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I'm an idiot at making modeling chocolate - HELP!

post #1 of 12
2/13/07 at 9:34am
Thread Starter 
I've tried twice to make modeling chocolate and have failed both attempts. My chocolate either crumbles when touched or it is harder than a brick.

I've tried two different recipes. One with just chocolate and corn syrup, and the brick effect happened. And the other with chocolate, powdered sugar, and some other stuff. The crumbling effect happened.

Can anyone help out a poor modeling chocolate idiot?
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post #2 of 12
2/13/07 at 9:38am
Your not an idiot. Modeling chocolate can be a pain in the arse..... especially white.
What kind are you making? It does set up like a brick anyou just have to work it to warm it up.
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post #3 of 12
2/13/07 at 9:40am
Try one more time.

14 ounces of chocolate or candy clay
1/3 cup clear corn syrup

melt the chocolate in a bowl over barely simmering water, very low temp. It takes a little while, but you won't over heat the chocolate.

once it is melted, stir in the corn syrup-just until it is blended. If you over mix this, it will separate the fats too much.

pour it out onto parchment or waxed paper and let it sit for a few hours or overnight.

Knead the enitre mass back together to soften it for use.

good luck.
Cake. So many flavors, so little time.
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Cake. So many flavors, so little time.
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post #4 of 12
2/13/07 at 10:14am
Thread Starter 
I was trying to make white modeling chocolate that I needed to turn pink. Got it to turn pink, but after it cooled it turned into a brick.

None of my clients like fondant, so I thought I would try out modeling chocolate to make simple decorations in. I thought, this sounds like a cool idea and fun! It is still a cool idea, but very frustrated.
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post #5 of 12
2/13/07 at 10:23am
Oh sheesh good luck with that. It should be a brick but not a crumbly brick, which is what I usually get when I do the white choc. version. I think it has something do to with the amount of cocoa butter that it is the white vs milk or dark that makes it so difficult.

I know some people make it out of candy melts too. Hopefully someone has a good solution for you.
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post #6 of 12
2/13/07 at 10:52am
I recently made white chocolate clay and also tinted it pink and also made chocolate clay and covered a cake. The recipe I used was

10oz of chocolate (or candy melts)
1/3 cup of light karo syrup (corn syrup)

I did use Girahdelli(sp) chocolate though - I don't know if that makes a difference or not but mine came out great it was hard at first but as you knead it - it will get easier to handle. I hope this helps.

Katy625 is who I got all my info from maybe if she see's this she can help.

Good Luck icon_smile.gif
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post #7 of 12
6/2/08 at 7:12am
I know this is an old thread but need some advise on white chocolate clay-

I just made a batch that was way tooooooo OILY- same 1lb chocolate to 4 oz kyro syrup that I always use- but used a "high end" chocolate (Valhorna) Do the lower cost chocolates have less oil ?

What is everyone's favorite white chocolate to use?
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post #8 of 12
6/2/08 at 7:50am
chocolatecake -

Yes, the brand of chocolate you use will determine the quality of your end product. Higher-end chocolates contain little or no stabilizers, like lower-end chocolates do, and therefore are more prone to separation. Despite the occasional extra work to blot the fat which separates, the taste is far better with high-end chocolates.

Many times it's not the cost of the chocolate you use, but whether it is chocolate at all which determines the outcome.

For instance, I know a woman who uses candy melts instead of real chocolate, and she always has problems with her end product. Candy melts have no cocoa butter in them, instead they have a hydrogenated (as in trans-fat) vegetable fat, usually palm kernel oil.

If you buy one of Toba Garrett's books, either The Well-Decorated Cake or Professional Cake Decorating, there should be recipes in these books which explain the variance in the corn syrup/glucose to chocolate ratio, depending on the flavor, dark, milk or white.

I use Ghirardelli or Guittard chocolate for all my chocolate work.

Theresa icon_smile.gif
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post #9 of 12
9/14/10 at 7:20pm
I used the microwave, and everyone was saying it was not important to burn the chocolate, so mine was just barely melted. Then every time I put in the syrup it would seize up on me and become a crumbly mess that wouldn't even stay together. I thought I was doing something really wrong! I mean, how could I mess up a two ingredient recipe? Anyway, I was getting desperate, and figured what the hey... It's probably going in the trash anyway. So I put the whole mess in the microwave again, and put in a little more corn syrup. It was bubbly and goopy, but at least it was more like clay! and not a crumbly mess. The oil did separate out, but at least I could roll it out, and mold it into something.
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post #10 of 12
9/26/10 at 1:01pm
You need to use a thermometer in order to get the melted chocolate and corn syrup to be pretty close to the exact same temp. If you dont, it is the difference in the corn syrup and melted chocolate temperature that makes the chocolate setup real fast and is what others consider "siezing" up. If the corn syrup is room temperature (temp for chocolate to harden from melted consistancy) and you place it into the hot chocolate, its sort of like placing ice cubes into melted shortening... the chocolate will get hard in various places and become lumpy before the corn syrup gets totally incorporated.. You will then need to squeeze all the oil out of it as much as possible and then dab the surface with a clean paper towel and then wrap the gooey mess tightly in plastic wrap and either place in the fridge or let it sit over night at room temp... Its awesome.. and I just use the cheap old almond bark from walmart! works like a dream!!
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post #11 of 12
9/26/10 at 7:52pm
I use candy melts for my modeling chocolate pieces that are hand modeled. If I'm wrapping a cake, I use good quality chocolate.

With the candy melts, I warm the corn syrup and after mixing it into the melted candy melts, I pick up the "dough" and sqeeze it, getting out as much of the moisture (oil and water) as I can. When I do this, the dough gets silky smooth and when cooled, it doesn't get areas of crystallization.

With so much of the oil milked out, I can handle the modeling chocolate a lot longer when working with it.

For a cake covering, I melt the chocolate, warm up the corn syrup, stir it in while the chocolate is still over the boiling water, and stir until smooth. It doesn't really seize up the way it does in the method above. I pour it out onto saran, wrap it, and allow to set up. This stuff is much softer, but I don't handle it much. Because it retains so much oil, it's very soft and easy to cut.

This is a pic of some modeling chocolate hibiscus and leaves that I did recently:

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1814998

HTH
Rae
I love you, but your emergency is not my crisis!

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.--Terry Pratchett (b.194
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I love you, but your emergency is not my crisis!

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.--Terry Pratchett (b.194
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post #12 of 12
9/29/10 at 1:43am
I'm sorry, but I don't understand the "milking" of the modelling chocolate. So seriously, just squeezing it will cause the oil to come out? I only have modelling chocolate that I purchased already made...I haven't tried making it, but this is scaring me out of doing it!! Squeezing chocolate?? sounds weird!
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