I'm trying to make shiny chocolate for some cake balls. I've heard adding shortening gives it a sheen but I'm wondering how much to add.
OR, does anyone add that edible wax to chocolate? I remember in a high school food science class, we added wax, but do people do that now?
AND... I read that if you want your choclate to be shiny, the middles can't be cold but I always dip cake balls when they are frozen or else they make the chocolate kind of lumpy. Suggestions? Advice??
TIA!

The very shiney exterior is generally from molded chocolate or a process called panning. It is probably unlikely for cake balls. Parafin (edible wax) can help chocolate set, but it isn't normally shiney.

Chocolate is shiniest when it's been properly tempered and the poured into/onto a very smooth/shiny surface. Since cake balls are dipped, they'll never be as shiny as something that's molded.

Think about the chocolates you buy out of display cases in candy shops--dipped truffles, caramels, etc. They're not really shiny. Now, if you buy molded truffles or cream filled candies, they generally are shiny and that's because they've been done by molding a shell in a plastic or polycarbonate mold, filled, sealed with a bottom of chocolate, and popped out of the mold.

You can get shiny cake balls, if you mold them. You'd need to find a chocolate mold you like, mold the shells with tempered chocolate (although candy melts can work and be pretty shiny if the mold is really super smooth), fill the shell with cakeball mixture, cover the bottom, let it set up, and then knock them out. Lot of trouble, but if shiny is important, that's how you'll get it.

As for adding paraffin wax--please don't--my MIL does it to her buttercream balls and the texture of the chocolate is just awful. You can use paramount crystals (sold in candy making shops) and they'll help the chocolate pour more smoothly and then set hard. If you want a softer set up of chocolate, then just a little crisco (I don't know for sure, but perhaps a TSP to a pound???) will make the chocolate pour nicely and then set up softer (less crack/crunch when you eat the piece, but it also doesn't all come off the piece with the first bite).

HTH
Rae

Is there anything you can do after you have done chocolate in the molds to add shine? Mine were dull looking

Once they've been unmolded, if they're dull, there can be several reasons: the chocolate was out of temper when molded (if you used candy melts, they were most likely too hot), they were cooled too quickly (room temp is best, next fridge, last freezer), lastly, there may have been some moisture in the mold.

Nothing I can think of to remedy this other than to start over. You can re-use the same chocolate. Don't wash the molds (that can lead to scratched molds or residue on them that can also make the chocolates dull), just rub them clean with a cotton ball or a very soft cloth.

HTH
Rae

This is what I use to dip all my cake balls and it is shiny and doesn't leave fingerprints when handled. I have read that several others use something similar to this also.

12 oz. of semi sweet chocolate chips
1 square of sweetened or unsweetened chocolate
1/2 bar food grade praffin (wax)
This is all melted together being careful not to splash the wax up on the sides of the pan.

To extend this recipe, I will add a half bag of good candy melts, but if I want the real shine and snap when you bite into it, I use just the above.
I also like this because it is really thin when you use it, and for certain cookies it covers so well with just a nice thin coat. When I do cake balls, I usually add some candy melts and let it cool down so the coating will be thicker. Hope this helps.
Lily

Thanks, that does help!

I don't have the resources or space or time available for tempering chocolate.

Lily.... when you add candy melts to the chocolate, does it leave fingerprints?

It usually doesn't but I make sure to chill them in the frig for a little bit before I handle them. I just finished some cake bites myself, but I always wish they had a little more coating on them. When I was reading through a forum, I found a person that was using molds to do the cake bites. She put chocolate in the mold, then put the cake ball in and topped with more chocolate. I thought this was a terrific idea as they would look so much neater. As someone else said, they wouldn't have to be ball shaped either. I have lots of those Oreo cookie molds, so I might try some of those. Lots of ideas to explore.
Lily

Tiny drop of glycerine not much.

Hello, I have to agree with Rae about not using the wax. You may consider the Luster dust to give lots of shine. It is sold in very small containers and you only want to use it very sparingly. Use with a very soft brush but wait until chocolate has completely set. About 10 to 24 hours.

I add about a 1 1/2 tsp shortening and 1 tsp of butter to my chocolate and it gives a really nice sheen.

u can always melt a lil butter an take paint brush b4 u pack them up or serve them or brush w glycerine u can buy at any candy making store