How to Make Home Made Dipped Chocolates
January 12th, 2016
Making chocolates at home is an exciting venture. You can view with great satisfaction how friends and family enjoy your chocolate creations.
Making dipped chocolates at home provides stunning results. They are ideal for entertaining and gift giving. Using a few tips, you can create an assortment of sweets with a silky chocolate coating.
Creating chocolate bon bons starts with getting ready a creamy filling. Add a flavour of vanilla or liqueur and then roll filling into balls, which are prepared to be dipped in chocolate.
If you want to eat the chocolate balls right away, you may wish not to waste time tempering the chocolate. Here are a few tips for creating chocolate bon bons:
- Mix together ingredients for filling: Take a 2–quart heavy saucepan and butter its sides. This way you prevent filling to rise and overflow the vessel. Combine water, corn syrup, sugar and light cream.
- Making soft balls: Cook filling over medium to low heat and stir constantly using a spoon made of wood. This prevents mix from becoming granular by completely dissolving the sugar and takes about 5 to 6 minutes. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the vessel so it dips in mix. Cook with occasional stirring till thermo meter clocks 240 degrees F or soft ball stage. This should take 15 to 20 minutes.
Some tips are: While stirring the filling, gently stir so it doesn’t splash on sides of the vessel to prevent crystal formation.
- Rolling away the filling: Without stirring, cool the filling till it is lukewarm, which might take 45 minutes. Add flavour to filling using liqueur like coffee or amaretto or even vanilla. Now, beat the mix smoothly till it is creamy and still. Using your hands, roll out filling into balls measuring 1 inch and allow it to rest at room temperature till 20 minutes for drying.
- Making chocolate dips: To dip the filling balls, you may use confectioner’s coating, which is like chocolates and does not require tempering. You may also use your favourite chocolate. Taking great care drop the filling balls one by one into melted chocolate and turn them to coat. Using a fork, lift each ball out of chocolate mix, wiping away any excess chocolate. Place each ball atop a baking sheet with wax paper lining. Let them rest on waxed paper till dry to touch. Keep them in a closed container and allow to rest in a dry, cool place.
- Melting chocolate: Tempering is advised for dipped chocolates, which will help it hold shape and get a glossy shine. You can melt chocolates on stove top or using a microwave.
- Ideas for dipping chocolate: You can use following ingredients- dried fruits like pears, apples, apricots with milk, white or dark chocolates. Pretzels, Caramels, Fresh strawberries, marsh mallows, caramels, whole nuts, truffles, cubed pieces of angel food cake may also be used.
- Drizzle on top: You can even drizzle following ingredients atop chocolates. They are pieces of fresh fruit, cheese cakes and cakes, nuts, dried cherries, cookies, cranberries, blond brownies or peanut butter or almond bark or toffees.
After making chocolate dips at home, you can send chocolates by post to a loved one far away. The gesture to send chocolates will be well-appreciated.