Need help Making Chocolates

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tonymac

Assistant Cook
Joined
Nov 4, 2008
Messages
9
Hello,

I am in the UK and having trouble finding a simple article helping me with this.

I want to make my own chocolate and use my moulds so create my own chocolate bars. I want to make something nice for a partner - and possibly sell customised chocoalte in the local area.

I cant find the ingrediants anywhere - I don't want to grind my own cocoa beans and want to make in home.

I received this reply on Yahoo:

The easy way:
step 1Supplies.
You will need: 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder (ground cocoa beans), 1/2 cup powdered sugar (or more if you like sweeter chocolate), healthy balance butter spread, Coph…


step 2Add the dry ingredients.
Add the cocoa powder and sugar.If you want sweeter chocolate (this is somewhat bitter) add some more sugar.


step 3Add the unsweetened chocolate.
Add the unsweetened chocolate (you need about five pieces) and heat.


step 4Add the fat!
Add whatever fat you are using but melt it before adding to the pan!


step 5Heat and stir.
Keep heating and constantly stirring the chocolate. If it is to lumpy, slowly add some of the fat until it looks smooth without large lumps.


step 6Put into desired mold and enjoy!
Place into a mold or a baking sheet and place in the freezer.when cool and hard you can eat it! If you want you can add more butter and no chocolate to make fudge! …
I wont give you the hard way it tastes disguisting, and you need to roast and chop up beans.... HARD!
So for clarity, if I buy this cocoa powder (gojiking . co . uk /shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=27&products_id=121) then is this suitable?

It says 'powdered sugar', is this a special type of sugar or can I go to tesco and buy some slow calorie granulated sugar - i'm thinking not so where do I get this from?

'healthy balance butter spread' - what the heck is this? Can I just use normal butter or is it a type of cocoa butter? As somewhere else I read it requires cocoa butter...??..
Like the website I was looking at sells this: gojiking . co . uk /shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=160

I want to make a couple of 200gram bars but no website gives the quantities in measurements and I do not want any going to waste as cocoa powder is not cheap...
Maybe if someone has a recipe and what quantity it produces I can break it down to smaller portions......


ALSO, as you know I will put it in my moulds and the chocolate I want to produce I want to place in my moulds and I assume they harden up when they cool to be like normal chocolate.......

What if I produce too much,store it in the fridge, re-heat and mould at a later date, is this acceptable with regards to quality ect...

I would really appreciate your feedback and guidance as I am a little lost......


Thanks
 
Well, I can't help with actually "making" the chocolate from scratch, with cocoa powder, some kind of sugar, cocoa butter, and who knows what else goes into it.

Do you understand how to temper chocolate? You have to mix the chocolate at different temperature levels to get it fully "mixed", and that so the cocoa butter will crystallize as it hardens. This is what gives store-bought chocolate it's "snap" when you break it.

It might be easier just to buy bulk chocolate, melt that, temper it, then pour it into your molds. Any leftover chocolate can be remelted and retempered to be poured again later, and you won't have to refrigerate it.
 
Ok fair enough.

Is there any other way then without purchasing the brands and paying their not so cheap prices?

For example, buy some unsweetened chocolate and maybe mix with milk to make milk chocolate??....
Like for example, these two products, not sure if they are the same, the one in the following link: Unsweetened baking cocoa chocolate (cgi.ebay. co. uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290261768426&cguid=f2c16a9c11c0a0aad4878fa7ff9de506) and this actual chocolate bar ( www. thebeveragegourmet . net/Ghirardelli-Baking-Chocolate-Unsweetened-4-oz/M/B0006OAC08.htm?utm_campaign=froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=froogle-GB&id=uk)....

I'm thinking, I have read somewhere Cadburys is around 35% cocoa and lindtt is around 65% so 50% this product and 50% milk would make a reasonably nice milk chocolate product... (oh, a sugar im thinking (but what type of sugar?))
 
So I guess my question now is how can I buy and where from pre-tempered and made chocolate... i.e. the lixium (excuse spelling I dont know what its called - the stuff to stabilise it and allow for it to harden) added ect.
 
The restaurants I've worked in always ordered a 11 lbs block (5 Kg) of chocolate, sometimes it was Callebaut, sometimes it was Lindt, or times it was the "store" brand that the vendor was selling. Of course, being a restaurant, we had access to wholesale bulk pricing.

I think ALL store-bought chocolate is already tempered and ready to go. It has to be retempered each time it's melted.

The only chocolatier that I know of that literally makes his own chocolate from scratch using cocoa beans is Jacques Torress. Otherwise, it's the big candy houses that are making the stuff and selling it to everyone else. This is probably one of the reasons why chocolate candies made in a specialty shop are so expensive.

Another thing to look for is the price difference between bulk "block" chocolate and chocolate chips. Many producers are making chips in various percentages. They might be cheaper / pound than block chocolate. Chips will melt easier.

I've never made a milk chocolate. What little I do know about the process is that the European chocolatiers WILL NOT give away their trade secrets. Hershey, here in the US, tried to figure it out, and was sent back to the US without any info. As a result, he came up with his own process, in which milk was added to the mix as the chocolate was made. The heat from this process actually soured the milk. If you do a side-by-side taste test of Hershey's milk chocolate with a European milk chocolate, you should notice a slightly "sour" taste in Hershey's product.

I read your thread on the packaging as well. Are you trying to start a business, or are you just making some homemade goodies to give to friends/family for the holidays? I'm asking, as if you are starting a business, then you have a lot more resources (commercial vendors) than the average person working out of their home. You'd have to get incorporated, most likely. I'm not sure what the laws are over in the UK about running a food production business out of a private home.
 
Tonymac, from what I'm gathering from your posts, you are going to be making a small amount of chocolate for your friends and others. If this is so, you would be best served to just purchase the bulk chocolate, as making chocolate runs into big bucks FAST. Also, the sugar you are asking about is under several names, powdered sugar, 10x (or other x's), confectioner's sugar, dusting sugar, to name a few.

If you have a food or restaurant supply/warehouse supply store in your area you can purchase the already made chocolate there. The brands carried will be different depending on where you are and where you go.

When you mold your chocolates, you should temper in SMALL batches to prevent excess/left over. To "re-temper" chocolate is NOT recommended, as it loses its sheen/shine, it can show some "powdery" residue, taste bitter, and any other number of things. Should you have left over chocolate, however, one thing you can do is have some molds that have small or tiny molds, and you can just fill those and make solid chocolate candies. Another thing you can do, depending on how much you have remaining, is to mix well some coarsely chopped nuts into the chocolate and drop the chocolate covered nuts by a spoonful of whatever size you want them to be, onto parchment or wax paper. Let them set until hardened. You can also make some with coconut, krispies, toffee bits, raisins, just to name a few. You can also melt a very small amount of "white" chocolate, add it to the brown chocolate mixing it slightly, leaving the swirls in, then filling molds that are in the shapes of sea shells. When they are set, the chocolates really do look realistic! Of course, you can also do the same with the addtion of the nuts, raisins, etc., and have swirled chocolate covered nuts, raisins, etc. Another thing you can do, should you have a very, very small amount, not even enough to do any of the above, is to spread the leftover chocolate out onto the parchment paper and sprinkle some nuts on top and gently press them into the chocolate. When firm, break apart to make chocolate bark.

Sometimes, it is just the simple things that make people happy! So don't shy away from these simple chocolates!

Hope this gives you some suggestions on what to do and what to make. Do try to stay away from the re-temperng (re-melting) of the chocolate, as I doubt you will be happy with the results.

Good luck and happy candy making!
 
Tonymac, from what I'm gathering from your posts, you are going to be making a small amount of chocolate for your friends and others. If this is so, you would be best served to just purchase the bulk chocolate, as making chocolate runs into big bucks FAST. Also, the sugar you are asking about is under several names, powdered sugar, 10x (or other x's), confectioner's sugar, dusting sugar, to name a few.

If you have a food or restaurant supply/warehouse supply store in your area you can purchase the already made chocolate there. The brands carried will be different depending on where you are and where you go.

When you mold your chocolates, you should temper in SMALL batches to prevent excess/left over. To "re-temper" chocolate is NOT recommended, as it loses its sheen/shine, it can show some "powdery" residue, taste bitter, and any other number of things. Should you have left over chocolate, however, one thing you can do is have some molds that have small or tiny molds, and you can just fill those and make solid chocolate candies. Another thing you can do, depending on how much you have remaining, is to mix well some coarsely chopped nuts into the chocolate and drop the chocolate covered nuts by a spoonful of whatever size you want them to be, onto parchment or wax paper. Let them set until hardened. You can also make some with coconut, krispies, toffee bits, raisins, just to name a few. You can also melt a very small amount of "white" chocolate, add it to the brown chocolate mixing it slightly, leaving the swirls in, then filling molds that are in the shapes of sea shells. When they are set, the chocolates really do look realistic! Of course, you can also do the same with the addtion of the nuts, raisins, etc., and have swirled chocolate covered nuts, raisins, etc. Another thing you can do, should you have a very, very small amount, not even enough to do any of the above, is to spread the leftover chocolate out onto the parchment paper and sprinkle some nuts on top and gently press them into the chocolate. When firm, break apart to make chocolate bark.

Sometimes, it is just the simple things that make people happy! So don't shy away from these simple chocolates!

Hope this gives you some suggestions on what to do and what to make. Do try to stay away from the re-temperng (re-melting) of the chocolate, as I doubt you will be happy with the results.

Good luck and happy candy making!

Thank You, you have posed some very tempting and interesting items here.

I am at present trying to make some in small amounts for friends and family - but once I have the basics of making the chocolate sorted I will be making some for selling at markets ect. ANd am also looking at the possibilty of online (which also answers Allen's question).

My partner and I enjoy experimental sessions and enjoy learnign so would rather learn to make it using cocoa rather than melting others products.
I am not interested in creating chocolate from scrathch, I will want to use pre-made products and cook with them - ie. I don't want to buy cadburys cooking chocolate and simply melt remould).

Right, lets look at my current progress...

I made some chocolate today - its in the fridge now. The sugar is used in cane sugar if that makes a difference. 5 tablespoons full rather than the 5 cups full in the recipe, the recipe being here:

chocolate-candy-mall [dot com] /chocolate-candy-recipes.html

Tasted a little but its a little bitter so next time I will put more sugar in it.
I bought Fairtrade Morrisons cocoa. And standard semi-skimmed milk.

Although my thinking is that this won't actually set in to what we know as a chocolate bar... Because I read somewhere it needs an emuliser (the type starts with an 'L') [sorry, cant remember what its called and think I have spelt the word wrong :D]...
Maybe i'll be proved wrong by it in a few hours, probably not...


EDIT: So, its not reached room temperature and its chocolate sauce. It will come in handy though :) but not the result I was looking for.. So what do I add to it to reach the desired affect...

Thanks
 
Have you done a net search for "making/manufacturing chocolate at home"? I did this several times using different terms, i.e. manufacturing chocolate at home, and there were thousands of hits.
 
Have you done a net search for "making/manufacturing chocolate at home"? I did this several times using different terms, i.e. manufacturing chocolate at home, and there were thousands of hits.

I have done so many searches its unbelievable - but I don't want to start with the cocoa beans. The link I stated above I found through Google but after trying it I discovered it to not set like bar chocolate but to be chocolate sauce.
Every link I seem to find seems to either require buying chocolate and just melting it or starts at the cocoa bean stage.

I have read about soy lecithin being required to solidify it - but never really heard of this. In fact I did think it was something to help metabolise food.
There has to be a clear and concise way to modify this recipe to acheive my desired result surely....
 
Right people, I have been reading more and more, and have read that the cocoa butter is what makes the chocolate solidify. Correct?
So maybe an additional ingredient? But in what quantities?
 
Well, I'm no chocolatier. Nor have I ever attempted to temper chocolate, much less make it from scratch (cocoa beans). Queen-Guinevere, if you say that chocolate cannot be remelted and retempered a multitude of times, I bow to your experience.

tonymac, I'm truly sorry, but I've never heard of anyone purchasing the ingredients to make solid, tempered, chocolate, other than by buying and processing cocoa beans into it's constituent forms and combining those products into what we know of as "chocolate". Every time I've seen a chocolatier doing their business, they always melt some store-bought chocolate, with the exception of Chef Torres.

I remember as a kid, we had an urban legend that chocolate bars contained wax. I think I have actually seen "parafin wax" as an ingredient in chocolate bars. This would act as a stabilizer, as does the soy lecithin. However, I always understood that the key ingredient was the cocoa butter, is it will actually crystallize when mixed properly with the other ingredients.

Have you thought about possibly apprenticing under a chocolatier and learning how they practice their craft and trade?
 
Well, I'm no chocolatier. Nor have I ever attempted to temper chocolate, much less make it from scratch (cocoa beans). Queen-Guinevere, if you say that chocolate cannot be remelted and retempered a multitude of times, I bow to your experience.

tonymac, I'm truly sorry, but I've never heard of anyone purchasing the ingredients to make solid, tempered, chocolate, other than by buying and processing cocoa beans into it's constituent forms and combining those products into what we know of as "chocolate". Every time I've seen a chocolatier doing their business, they always melt some store-bought chocolate, with the exception of Chef Torres.

I remember as a kid, we had an urban legend that chocolate bars contained wax. I think I have actually seen "parafin wax" as an ingredient in chocolate bars. This would act as a stabilizer, as does the soy lecithin. However, I always understood that the key ingredient was the cocoa butter, is it will actually crystallize when mixed properly with the other ingredients.

Have you thought about possibly apprenticing under a chocolatier and learning how they practice their craft and trade?


Well that kinda explains something similar I read as to the fact it will soldify with cocoa butter - which is actually realitely expensive!

As fun as it was learning, I have succumb to the prices of Tesco Milk Cooking Chocolate lol. Well, the first time I attempted to make some chocolate I added some milk to make it milkier. I also want to make it creamier at some stage. However, this meant it didn't solidify so well - in fact I made a mousse so it appeared :) - now how can I add different flavourings and stuff to my mix without messing it up? My initial thought was some cocoa powder but then I think I should be adding cocoa butter instead...

Any ideas?
 
One thing to remember about chocolate, is that chocolate is fat-based, not water-based. Melting dark chocolate, then adding milk, will cause it to sieze (turn grainy and nasty). If you want to add flavors, you need food-grade essential oils. Spearmint and/or peppermint oil mixed with chocolate is a classic. If you can find any hazelnut/filbert oil, that would be another good combo.
 
Wow, this sounds really complicated. My mother gave me and advent calendar for Christmas and I would like to remove the chocolate, wash the mold, and make milk-free chocolate for my son to replace it with. I just wanted to whip up a mixture and let it harden in the mold. Do I have to do any of that tempering stuff? I just want something fast and easy? How would I do it?
 
B'sgirl, what you want to do is as simply as what you wrote. What tonymac is attempting to do is way complicated, more for an experienced baker/chocoletier.

You can purchase carob discs or other "chocolate" discs which contain parafin or other ingredients other than the milk you are trying to stay away from. Gently heat them, or if it comes in bars or chunks, chop them into evenly sized pieces, and gently and slowly heat them either over a double boiler, slowly in the micro while stirring between zaps, or if you are brave, over direct heat with a close eye. You'll want to stir this often and once evenly melted, drop by the spoonful into your molds. Tap the mold gently several times on the countertop so that any air bubbles will rise to the top and pop. Let set until firm. Don't put it in the frig to "rush" it or think you are going to "speed set" the chocolate, as that will cause it to discolor, have dark and shiney spots, get grainy, and other undesirable results. Just let it firm up at room temp, away from heat or drafts, and you'll have success.

If you need more help, let me know.
 
Hello,

I am in the UK and having trouble finding a simple article helping me with this.

I want to make my own chocolate and use my moulds so create my own chocolate bars. I want to make something nice for a partner - and possibly sell customised chocoalte in the local area.

I cant find the ingrediants anywhere - I don't want to grind my own cocoa beans and want to make in home.

I received this reply on Yahoo:

So for clarity, if I buy this cocoa powder (gojiking . co . uk /shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=27&products_id=121) then is this suitable?

It says 'powdered sugar', is this a special type of sugar or can I go to tesco and buy some slow calorie granulated sugar - i'm thinking not so where do I get this from?

'healthy balance butter spread' - what the heck is this? Can I just use normal butter or is it a type of cocoa butter? As somewhere else I read it requires cocoa butter...??..
Like the website I was looking at sells this: gojiking . co . uk /shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=160

I want to make a couple of 200gram bars but no website gives the quantities in measurements and I do not want any going to waste as cocoa powder is not cheap...
Maybe if someone has a recipe and what quantity it produces I can break it down to smaller portions......


ALSO, as you know I will put it in my moulds and the chocolate I want to produce I want to place in my moulds and I assume they harden up when they cool to be like normal chocolate.......

What if I produce too much,store it in the fridge, re-heat and mould at a later date, is this acceptable with regards to quality ect...

I would really appreciate your feedback and guidance as I am a little lost......


Thanks

Hi Tonymac,

"I want to make my own chocolate and use my moulds so create my own chocolate bars. I want to make something nice for a partner - and possibly sell customised chocoalte in the local area."

Making your own chocolate and making chocolates to sell are two very different processes, IMHO.

I would advise you to concentrate on selling chocolates (added value) and not making chocolate, unless you have a few hundred thousand pounds to invest in machinery, as used by chocolate makers in the UK and Europe - and you are not going to get this at the moment, in the credit crunch era in which we now live!

All the best,
Archiduc
 
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