Anyone make candy?

[SalandJeff]

I'm looking for some help with the chocolate candy that you make in molds. I would like to do some for dd's birthday. What kind of chocolate do you use? Those candy melts they sell at the craft stores don't look that great, but maybe they are Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[PinballFamily]

Those candy melt things taste simply awful (to me) - but maybe if they are for kids, they wouldn't care?

If you want, instead, you could use any kind of chocolate chips or solid chocolate bars. (I usually use Ghiradelli - have a 10 lb. bar from Trader Joe's I just chip chunks off of...) You can carefully/slowly melt them in a microwave or double-boiler (simply a pot in a pot with some water in the bottom) on the stove. If you microwave them, you can even do that in the little squeezy bottles the craft stores have next to the candy molds. If on the stove, just spoon the melted chocolate into the molds.

Couldn't be easier!

The craft stores also sell the little plastic bags to twist-tie over the finished lollipops, if you use that shape, or to package up the loose candy.

Good luck!

 

[shalom]

Use your favorite chocolate chips or solid bars. My eldest hangs onto some of her Halloween chocolate for a year, so my kids are good with expired stuff - but they still won't eat that candy melt stuff.

I do think some chocolates work a little better than others in terms of popping out cleanly, specifically that darker or semi-sweet works better than milk, but it may be because I pick out the dark chocolate and the kids pick out the milk, and they like a softer chocolate.

Don't overheat the chocolate - you want it just hot enough to be melty. Don't use soap on your molds; it can flavor the chocolates. Just use hot water, and wipe them dry rather than air drying them. Make sure your molds are completely dry - just a tiny bit of water can make the chocolate look bad (although it doesn't hurt it so far as I know), and I've heard it doesn't take much water to change the hardening properties. The faster you chill it, the better your odds of getting a nice, glossy finish. The usual rule is, solid chocolates go into the freezer to chill, dipped chocolates into the fridge (personally, I usually put my dipped chocolates in the freezer because I have more room there, and it's always worked fine for me).

If you use a good chocolate, then even if they don't mold beautifully, they'll still taste good.

 

[pandaroo]

Those candy melt things taste simply awful (to me) - but maybe if they are for kids, they wouldn't care?

If you want, instead, you could use any kind of chocolate chips or solid chocolate bars. (I usually use Ghiradelli - have a 10 lb. bar from Trader Joe's I just chip chunks off of...) You can carefully/slowly melt them in a microwave or double-boiler (simply a pot in a pot with some water in the bottom) on the stove. If you microwave them, you can even do that in the little squeezy bottles the craft stores have next to the candy molds. If on the stove, just spoon the melted chocolate into the molds.

Couldn't be easier!

The craft stores also sell the little plastic bags to twist-tie over the finished lollipops, if you use that shape, or to package up the loose candy.

Good luck!

Do you just pour it into the mold or do you use Pam first?

 

[SalandJeff]

Thanks for the tips! We have a Trader Joe's up the street, so I think I will try that.

Oh, I just thought of another question.....so if you are not using candy melts, and you want part of the mold to be colored chocolate, can you color white chocolate somehow???

 

[MazdaUK]

You probably could use food colouring, or else get that stuff you can "paint" on after

 

[PinballFamily]

I've not needed any Pam or spray shortening when using those plastic molds - twist them a bit and the finished candy falls right out.

Trader Joe's only has those huge dark chocolate bars before the Christmas season. But I'm not sure when they usually put them out...

shalom adds some great tips - even a drop of water in the melting chocolate (from steam or whatever) causes the chocolate to seize up - and get lumpy and totally yukky. I'm a dark chocolate fan, too...usually pass on the milk chocolate, although DH loves that. We're a match made in (chocolate) heaven!

 

[rlovew]

Some other tips- to get the candy to go into the edges of the molds- tap it slightly up and down after you put in the chocolate before putting in the freezer. This will help the chocolate to go into the small crevesses in some molds.

I normally get my chocolate from a choloate store that sell wafers - but they taste different (much better quailty) than the ones at Michaels and such- you can buy these at stores that sell chocolates (if they make them themselves).

If you have chocolate that is melted but still thick you can add a tiny bit of cooking oil into it to smooth it out.

You need specialty food coloring to color chocolate (normally only available in the same shops that will sell actual chocolate wafers- the ones they sell at Michaels are chocolate flavored- which is why they taste funny.

You can also mold chocolates in white and buy powders to color them with as well. My mother buys the ones I have used and doesn't think the dust powders from Michaels are good- she buiys them when she gets the chocolates. They have all kinds of colors of these including shimmy silvers and golds.

You can also use a paintbrush to paint parts of the mold before filling it to help with small spots.

If we have a larger mold sometimes we will brush on a layer of chocolate- freeze most of the way and then add a filling- we use Nutelle, Rice Krispy Teats, caramel(melted), peanut butter(mix with a little powdered sugar to make them like peanut butter cups) and then add the chocolate to cover and finish the mold. These take a little bit of extra time to set up.

Rebecca