July 28, 2011 | Posted in Food & Recipes | 2 Comment(s) | Share Article |
by John Adam
Making chocolate handmade treats can be done right from the comfort of your home, although make no mistake it is a lengthy process. The reward is worth the time it takes to make chocolate handmade treats. 1. Choose Your Beans
Chocolate is made from cacao beans. The best chocolate handmade treats are made by starting with the highest quality cacao beans. There are many suppliers online selling a variety of cacao beans in a wide range of prices so whether you are looking for an average priced cacao bean or that expensive hard to find cacao bean the internet is the best place to shop for the beans you want.
2. Roast the Beans
Just like coffee beans, cacao beans must be roasted. You can easily roast them on a cookie sheet in the oven. They do burn quite easy so you'll need to watch carefully. You can also invest in a specialty cacao bean roaster made for home use. If you plan to make a lot of chocolate handmade treats this is an investment that's worth considering. With the bean roaster the beans are generally roasted for anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes depending on the bean type of bean and the flavor you are seeking.
3. Getting the Chocolate Out
Once the beans are roasted you must crack open the beans’ outer shell so that you can access the chocolate that is inside. There are a number of ways to achieve this at home.
1. Lie the beans in a single row on a baking sheet or counter
2. Use a hammer to crack the shells open
3. Set your blow dryer to low and then blow the hulls of the beans away from the chocolate. This step can be messy so make sure you have the right clean up tools including a mop an bucket.
4. Grind and Refine the Chocolate
Next you will need to grind your chocolate. You want it as fine as possible. You can achieve this with a quality juicer that will grind the chocolate fine. Once the chocolate has been ground fine it's almost ready for chocolate handmade treats. But first you'll need to add sugar, preservatives, or whatever else you plan to use to enhance the chocolate's flavor.
You will mix all of these ingredients and then you will need to slowly and constantly agitate the chocolate for about 12 hours to get the right consistency for your chocolate handmade treats. One of the best ways to accomplish this is with a standing mixer set on low.
5. Tempering the Chocolate
Great, you've refined the chocolate. However, before you can use it for chocolate handmade treats it needs to be tempered. Tempering chocolate at home is fairly complex. However, if you don't mind a little cheating to speed up the process use your microwave. Tempered chocolate is hard, shiny, and smooth. Finally, it's ready to use for your chocolate handmade treats. You are ready to make some delicious chocolate handmade treats.About the Author
If you are interested in more information, please visit the following website: Chocolate Candy
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