I made a batch of cake balls tonight and used Wilton melting chocolate as a coating. After I dipped them I put them in the fridge on a wax paper covered tray. After a little while they began to "sweat" and now I see that they've started to dry. Where it's now dry, the chocolate coating turned a dusty light brown color....not attractive. (See picture below)

Does anyone know how to prevent this from happening? Would sealing them in a container after dipping fix this problem?


P.s.- I used Hershey's milk chocolate on another batch and this didn't happen, but I very much prefer the taste of Wilton's chocolate on the cake balls more so than Hershey's.

That's not sweat. It's fat coming to the surface. And the spots are the cold fat.

It's ironic that you had better results with the Hershey's because it's real chocolate and needs to be in temper in order to not have the same thing happen.

I'd guess that with the candy melts, they got too hot when being melted. Although they don't technically require tempering, if they overheat, the fats separate and cause this fat "bloom".

I melt candy melts in the microwave in a microwave safe plastic bowl (never glass) for short bursts at 50% power, stir, and repeat until they're about 90% melted. I stir it until the rest melt and they're smooth.

HTH
Rae

Wow that's really interesting. I never would have thought it was fat coming through. This may have happened because I used Crisco to thin out the chocolate in order to make the dipping process a little easier and quicker. Next time I won't use any Crisco.

Thanks for the helpful tip!!

The crisco could have contributed to the problem. Too much and you have no emulsion, so the fat breaks away from the solids quickly.

Rule of thumb is that if you want shiny chocolates with a nice snap when you bite them, thin with paramount crystals for dipping consistency.
if you want softer chocolate for some reason, use shortening or veg. oil to thin. These will be duller, too.

HTH
Rae

Thanks Where can I find paramount crystals? I've never heard of them

Most cake supply shops carry them. You can find them online (search froogle.com ).

Rae

Do not eliminate the Crisco. You won't be able to get the candy thin enough consistency to dip them without the Crisco...unless you overheat the candy then you have the same problem you have now. I know because I have done the same thing you did with the same results. Melt your candy in 30 second increments to start with and stir each time the timer beeps. When melting starts then stop it every 15 seconds or so and stir until it appears that the candy is melted small lumps of solid candy may still be present but you will stir them until they melt into the mix. Now is when you stir in 1-2 Tbsp of Crisco until the candy is sufficiently liquid for dipping. The heat from the melted candy is all you need to melt the Crisco. The Crisco helps "temper" the candy to a lower temp. Good luck.

Sorry for implying that Crisco was the ONLY answer...and I'm not trying to dis Paramount - I don't even know what it is. And the PP did not say that she wanted a hard shell on her cake balls....just a coating that did not have the white filmy look. So I just made an assumption that the PP (like myself) was using items that are easily accesible in the grocery/hobby store for her cakeballs. To me Crisco is on hand and works well and would be better than using nothing...I have yet to come across super fresh candy melts that can melt smooth and thin enough on their own. So my experience is one sided I suppose.