Good Morning Everyone, This is probably a stupid question but What is modeling Chocolate? We don't have it here in Dothan,Al or if we do nobody seems to know what i'm talking about. Is it the same as candy melts?Can I use them in the place of modeling chocolate? TIA

Modeling chocolate is the same thing as candy clay or chocolate leather. You can make it using corn syrup and candy melts (or other chocolate), or you can use Michele Foster's recipe that uses marshmallow creme instead of corn syrup. That's my preferred recipe.

Modeling chocolate is similar to fondant and can be used in much the same way as fondant.

HTH,
Deanna

Thanks I will try to find that recipe beause I need some to make some deer antlers.

TooMuchCake, I can't find that recipe do U have it on hand. TIA

TooMuchCake - I would appreciate that recipe as well. I can only find her fondant recipe with corn syrup and would be very interested in the one you are talking about with marshmallow creme. Thanks!

She published a cookbook that has the recipe in it, in a slightly different form than what was posted on here. I recommend the cookbook and her gumpaste flowers DVD, but I digress....

Wait here, I'll go find the recipe.

Deanna

Here you go:
http://cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-6383-0-Chocolate-Leather.html

Michele refers to hers as "chocolate leather" which is probably why you were having trouble finding the recipe. I have a chocolate background, so I learned to say "modeling chocolate."

If you go to my tutorial website at www.cakedalaska.com and look at the "Welcoming William" page or the "Monkey See" page, this is the recipe I used for those cakes, as well as the "Um, A Little Help?" bear cake on the OSSAS 2008 page (scroll down for that one).

HTH,
Deanna

Thanks for this information, Deanna! What a great site you have! I see 'almond bark' listed - what kind of chocolate do you like to use? How far off is this recipe from the one you use?

Thanks again for your help!

Thanks a bunch for the recipe Do you have any idea how much powdered sugar I will need in the white or do I just add it to my specification? How did u get your chocolate on the Monkey See 2 different shades? I will need a light brown for my deer. Thanks Again

By the way TooMuchCake those are awesome looking cakes You have on there.

The one I use from her cookbook is only slightly different. I don't have it with me, but as I recall the one on here has a little more marshmallow creme? I forget.

I prefer to use almond bark when I can. The book recipe states to use the cheapest chocolate you can find, and it does actually seem to work better. Sometimes the candy melts make a weird batch, and sometimes they don't. If I need a specific color of modeling chocolate, I'll occasionally use combinations of candy melts to achieve what I need, but when I can, I'll make a white batch with almond bark and tint it whatever color I need. Sometimes I'll mix in a little colored fondant to the white mod choc to get the color, rather than tinting it.

HTH,
Deanna

P.S. Thanks for the compliment on my website!!

Thanks, Nanatrucker!

I made two batches of mod choc for the monkey, one in a pale blue and one in chocolate color. The blue was dusted with some petal dust in places to give it some additional shading when it was on the monkey.

While you can mix in powdered sugar to stiffen up the white mod choc (and if you do, just add small amounts gradually until it's stiff enough for your particular needs), but I prefer to knead in a little bit of fondant, which is what I did for the William cake.

For a light brown, I would either make a batch of white mod choc and add some chocolate fondant to it to get the shade of brown I like, or make two batches of mod choc - one white and one chocolate - and mix them to get the shade I wanted. If you or the person receiving the cake don't like milk chocolate flavors (weird, I know, but they're out there!) you can make the white and use brown icing coloring.

Chocolate should normally not be colored with regular icing colors due to seizing, but once the mod choc has been made, you can then add icing color to it and don't have to use special colorings that are meant for chocolate.

Did that help, or did I ramble? That felt sort of rambly.

Deanna

Oooh, thank you for that link. I don't know why I couldn't find it when I was looking last week.. I ended up making some w/ corn syrup & it was just to soft to work w/----it never did harden. What is the consistency like when it's set? When you knead out the oil do you just knead until it's absorbed? One last ?---I'm planning on making a small pirate ship cake. Do you think I could use this or should I stick to chocolate fondant?

When you knead out the oils, stand over the kitchen sink and squeeze out the oil. It will run through your fingers and make an awful mess, but don't skip that step. Keep kneading until the oil is no longer coming out much. On other threads, you will find people who say you should never knead out the oil from mod choc, and I didn't used to, but now I do it each time. The consistency when it sets up will be comparable to fondant but a little harder. Pinch off what you need (or work in batches if you need the whole amount) and knead it until it warms up from the heat of your hands and becomes pliant.

I would probably go ahead and use the mod choc on a pirate ship myself, but if it makes you nervous, add a little chocolate fondant to it to make it a little firmer and it will be fine.

HTH,
Deanna

Might as well try it, it'll be for my daughter--she loves Veggietales & I thought it a perfect time to try a ship! I always go overboard & stress myself out. Why not?!

Stress burns calories, right? LOL Yeah, go for it. I love VeggieTales, too. Larry cracks me up.

Deanna

JenniferMI also has a great recipe called Pearl Clay -- that stuff is a dream to work with!!

I am sorry but I might have missed this answer. When you say you are using almond bark, well lets just say. What is it?
Thanks

Almond bark is a cheap chocolate-like coating that you can buy in the grocery store. It's with the baking products, usually near the nuts and chocolate chips. Look up on the top shelf, or down towards the lower shelves. It will come in white or milk chocolate flavors and in my area costs about $2/package. It will say "almond bark" on the package. It melts easily and is often used for dipping.

Deanna

What kind of color do you use to tint the clay? Is it just for candy? They say not to use regular Wilton color for candy melts so I was just wondering.

TooMuchCake - Thanks so much for all of the time you are spending to help us out!!! So kind of you and so very much appreciated!

Thanks TooMuchCake for all the info I will let you know how it turns out. I hope to one day be as knowledgeable as alot of you on this site but for now I just look at a picture and get as much info as I can and make the cake. I haven't had any schooling of any kind and the only teaching Ive had has been from this site but I love to bake so I do the best I can. Thanks Again.

Calicopurr, you wouldn't want to add regular icing color to straight chocolate because it will seize, but you can add some to modeling chocolate and it will work. If you have candy colors, those are better, but the range of colors is limited.

Tracy and Nanatrucker, you're more than welcome. Let me know how your projects turn out.

Deanna

Jennifer Dontz. You can get the DVD which has the recipe from www.jenniferdontz.com. It's the fondant frills DVD.

A big thank you to you!
I have $26! LOL thanks

Well, I'm waiting for it to cool (at 1 am--glad it's Fri night!). But, mine didn't look string & weird. More like a yummy bowl of chocolate marshmallow. We'll see how it does when & if I can start kneading it. I can't see me being able to knead chocolate fluff, but we'll see. I'll update tomorrow.

I have Jennifer's DVD, but I haven't tried her chocolate clay recipe yet. I seem to remember that she said Satin Ice fondant doesn't work and I certainly don't want to use Wilton, so I'm wondering ... has anyone made Jennifer's recipe using homemade fondant - either MMF or MFF?

Second question: can I use Michele Foster's (I have Michele's DVD as well and I love it!) chocolate leather in silicone molds? I am planning on putting pearls around a 3-tier wedding cake in April and I definitely want them to taste good. I figure I will either use Jennifer's or Michele's recipe - whichever one works the best with my molds.

Thanks!
Martha

Well, I must have screwed up. I left it covered overnight b/c it was not being kneaded. It was just stringing everywhere & even a small amount was just gooey nasty. So I come to it this morning & get some out of the bowl. It's very soft & I scraped some out & start kneading it. It's slightly tacky & can be rolled but VERY soft. There was NO oil to speak of---last night or this morning. So, I don't know what in the world I did wrong. I'm sure it would be workable, but WAY too soft to cover anything with. i'm going to leave a piece out on the counter to see how it does. I thought chocolate leather was suppose to be super hard & you have to pound it & knead it before you can work w/ it. Every recipe I've worked w/ is the exact opposite.

Dandelion, the corn syrup recipe generally is pretty hard the next day, but Michele's stays softer than that. Not so soft that it won't hold its shape, though... You should knead it as soon as it's cool enough to handle. If you're using white chocolate, it will be on the soft side, so Michele says to knead in powdered sugar to firm it up, but rather than do that, I add a little bit of fondant to mine and it works great.

As for it being stringy and messy right off the bat, I've had that happen, but only when using the peanut butter flavored candy melts that Wilton makes, so I just gave up trying to use those. The recipe in Michele's cookbook is slightly different in that it calls for one cup each of marshmallow creme and cheap chocolate. I measure one cup of creme and weigh 8 ounces of chocolate, because depending on the brand of chocolate I'm using, different amounts would fit in a cup. Weighing it gives me predictable results each time. Perhaps that could be the answer for you?

Martha, I've never used the modeling chocolate in a mold, but it should work.

HTH,
Deanna