Chocolate Molds Melting?! Help!

Decorating By ale122809 Updated 24 Oct 2014 , 9:20pm by bubs1stbirthday

ale122809 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ale122809 Posted 22 Oct 2014 , 7:45pm
post #1 of 14

AHey there! Someone please help me figure out what the heck I am doing wrong. :(

I am trying to make hammers, wrenches, plyers, etc. Out of chocolate for my son's birthday party and it's a disaster.

I bought semi chocolate morsels from my local grocery store to test out the molds. I melted the chocolate on the stove, at a very low heat (it was nice and creamy) and poured into my dry and clean molds. I read somewhere online that they need to go in the freezer for 10 minutes to "set" so that is what I did. After 10 minutes, I took the chocolate out and put the tools on a platter while I made a few more but after about 5 ish minutes I noticed the tools were not only sweating but also melting. I live in OR so it's cold and rainy right now and the heater at home was off so not sure if it was the temp causing this but could it be the chocolate I'm using?? I don't really want to use the candy melts since I'd like the real chocolate flavor but I guess will go that route if there is nothing that can be done to stop the melting. Can anyone tell me where I went wrong or suggest what to change to get this to work, please and thank you!!!!!

13 replies
jennicake Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
jennicake Posted 22 Oct 2014 , 8:27pm
post #2 of 14

If you're using real chocolate, you need to temper it.  Otherwise it will never fully harden.

 

I can't help you with tempering because I've never been able to do it properly... but if you look up instructions online, I'm sure it will work out for you :)

Gingerlocks Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Gingerlocks Posted 22 Oct 2014 , 9:51pm
post #3 of 14

To be honest it sounds like its just a poor quality mold; that really shouldn't happen. I can suggest that you could try a candy clay (or Molding chocolate). They will also work in chocolate molds. 

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 22 Oct 2014 , 11:01pm
post #4 of 14

Aso how big are these molds? still melting after 10 minutes in the freezer? need to leave it in there long enough for it to set up -- and yes the tempering is critical for success as jennicake already advised --

ale122809 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ale122809 Posted 22 Oct 2014 , 11:44pm
post #5 of 14

A[@][IMG]http://www.cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3297636/width/200/height/400[/IMG][/@]

This was my try at it last night. It's a plastic mold..

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 22 Oct 2014 , 11:59pm
post #6 of 14

Ayour links aren't working for me -- but the other thing i wanted to say is even though you melted your choco over low heat it can get too hot --

i've burnt my choco and still it was creamy -- just tossing out some more information -- in other words how low the flame/fire was is not an indicator to how hot the chocolate was -- apparently it was quite hot if 10 minutes in the box didn't cool it off and it was sweating and still melting -- but i mean it depends on how big your pieces are too

MBalaska Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
MBalaska Posted 23 Oct 2014 , 12:03am
post #7 of 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by ale122809 

Hey there! Someone please help me figure out what the heck I am doing wrong. icon_sad.gif

I bought semi chocolate morsels from my local grocery store to test out the molds. .......................

 

Here's the good news @ale122809  you can get this done and have years of chocolate molding ahead of you.  Don't give up on that mold  just yet.

 

Semi Sweet Chocolate morsels are made especially for using in baking.  They are not for melting and molding.  You cannot temper them.  You can melt them and add white vegetable fat such as Crisco and pipe or drizzle on goodies.  You can melt them with cream for a thick ganache.

 

You cannot use them in molds. Purchase some Confectioners candy melts, Almond bark, (this is the easiest way to go) or real chocolate. Real chocolate requires tempering which will take some research on your part to learn.  I never could learn to do it, so I purchased a tempering machine and had a lot of fun with it.

 

Clean up your molds with warm soapy water and a soft cloth. Don't let them sit and air dry or you will get water and mineral spots on them that will show in your molded chocolates.  Gently buff your molds with cotton swabs, cotton balls, or soft cloth.

 

http://www.getsuckered.com/Product/Merckens-Coatings-1-pound-bag__NC-MK-MERCKENS-1.aspx

 

http://www.candy.com/Confectionery-Melts_c_2669.html

 

http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?sku=pg_candymelts

MBalaska Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
MBalaska Posted 23 Oct 2014 , 12:13am
post #8 of 14

Quote:

Originally Posted by -K8memphis 

your links aren't working for me -- but the other thing i wanted to say is even though you melted your choco over low heat it can get too hot --

i've burnt my choco and still it was creamy -- just tossing out some more information -- in other words how low the flame/fire was is not an indicator to how hot the chocolate was -- apparently it was quite hot if 10 minutes in the box didn't cool it off and it was sweating and still melting -- but i mean it depends on how big your pieces are too

 

absolutely spot on @-K8memphis.   Here's one way to picture how to melt your chocolate safely, without overheating and killing it.  Think of how a piece of delicious chocolate melts in your mouth.  Your body temperature is 98.6 right...........and that lovely piece of chocolate can sit lovingly on your 98.6 degree  tongue and start to melt beautifully without you adding any further heat source.    It's nice and slow and gentle heat and that's how it gives you that superbly luxurious taste and texture.

 

Do the same thing with your bowl of chocolate to be melted.  Make small pieces of chocolate and put about 3/4's of it in the bowl.   Warm it slowly, and don't melt it all at one big blast.  warm it, let it sit and do it's thing for a moment, stir gently,  add a bit more chocolate to your bowl, repeat.  

 

Oh dang, now I'm going to have to find my DVD of 'Chocolat' with Johnny Depp & Juliette Binoche and watch it tonight.

winniemog Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
winniemog Posted 23 Oct 2014 , 2:19am
post #9 of 14

AMB I love that movie, and my husband's away, so it's the perfect time to watch it! I'm swooning just thinking about it....

Magic Mouthfuls Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Magic Mouthfuls Posted 24 Oct 2014 , 7:12am
post #10 of 14

MBalaska is spot on with all her advice.  I let my chocolates set in the fridge (not freezer, to avoid condensation afterwards) for 30 mins to 2 hours.  

 

But if you can't master tempering, try blending 1/2 real chocolate (couverture - the one with cocoa butter) with 1/2 candy melts/compound chocolate (the one with vegetable fats).  It wont snap like tempered chocolate and will get to melt stage quicker on hot days, but if it's just for your son's birthday party it will save heaps of headaches, and it will be yummier than just candy melts on their own.  

 

Here's my example...

 

   

MBalaska Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
MBalaska Posted 24 Oct 2014 , 7:26am
post #11 of 14

Quote:

Originally Posted by winniemog 

MB I love that movie, and my husband's away, so it's the perfect time to watch it! I'm swooning just thinking about it....

 

@winniemog  I swoon just watching all of that chocolate get hand tempered ohhhhh it's lovely to watch an expert craftsman-artisan at work. Or did you mean Johnny Depp?:wink:

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magic Mouthfuls 
 

Here's my example...

 

   

 

@Magic Mouthfuls that is a very nice chocolate mold for tools and a toolbox.  How nice that would look on a mans cake!

winniemog Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
winniemog Posted 24 Oct 2014 , 12:44pm
post #12 of 14

A[@]MBalaska[/@], I think the whole movie's pretty hot......it was the first time I understood the "I worship Johnny Depp" camp, but I think Juliet Binochet is amazing too!

ale122809 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ale122809 Posted 24 Oct 2014 , 4:30pm
post #13 of 14

AThank you all so much for your help and advice! Tempering was harder than it looked and is just not working for me. I now have more respect for chocolate makers! Lol. I ended up giving up and just doing straight melts but I think I'm going to try Magic mouthfuls idea and mix the chocolates. (: thank you all, you're awesome folks.

bubs1stbirthday Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
bubs1stbirthday Posted 24 Oct 2014 , 9:20pm
post #14 of 14

I am no good at tempering chocolate so I mix baking 'compound' chocolate with ordinary chocolate to get a better set. Still not perfect but not too bad.

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%