DIY chocolate figurines: a step-by-step master class with a photo

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

Chocolate figurines were made by craftsmen back in the 18th century. In those days, the cost of this sweet was incredibly high, so confectioners poured the first copies into wooden molds in the form of ingots. However, soon the competition between the masters led to the fact that the figures were already made according to unique sketches. For the first time, metal molds for pouring hot melted chocolate were produced by the Belgian company Berwaerts in 1840.

Creating chocolate figures with your own hands has become a real art. In Cologne there is the Schokoladenmuseum, which contains a wonderful collection of masters' creations. Competitive competitions are often organized by confectioners of the world, where masterpieces appear to the astonished gaze of the audience. This is an interesting and creative work that can captivate anyone.

If you think that making chocolate figurines with your own hands is an activity that is inaccessible to a simple man in the street, then you are deeply mistaken. After familiarizing yourself with the principle of doing work, you will radically change youropinion. In order to pour simple products, such as leaves or a butterfly on a cake, you do not need to have the makings of a sculptor or artistic talents. The main thing is to find a suitable mold or pattern for an openwork and flat product.

In the article, we will consider how to make figurines from plastic chocolate with your own hands, how to melt material for crafts, what kind of chocolate to choose, how to work with a white analogue, than to color it if necessary. We explain in detail several ways to melt chocolate, give tips on how to use the molds.

Belgian chocolate figurines

Chocolate from Belgium Barry Callebaut is replete with a variety of shapes. These are expensive souvenirs of the highest quality, made by the masters of an ancient enterprise with the latest production technologies.

A set of chocolate figurines can be purchased as a gift to a person of any profession. So, the hairdresser will like the products shown in the photo above. For a locksmith, you can pick up pliers and screwdrivers. For an avid motorist, "buy" a car of your favorite brand, and an electrician - a light bulb. The military will be delighted with a chocolate gun, and the child with a figure on a wooden stick.

You can pick up a souvenir with the image of the symbol of the New Year or in the form of an openwork frame for a photo. Surprise your loved one with a heart-shaped chocolate box filled with sweets.

Use of chocolate products

First pen trials can be done on homemade flat cookies. Place the melted chocolate in the culinarysyringe or bag and draw funny emoticons. Children will be delighted with such an experiment. Usually housewives do not stop at this stage, because they want to create more and more.

Using sketches of drawings, you can make flat figures to decorate a cake or a serving of ice cream. It is interesting to draw a chocolate figurine on parchment for each guest, which would characterize him. Such a treat will be a great topic for a fun discussion with friends.

And how interesting it will be for children to participate in the work! Even a simple drawing made with your own hands will be the pride of the baby. Both girls and boys will enthusiastically work with plastic chocolate.

Do-it-yourself chocolate figures will be a wonderful gift for the holiday, you just need to wrap the bulky work in cellophane and tie a magnificent bow. You can make your own sweets by stuffing them with nuts or dried fruits. As you can see, the use of figurines is quite extensive, so let's learn how to create them with our own hands.

What do you need to get the job done?

To create chocolate crafts, you must first buy it. Choose a bar with at least 75% cocoa beans. This dark chocolate has a firmer texture and will hold its shape well at room temperature.

Prepare the following materials:

• If you will make volumetric figures, you will need molds. They arecan be metal or silicone, which are used for baking confectionery or candies.
• If the crafts are flat, then you need a sheet of parchment.
• Small pot.
• Bowl.
• Capacity where poured molds will be placed. It should fit in the fridge.
• Cutting knife (if necessary).
• If the work is done on a stencil, then print or draw a picture by hand.
• Pastry bag for drawing with plastic chocolate or a spoon for filling the mold.

Next, consider the methods of melting bitter and white chocolate.

Three ways to melt chocolate

Depending on the equipment available in the kitchen, there are several methods for preparing chocolate for work. Before you make a figurine out of chocolate with your own hands, you need to melt it.

If you have a microwave, just break the tile into small pieces and put it inside the oven in a plate. Set the duration of heating at medium power for only 1 minute. Periodically remove the plate and look at the state of the chocolate, stir and make sure that it does not overheat or burn.

Chocolate is less likely to overheat when steamed. It is enough to chop the tile into small pieces and fall asleep in the bowl. Turn on the mode on low power and stir constantly. This method is time consuming.

Most often, our hostesses use the last of the listed methods, namelyheating chocolate in a water bath on the stove. Pour a little water into the pan, place a container with chopped chocolate on top. Stir constantly with a spoon or wooden spatula and do not move away from the stove. Keep fire to a minimum. Turn off the gas immediately after all the chocolate has melted.

Working with white chocolate

Often when making figurines from chocolate with your own hands for a cake, additional colors are needed to decorate the craft, to draw small details. For this purpose, you need to prepare white chocolate and dyes. This can be natural strawberry or blackcurrant juice or food coloring, which can be purchased at any supermarket.

White chocolate is melted similarly to dark chocolate using the methods described above, and at the very end a few drops of the chosen color are added, beaten with a whisk until a homogeneous mass is formed and transferred to a pastry bag for ease of drawing.

Easy work with molds

The easiest way to make voluminous figures is to pour melted chocolate into metal or silicone baking molds. They can have the appearance of any animal, such as a bunny, as in the photo below.

It is interesting to make a gift set for a child from figurines made of black, milk and white chocolate. Before pouring the molten mass into molds, lay them out on a baking sheet or plank, so that then everything can be immediately lifted and evenly transferred to the refrigerator shelf. Duringrearrangement, make sure that the forms do not tilt, otherwise the frozen figure will have sloppy edges.

Outline drawing

Prepare parchment paper to create flat figures for decorating cakes, baking, and making lollipops. If the crafts are even, then lay the sheet immediately on the surface of the baking sheet or any plank, so that it is convenient to expose it to the cold. Putting melted chocolate in a pastry bag, you can draw simple shapes by hand.

If you want to make a complex figure, then on parchment with a simple pencil circle the drawing printed on the printer. The chocolate line is placed clearly along its contours.

Creating rounded patterns

How to make chocolate figures flat and round at the same time? It's simple. Wrap the rolling pin in parchment, secure the edges to the baking sheet, and draw lines and leaves on the curved surface.

Thus, you can even make an openwork figure in the shape of a tube, placing the pattern around the entire circumference. Once the chocolate has hardened, carefully remove it. Pull the parchment down from the rolling pin and take it out from the inside. Handle the craft gently so that it does not break.

The roundness of the petals of a three-dimensional chocolate flower, as in the photo in the article earlier, was made using disposable plastic spoons. Simply dip the back of a spoon into melted chocolate and place it on a cooling board.

How to make a nest?

To create such an original chocolate craft, use rounded dishes, turning it upside down. Apply the lines in a chaotic manner to make branches of the bird's nest.

To make a chocolate leaf, pick a real leaf with clear veins from a tree, wash it well and apply melted chocolate on its surface with a brush. The nest egg is poured into a white chocolate mold.

As you can see, it is not difficult to create chocolate figurines with your own hands (you saw the photo in the article). This process is creative and very exciting. Try it for sure! Good luck!