In this recipe , we’ll show you how to decorate with melted chocolate
Ingredients
Parchment paper
227 g of high-quality semi-sweet chocolate (65%)
How to make
First things first we need to make piping bags
Fold a piece of parchment paper diagonally so it forms two rough triangles (don’t worry if they aren’t perfect,this isn’t a beauty contest)
Next use a sharp knife or scissors to carefully cut along the fold
To rolls the piping bag, place you finger at the middle point of the longest edge of the triangle to hold it in place
Roll one corner of the triangle towards the middle point to create a tip where your finger is
Now remove your finger and continue rolling until a you have a cone
Fold the excess at the top into the cone to secure the shape and you’re done!
For chocolate decorations its important to temper the chocolate since we want them to have a nice glossy finish and stay firm at room temperature
To do this, place a heat safe bowl over barely simmering water making sure the bowl does not touch the water
Next add about 2/3 of your good quality chocolate wafers or finely chopped bar. Save the rest for later
Stir the chocolate frequently until it starts to melt but there are still chunks of solid chocolate
At this point start taking the temperature using a kitchen thermometer
You want the temperature to reach about 115 F but never exceed 120
Don’t worry if it’s not completely melted, focus more on the temperature than the look of it
Once it’s up to temperature, remove from the heat then gradually add the leftover chocolate
This is called “seeding” and it’s going to help cool the chocolate down so it doesn’t continue heating up
Continue stirring until the chocolate is completely melted and the temperature has lowered to 84F
This will take about 10 -15 minuets of stirring so be patient
You’re almost done now! We just need to heat the chocolate again briefly to bring it up to a working temperature of between 86-89 degrees
Once the thermometer registers in that range,remove from the heat and carefully scoop your chocolate into the prepared piping bag
Only fill about half way then fold the end closed to prevent leaking and cut off the tip
You only want a small hole so be careful not to cut off too much!
Now you can pipe your shapes on to a piece of parchment paper
You can really get creative with these but I recommend starting with some abstract shapes like this to get a feel for the chocolate and how quickly or slowly it comes out of the piping bag
Once you’re confident with those you can move on to more complex shapes like these treble clefs
The key is just to be confident with your movements
Hold a steady stream of chocolate and keep an even distance from the parchment paper as you draw
For this next one try to make thin lines of chocolate and just draw a big abstract criss cross kind of shape
Once it has cooled completely, use the wide end of a pastry tip or any small and thin circular mold to cut out circles of the chocolate design
You can practice making spirals then work your way up to this large spiral shape with a cross
through the middle to help keep it from breaking when you remove it from the paper
This next one resembles tree bark when dry and adds a rustic look to desserts
Spread a scoop of chocolate into a very rough rectangle leaving about 1 inch of space on the top and bottom of the paper
Next very carefully roll the paper to connect the two clean ends and secure with a piece of tape
Allow to cool completely
For a different cylindrical shape, wrap the handle of a whisk or any cylindrical object with parchment paper and secure it with tape
With another piece of parchment paper underneath, drizzle chocolate on a slight angle all along the handle
Repeat with another drizzle at an offset angle to create a kind of diamond or zig zag pattern
Once hardened, you can carefully remove the molded chocolate from the parchment paper to reveal your creations
Don’t worry too much if some of them break, there’s still beauty in imperfection!
Use these to decorate cakes or just as a garnish on your favorite dessert!
