Can some1 plez advise on how I make chocolate slabs.

I intend to use it on sides of a rectangular cake to make a Wine bottle Crate.Also how do I give it a wooden effect (kinda like marble effect ) ?

Please help. I have to make this cake by wednesday.

To make the slabs, you could pour the chocolate into a cake pan, then put it in the fridge. After about 10 minutes, the chocolate should be able to be tapped out. At least, Wilton suggests that for their chocolate plaques!

For the streaking, I think it's painted on.

I just did a baseball cake, if you look at the bat......it is made with chocolate and then covered that with fondant and painted it with a mix of orange and brown and put some distressing with knife.....hth

It seems to me you would need candy making chocolate. Like Merckens or Wilton chocolate melts. Hopefully someone with more experience may more ideas...

Amazing Cakes' Laurie from Cake Alchemy in NY did the wood grain in an episode. She had a sheet of acetate, put just a little bit of light brown choc on, spread it with a graining tool like from the hardware store for faux woodgrain. After that set, she put a much thicker coat of darker choc on top. When all set, she peeled off the acetate, and there was her wood! Pretty cool technique. I guess you will want to cut to size before completely se.

Did you get my directions?

Also I would add.......if I were going to make slabs I would make a mold the size I want, because when you go to cut that much chocolate it will break off where you do not want it too.....so I would make some rectangle shapes maybe by folding wax paper around down rowds and taping and another across from it as wide as you want slab....the small ends you can widdle off with a potato peeler little by little....then pour melted chocolate in that resevoir and chill until completely chilled thru.............make sure you thin chocolate with crisco so its not to thick.........and use a double boiler or two sauce pans one beneath the other with hot water naturally in botton one hth

Madge would probably know best but I wouldn't put Crisco in the pan. When chocolate cools, it shrinks. That's what allows you to just tap things out. HTH

See if the instructions are still in the Jacques Torres files on Food Network. He did a nest with a chicken or turkey, and made a wooden crate from chocolate for the nest to sit in.

Theresa

Caren,

you can make it similar as on my cake http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1327636 The spikes are white and brown chocolate - the kind you can buy in every supermarket.

It is easier to make it this way, with few modifications for the woodgrain:
Melt the white chocolate let it cool a little. It needs to be liquid but not scalding hot. On large cutting board or upside down sheet pan put a vinyl sheet / plastic mat. Pour the white chocolate on it. With plastic, fine saw toothed paint scraper (or new graining tool for woodworking) swirl in the chocolate. You want to scrape some of it and leave fine paths only. Put the complete board / pan in the fridge for few minutes, to let the chocolate set.
Melt brown chocolate, pour it again on the vinyl sheet. With a spatula or knife, smear the chocolate in even layer. Set it again in the fridge, but for 5-10 min. only. When the chocolate is solid but not hard yet, score the dimensions of your slabs with edge of spatula. Let the chocolate harden again. The hard chocolate will break where you score it - the same as a bar of chocolate.

I actually found a how to - they made it bit different (upside down cake), but it is the same what I tried to explain:
http://manggy.blogspot.com/2008/01/cabinetmakers-cake.html

No. I actually used the plastic chopping board under the vinyl sheet. The vinyl sheet is there so you can peel it of, leaving only the chocolate layer there. The board or sheet pan because when you move it, you need hard surface.

Buy one or two yards of the vinyl sheet sold as tablecloth or for use over cloth tablecloth. You can use it for this and after washing for rolling out your fondant and transporting it on your cakes. This was the best investment I made in my cake equipment

An alternative would be acetate sheet. You need smooth and flexible but quite firm surface.

I tried ur method majka_ze & it worked fine.Just need to know waht shud I use to glue the chocolate slabs to the cake? will SMBC do or can I use some nutella.

I woould use melted chocolate, but I guess I am not as schooled in this as some..its just how I happen to do it. Sorry if I didnt help.

also, years ago I was having trouble covering easter eggs with the chocolate thickening....I e mailed Betty Crocker and she(whoever that is at web site) told me to add some crisco to thin it, and thats what I do and I never have trouble...........

Sorry for the belated answer, Karenreg, but my time is actually several hours ahead of you.
For SBMC you shouldn't need anything. Simply gently pressing the slabs in the cake should be enough.
Alternatives are:
-with torch or hair dryer warm the back side - the chocolate liquidizes and will adhere
- with melted chocolate

And for Madge:
Yes, using melted crisco, or other white shortening to thin chocolate works well. It works fine when covering cakes or easter eggs. For decorations, white shortening - 100% fat - the solid kind works better. Sorry, I don't know the US brands and so I cannot give you exact name. The difference is, that you want the solid shortening because than the chocolate gets harder. If you add fat, you usually don't need to temper the chocolate. Partly for the same reason I am using the vinyl or acetate - the chocolate is shinier without tempering.

I would go with melted chocolate. I had to glue some white chocolate fans and roses to a cake recently and I found melted chocolate to be the best thing. I also tried some glucose/corn syrup and that worked too but it wasn't as strong as melted chocolate.

Thanks to 1 & all for all ur suggestions & tips however I dropped the idea of adding chocolate logs coz it had 2 travel almost an hour to my hubby's office & i tried testing it by keeping it out but it was melting due to the heat.So made all of it with fondant.However I did learn to make the logs & they turned out quite good considering it was my first time.Just that I didn't use it on my cake.Do checkout my pic & let me know if it needs any.

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1452493

improvement.

Warm Regards,
Karen

turned out awesome

Thanks 4 ur leaving a comment.I'm glad u liked it.My Hubby's office colleagues loved it

I bet they loved it, it was really cool