several hours. Once set, if the
ganache is not to be used immediately, it is covered with cling film in
order to retain moisture.
Once ready to use, the ganache slab is cut with a special
guillotine into squares or rectangles (a knife may be used). Other shapes
like stars can be formed using shaped cutters, or rounds can be fashioned
with the hands – provided one is working in a cool room!
Enrobing – The next stage is the coating, known as the
‘enrobing’. It is important in this final stage, that the chocolate is
well tempered.
To do this, a bain marie is used (or a pan on top of a second
pan which contains boiling water). There must be enough melted couverture
to allow the ganache squares to be completely covered. A minimum depth of
four inches of chocolate is therefore needed.
If dark chocolate is being worked, it must be heated
carefully to 45ºC, unless the instructions indicate that a higher
temperature (up to 55ºC) is acceptable.
The temperature can be tested with a thermometer, or by rule
of thumb using a palette knife dipped into the molten chocolate and put to
the lip. If it’s warm to hot, but not scalding, that’s about right. It
is impossible to produce a shiny, snappy finish on chocolate which has
been overheated.
The heat is then reduced. The chocolatier does this by
pouring the molten chocolate onto a marble slab. He then spreads the
mixture out across the cold surface using a metal slice, then gathers it
back into a small chocolate lake. Once it is cool enough, the viscous mass
is swept back into the bowl.
The temperature is raised again slightly, to bring the
chocolate to a workable state, and enrobing can begin.
A piece of ganache is put in the coating chocolate. A special
fork with long, thin prongs is used to manipulate the ganache in the
chocolate. When the ganache is completely covered, the fork is tapped
lightly on the side of the pan to get rid of the excess coating, and the
fork is scraped over the rim of the pan to remove the excess chocolate
from the base. The ganache must be completely covered, as this coating
acts as an insulator and prevents it from going off. The chocolate is then
transferred to a sheet of greaseproof paper.
Any decoration is done at this stage while the chocolate is
still molten. A raised diagonal line is created by laying the side of the
fork on the chocolate, then lifting the fork slightly and sliding it off
the chocolate. Whirls or button shapes can be created with a piping bag.
White chocolate piped the length of a dark chocolate is effective, as is
milk chocolate piped onto a dark chocolate.
A very shiny finish can be obtained if the tempered chocolate
is in contact with a hard, smooth surface when setting, such as when
plastic moulds are used.
Soft Fillings – For chocolates with a liquid or liqueur
filling, the moulding method is used. For this a set of moulds is
required. The individual moulds are filled with tempered chocolate. The
moulds are then tipped upside down to get rid of excess chocolate and to
shake out any air bubbles. Once the chocolate has set, the liquid centre
is poured into the thin shells of chocolate.
The fillings, if not liqueur, usually contain more cream than
sugar and less chocolate than those suited to the enrobing method. A
little room at the top is left in order to pour on tempered chocolate for
the base. When the chocolate is set, the filled chocolate shells are
tapped out of the mould – chocolate shrinks when setting. The shells
cannot be too thin, or they will split, but they should not be too thick
either or they will mask the filling and prevent one from savouring it to
the full.
Equipment and Ingredients – Professional equipment is
expensive to buy and is usually only available through specialist
suppliers. But the beginner will find most of the essential equipment
already to hand in the kitchen.
To make chocolate on a small scale you will need a
bain-marie, heatproof bowls, a sharp, strong bladed knife, wooden spoon
and greaseproof paper. A wooden frame can be made for the ganache. Make
sure you cover the wood with cling film before you start. Couverture is
bought from specialist suppliers, but less refined (and less expensive)
cooking chocolate can be bought from most supermarkets.
Courses
If you offer chocolate making courses / evening classes /
demonstrations - please contact us
to advertise your details here.
There are lots of books available to learn the skills from
home.
To
learn proper chocolate making techniques the best starting point is to
contact polytechnics / colleges to see if they have any organized courses.
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