Chocolate Cups Equals Total Failure!!

[Leonard]

I hosted my dinner party on Saturday night. The appetizers and dinner were delicious. However, as some of you may recall I asked for advice on making "chocolate bowls" for dessert. I tried the balloon method. When it came time to pop the balloons, the balloon and chocolate were one. They stuck together. After dipping 30 balloons I ended up with 15 that turned out okay. I can't for the life of me figure out where I could have gone wrong. Any ideas?? The dessert consisted of chocolate bowls filled with Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream drizzled with chocolate and raspberry sauce and fresh berries. YUM YUM I would love to try this again. Any suggestions for next time??

[shoyski]

Whoa! Sorry I can't help you on the why's but could you please post the recipe? I love making unique desserts like the one you mentioned. Thanks.

[Beth]

Did you spray the balloons with cooking spray or oil from a sprayer (I'm not sure if the canned spray would work well or if they might react with the latex). You could try covering the balloon with plastic wrap or waxed paper, but if it gets too wrinkled the chocolate would be caught up in the wrinkles. I haven't tried this, so maybe someone else can give you a tested suggestion.

[sneezles]

I never saw your request but I've always made chocolate cups using the foil muffin cups. "Painting" the chocolate on the sides & bottom and then freezing for about 45 minutes then just peeling the foil off. Not exactly a bowl but they always turn out great!

[lorilei]

Would you mind posting your recipe? It sounds delicious, and I have a number of get togethers coming up for which this would be the perfect treat!!

[madpots]

I haven't tried this, but it is from The Chocolate Box by Joanna Farrow

Chocolate Cups

Melt 8 oz. dark chocolate over simmering water.
Cut a double-thickness circle of foil, about 7 inches in diameter, and wrap around a whole orange, letting the edges open out slightly to make a cup shape.
Remove from orange and press the foil shell on the work surface to make a flat base.
Make 5 more the same way.
Spoon a little of the melted choclate into one of the foil shells Smooth up the sides with the back of a teaspoon, giving the edges an uneven rough edge. Repeat with remaining cups.
Chill until firm. Peel away the foil from each cup carefully, starting around the top edges, and peeling down to the base. Place the shells on a small tray or baking sheet.
She filled them with mousse.
The picture showed about an eighth inch cup and the chocolate was not smooth, but like the foil was crumpled.
Sorry I cant send a picture...don't know how to use my scanner!!!
It seems to me I have seen a recipe where they used a brush to spread the chocolate.

[Leonard]

Many thanks to all of you for your suggestions! I will definitely try this again! Now as far as the recipe for the dessert. I know some of you have requested it. CHOCOLATE BOWLS WITH VANILLA BEAN PASTRY CREAM AND CHOCOLATE AND RASPBERRY SAUCE WITH FRESH RASPBERRIES

I got all the recipes from www.foodtv.com (http://www.foodtv.com) I used the search option. The cream is under vanilla bean pastry cream, the chocolate sauce is berries with chocolate sauce and the last one is Emeril's raspberry sauce. I drizzled the two sauces onto the plate in squiggly lines and placed the cup on top. I filled it with the pastry cream and topped it with fresh berries. Very pretty presentation!! Enjoy!!

[Jogren]

This may be cheating a bit but Trader Joe's sells chocolate cups pre-made and they are delicious! If I remember correctly, they are 8 for $3.99 or thereabouts.

[ReneeV]

I know exactly what your problem is. Your chocolate was not tempered. Untempered chocolate will NOT slip easily from it's molded surface no matter what you do.

That is the one irritating thing about a lot of "easy" recipes using melted chocolate. They neglect to tell you that if your chocolate is not melted properly and tempered, it will not release from the mold and a miriad other problems can occur as well.

When chocolate melts, the cocoa butter separates into alpha and beta crystals (I think that's what they are called) and if not tempered, when it rehardens, the beta particles do not re-form correctly. The chocolate will not have the proper gloss, snap, will not release from molds and will not melt properly in your mouth.

Tempering involves melting the chocolate to a specific temerature around 95 degrees F for bittersweet, and then slowly lowering the temp to 82-80 degrees F. by pouring on a marble slab and spreading with a spatula and re-scraping it off the slab until it reaches the required temp. At this point the chocolate can be used for dipping candy centers, molding chocolate or making chocolate bowls. Milk chocolate and white chocolate require lower temperatures and are more difficult to temper.

Another method is to melt 2/3 of the amount you need to between 95-90 degrees F. Grate the remaining 1/3 chocolate and slowly stir it in, a little at a time, until it melts. This method is called "seeding". The introduction of the solid grated chocolate, or seed, "coaxes" the melted beta crystals to reform properly. Once the added solid chocolate is melted and the pool of chocolate is smooth, it can be used for any of the above purposes.

There are other methods too, but these are the most common and reliable. Don't be fooled by books that say this step isn't necessary or that the temperatures can be approximated. NOT TRUE, as you can attest to. You must have a reliable *chocolate* themometer. This is not the same as a regular candy thermometer which starts registering temp. at about 120 F.

I own a chocolate tempering machine because chocolate work is my passion and I do some professional chocolate and confectionary work. I love my machine, but it was quite expensive and unless you plan to do a lot of chocolate, probably not an investment you want to make. The home model costs around $400.

The final alternative is to use a good brand of confectionary coating. Confectionary coating is basically chocolate in which some or all of the cocoa butter is removed and replaced with vegetable oil. You do lose the luxury of the cocoa butter, but it requires no tempering, is very stable, can tolerate a large range of temperatures and can even be melted in the micro. These coatings have gotten a bad rap for being "waxy" or "chalky". Granted they are not as tastey as a good real chocolate, but some of the better brands have a good, chocolate flavor and melt well at body temperature (ie. in you mouth). My particular favorite brand is Merkens. I use this when doing decorative work or when making chocolate molding clay. You can purchase confectionary coating at a cake decorating/candy molding supply shop. Avoid the coatings that you find at craft stores. They are the lowest common denomenator and give the good brands the bad reputation they don't deserve. It's worth it to find a cake store or to order on line.

Since your chocolate bowls were not the main dessert, but rather an extra fancy touch, I think this would have worked very well for you. You wouldn't want to use confectionary coating for truffles, or chocolate mousse or anything where the chocolate *is* the essence of the dessert, but it works well for added decorative touches and accents.

I'm sorry for your frustration, but at least now you know what happened! If I can help any further, let me know.

Renée

[Mbart]

WOW! Renee, I just had to post to say thank you for this input! I am sure going to use your tips to make impressive desserts in the future! I'm sure I speak for many when I tell you that this type of participation makes this BB the best resource I know of for cooking and baking information!! Thanks again!

[schuh]

I'll second that. Excellent info.

[kwormann]

Originally posted by Mbart:
WOW! Renee, I just had to post to say thank you for this input! I am sure going to use your tips to make impressive desserts in the future!

I think Renee is Alton Brown in disguise.....

[ReneeV]

Aw shucks... Thanks guys. Glad to be of service. Now you all know my secret, deep-seated obsession with chocolate.

"Hello...My name is Renée and I'm a chocolaholic..."

(Alton Brown is my hero! I'm just a food- science nerd in descuise.)

Renée