How to make chocolate letters for cake decoration: tips from a pastry chef

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

After preparing a gorgeous cake, the question arises regarding the decoration of the dessert. It is especially difficult to decide on an “outfit” when a significant event is celebrated. Homemade chocolate letters and numbers can be ideal. There are several options for making such elements of sweet decor. Only by studying each one, you can understand how to make chocolate letters, and choose the appropriate way for yourself.

Which chocolate to choose for work

It is not enough to know how to make chocolate letters at home, you need to choose a good material and prepare it correctly. For a simple production of letters, it is desirable to take into account such nuances:

• It is advisable to choose ready-made chocolate, which will be easier to work with. A homemade product is not always suitable for making dessert decorations.
• If you use dessert chocolate, then you should prepare for the fact that the figures will turn out matte - without a mirror shine.
• It is impractical to make letters from white chocolate, becausehow does this type of product melt quickly.
• Bitter chocolate is the most difficult to work with because its melting point is 55 degrees.
• It's easy to work with drops - they melt quickly and without problems, freeze quickly and qualitatively. But the taste of the product is inferior to tiled analogues.

The principle of choice can be based on experience and taste preference. It is worth considering the difficulties and advantages in working with a particular material option.

Preparing chocolate for work

To make chocolate letters at home, you need to pay maximum attention to the preparation of the main material. If you put the product in a bowl and heat it on the stove, you get a heterogeneous mass with a burnt taste. There are 3 optimal options for melting chocolate:

• A hot and simple option will be a water bath. Fill a small saucepan with water up to half the capacity, place on the stove. When the water heats up, place a metal bowl on the pan, the diameter of which will be smaller than the bottom container. Pour the crushed product into it. While stirring the chocolate with a spoon, wait until it is completely dissolved.
• Preheat oven to 55 degrees. At the bottom, place a metal bowl filled up to half with water. Pour the broken chocolate bar into a second ceramic or metal bowl. Place the container on the racks at the very top of the oven. Stir the product periodically. Wait until the ingredient melts completely.
• A suitable option is a microwave oven. Lubricate a fireproof glass containerbutter. Place chopped chocolate in here. Set the "Defrost" mode. Every 20 seconds, take out the container and mix the ingredient. It usually takes 3 minutes for the chocolate bar to completely melt.

It is worth considering that the melting speed depends on the color of the product - the darker the chocolate, the longer it takes to heat up and the higher the temperature is needed for this.

Special and interpreted shapes for chocolate letters

The answer to the question of how to make chocolate letters for a cake is easy to find if you use molds to make such a decor. You can purchase special products made of silicone, plastic or polycarbonate. Each type of form has its own characteristics regarding the principle of use.

If special equipment is not at hand, then you can use other options for the bases. The easiest solution would be molds for squeezing cookies or shortcakes - often they are metal or plastic. You can make the necessary version of the form yourself from improvised materials.

The easiest way to make letters

The easiest way to make flat letters or numbers is the perfect decoration for any confectionery. To make this version of the alphabet units, you need to prepare the following supplies:

• 200g chocolate;
• cut cling film;
• sheet of paper;
• pastry syringe or bag.

How to make flat chocolate letters using elementaryalgorithm:

1. On a sheet of paper, draw the desired letters, choosing the desired design and thickness. You can print templates on the printer.
2. Lay a sheet with layouts on a flat surface (cutting board, baking sheet).
3. Put cling film on paper. Carefully level its surface, minimizing the "wrinkles" of the surface of the material.
4. Fill melted chocolate into a pastry bag or syringe.
5. Spread the liquid product from the confectionery tool along the contour of the letters.
6. Place the blank in the refrigerator for 45-60 minutes.

After the allotted time, pull out the frozen letters and remove the film. Use tongs or tweezers to transfer finished letters to a confectionery product.

How to make a mold for chocolate with your own hands

If there is no suitable form for creating a letter, then you can try to make a template yourself. There are several diverse solutions.

The easiest solution would be to make the base out of cardboard. Cut off a strip of cardboard from the main part. Make markings along the cut, each part of which is responsible for a certain part of the letter. On the marks, make folds that will help prepare the shape of the letter. To additionally fix each bend, you can glue thin strips of adhesive tape on the outside. Cover with cling film on the inside of the wall of the cardboard part.

If you make chocolate letters with a cardboard baseif it doesn’t work, then you can try to make a shape from a plastic bottle. The manufacturing principle is identical to the cardboard analogue. The only difference is that cling film is definitely not needed here.

Classic production option

The easiest thing to understand is how to make chocolate letters in a shape. There is a special algorithm of actions for this:

1. Melt chocolate in one of the appropriate ways. Product temperature should not exceed 55 degrees.
2. Line the bottom of the smooth part of the mold with pastry parchment. Pour chocolate over it, leveling the mass with a wooden spatula. If significant leveling is required, spread the product by lifting the sides of the parchment.
3. When the ingredient is completely cool (does not stick to your fingers), cover the blanks with plastic forms with a letter shape. You need to carefully press the overlay part of the form.

Put the blank in the refrigerator for several hours.

Classic silicone mold lettering

Working with such a base is easier and more efficient.

Therefore, even inexperienced housewives do not have a question about how to make chocolate letters in a silicone mold. The algorithm is as follows:

1. Place the silicone mold on a flat surface.
2. Pour melted chocolate into the recesses.
3. Align the ingredient with the sides of the tool, lifting the edges of the silicone base.
4. If the form is completely filled with the product, then the extrachocolate should be removed with a knife or wooden spatula, running along the surface of the silicone base at an angle of 30 degrees.

Let the chocolate cool, then refrigerate to harden completely.

Chocolate letters with filling

You can diversify the taste of the decoration thanks to the original filling. For filling, you can use fruits, jams, creams, jellies. Making this decor option will take a little longer.

If the process of how to make chocolate letters with your own hands through the use of molds is mastered, then it is enough to decide on some nuance of manufacturing.

At the first stage, you need to pour 1/3 of the entire mold with chocolate. Wait for the product to harden in the refrigerator (1 hour). Pull out the form and place along the chocolate, the selected filling. The ingredient should take 1/3 of the entire form. Top with chocolate content. Refrigerate until completely set.

Universal chocolate letters

Through the use of simple technologies of confectionery art, a universal variant of sweets is created. You can use them to decorate cakes, pastries or give them as gifts in a box.

It is enough to make cubes from chocolate of any color. When they harden, you can start writing letters in the opposite color of chocolate. To do this, you can use confectionery brushes, a syringe.

Postingthe form with the inscription in the refrigerator, wait for the decoration to completely solidify. You can, on the contrary, “blow out” the letter on a smooth basis.

How to do without a special form

There is a way to make chocolate letters without a shape. More precisely, the shape will be needed, but one is a rectangle. Filling several elements, you can create any letters, adjusting the shape of each part.

Using a hot spoon, you can smooth out sharp corners and give the desired shape. The remaining bevels and drops can be cleaned with a knife. To glue the parts, you need to lean the chocolate part against the hot cup and quickly “glue” it to the other part of the cube. Seams can be smoothed with a hot spoon or knife.

Such letters usually require additional decoration. It is advisable to use massive edible decorations that can block unsightly joints, clumsy transitions.

How to decorate finished letters

The appearance of finished decorations in the form of alphabet units can also be improved. Before making chocolate letters, it is worth considering what kind of chocolate will be used. If you apply several types of sweet material, you get a spectacular letter.

You can decorate the finished letter. Take another type of melted chocolate and use a wooden skewer to make shadows, drawings, drops, stripes on the finished base. Confectionery powders, sparkles will become relevant. Food coloring will also make the product look more spectacular.

It is easy to “glue” multi-colored candy-buttons to the base of the finished letter. Additional decoration can serve as colored creams andother decorations made of chocolate. The choice depends on the theme of the event and the overall idea.