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Showing posts with label Icing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Icing. Show all posts

Sunday, 3 April 2011

Chocolate Plastic and Roses

Chocolate plastic is just a more interesting (American) name for chocolate modelling icing. For my wedding cake I used ready-made ‘cocoform’ from Squires (http://www.squires-shop.com ) to make the roses. However it is possible to make your own using chocolate and glucose. I used to get the glucose from Boots but I discovered you can get it in a tube made by Silver Spoon from Sainsburys.

You can make it with white chocolate you and if you do this you can colour it (see right). Here is the recipe, you really need to make it the day before you want to use it, but as it is only made from chocolate and glucose you can keep it for ages in the fridge.

Ingredients:
8 oz white (or milk) chocolate, finely chopped
¼ cup (4 tbsp) glucose

For Dark chocolate you need more glucose, about 5 tablespoons

1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. When it is fully melted add the glucose and stir the mixture will thicken and come away from the side of the bowl.
2. Then put the mixture in a re-sealable plastic bag and squash until it is a thin layer. Alternative wrap in cling film
3. Leave over night in the fridge or at a push put it in the freezer for an hour or so (but this isn’t so good).
4. Before use leave at room temperature for 30 minutes or blitz in the microwave for 10 sec or so. You will need to knead the mixture before you use it. I tend to knead little bits as I go. It does take a bit of kneading to get it smooth but when you have done this it will be like plasticine.

Below is a milk chocolate rose and leaf and here is a link to an American site which shows how to make more professional roses

Saturday, 26 March 2011

Sunflowers and Icing

Today’s post is mainly about icing, specifically chocolate ganache, a versatile icing that can be poured on a cake while runny as a glossy covering (as I did for my wedding cake) or used when more solid as a piped icing. To illustrate its use here is a picture of some sunflower cupcakes I made the impressionists garden party I previously made gingerbread ladies for.


I dyed flaked almonds yellow with food colouring and left them to dry on greaseproof paper.

Then having put a dollop of chocolate ganache on the cupcakes I put the almonds around the edge.


The recipe
Chocolate Ganache -  Makes 250g mixture enough to fill and cover a 8 inch cake

175g / 6 oz           Plain Chocolate broken into pieces
4 tablespoons    Single Cream
50g / 2oz              Butter  in cubes
2                            Egg yolks
1 tablespoon      Rum

I adapt this as given my very fecund friends I don’t like to add the egg yolks in case I am feeding pregnant women ditto for the rum. Also if I haven’t got single cream in the fridge I milk instead but a bit less volume. Apart from that you can see I follow the recipe closely...

Instructions
  1. Beat the chocolate with the cream in a small pan over a gentle heat
  2. Cool slightly then beat in the butter bit by bit
  3. Beat in the egg yolks and rum if using

Either use runny or wait for it to cool and beat for a thick pipe-able icing