I think they're chocolate curls, but are they shaved or hand made?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7536610@N03/491796325/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7536610@N03/524061093/

stunning cake!!! wonder if they're made with this???


http://www.shop.com/op/~Girouette_Cheese_Chocolate_Curler_By_Swissmar-prod-37818335-50358819?sourceid=298

OH wow, I have never seen a cheese cutter like that.
How big is the block of choclate? The curls look really long, like ribbons.

I was going to say the same thing, they look like ribbons...maybe you could do the same w/ modeling chocolate?

It looks like they are hand made. The melted, tempered chocolate is spread on the back of a sheet pan. Once is is soft set, the chocolate is scraped off in short sheets.

OR, the sam effect might be possible using chocolate clay and a pasta machine. Frankly, I would go with the clay-NO tempering!

I found their site http://www.margaretsfrenchbakery.com/index.html, and they do say they are actual curls. Wow, I wonder if they'll share their secret....

I would guess you could use chocolate clay and roll it thin and cut it into strips. I started using a rotary cutter to cut fondant so I don't see why it couldn't work for chocolate clay as well.

my vote was going to be for the choc clay as well

Yah, I would use the chocolate clay and roll it in a pasta machine and the cut your blocks and then roll one end around something that small until they dry and hold their shape. Doing curls out of chocolate would be impossible to come up with that effect unless your Jauque Torres or something. (pardon the spelling).

There would be less breakabe with clay. You could roll the strips out a bit long, then layer them around the finished cake.

I might have to try this one.

Don't have a clue but would love to learn.

I believe they are done with the cheese cutter too. They look just like the ones on some of Shirley's cakes and she told me she has one of those that she uses.

I'm going with the modeling chocolate. roll it out in a manual pasta machine and cut into strips. It should give you the sharp, clean edges to look like ribbon.
I just love the look of this cake.

Well, clay would work better, but for TASTE... a nice belgian chocolate would also be FABULOUS... I guess I'm always more for taste quality than anything else - even if it is more expensive and more difficult. My husband would LOVE , LOVE, LOVE that!

Tucking idea into my head! LOL

Melissa

Beautiful cake! I think it could be chocolate clay and a pasta machine. What ever it is its awesome looking.

Have you seen shirleys how to wrap a cake with chocolate? Could you do the same thing here? let it set and then fold it together. Just a thought

I looks to me like it was perhaps done with those acetate strips and then randomly folded back and forth while still pliable peeling the acetate off as you go???

On their blog they wrote this regarding the white cake:

The third of today's cakes. This is one of our signature cakes with real white chocolate shavings on the outside. Very tedious and time consuming, but I think the outcome is worth the effort.


So maybe they used the circular cheese cutter? Where do you get a piece of chocolate to fit that? I'm totally clueless.

So. I'm not clear what you are saying. After you get it from the pasta machine. When you go to put it on the cake, is the chocolate wrapped around or would it be placed on the cake like short petals???

Lu

I love that cake!

that is a great idea!! love the pics on the links posted here.

I think I've answered some of my own questions! lol

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/images/document/howto/MA96_ISchocolate.pdf

I haven't read this whole thread yet, but has anyone used that cheese/chocolate curler thingy? It looks interesting, but is it worth the investment?

Is there an actual cake under all that chocolate?

If the cake is done close enough to the event, would it be absolutely necessary to temper the chocolate?

Time permitting, I would think that you could literally get the chocolate set enough, make the curls, garnish the cake, and it would be fine the day of the event.

Doing it any earlier, I'd be afraid of the thin curls being affected by the conditions in a refrigerator during storage.

Anyway, just my thoughts...

~ Scott

I have seen the chocolate curler in a catalog years ago. With it you could order the chocolate (D-M-W) in a big circle like cheese so that you could do the curls when cutting the chocolate. Haven't look for that lately.