I am making a chocolate plaque for a cake, and wanted to use white choc not candy melts, so i got the wilton candy colors and when it came time add it in, I noticed it was changing the texture of the chocolate, I did everything i could to avoid seizing, made sure there was no water near the choc,didnt over heat it as i was using a double boiler, so i tried it again with a new batch of chocolate, with a different color and sure enough, it siezed again, I thought they werent supposed to that since they are oil based, any thoughts on this? could i have done something wrong? i might have to breakdown and get some colored candy melts........and start over

Happens to me as well. I add some olive oil, and it helps.

I've had the same problem with the Wilton that I had bought at Michaels. I gave up on it and purchased some Merckens candy melts instead at my local cake supply store. The lady at the cake supply told me that when the Wilton's gets old (if it has been sitting on the shelf for a while at the store) it will tends to do that. I personally think the Merkens tastes better anyhow. HTH

But candy melts are not real chocolate right? Im just wondering, cuz i can tast ethe difference between candy melts adn white chocolate

Hmmm... Good question. I'd be interested to know that myself. It's been a while since we used it, and the thought didn't even occur to me that it wasn't real chocolate. I told everyone it was chocolate... Lol. The one thing I could tell you though from what I remember, is the Merkens tasted far superior to the Wilton's in my estimation, and it was easy to work with as well.

Assuming the colors were nto water based, the chocolate may have been old.

well i was using real white chocolate, not candy melts, but i never considered that the choc could be too old, i just bought it, but who knows how long it sat on the shelf lol. i dont have any extra time to c if it happens again so I'm going to use the colored candy melts, good thing i decided to start early ! Thanks for ur advise

Did you add a spoon of shortening when it seized?

Did you add a spoon of shortening when it seized?

Did you add a spoon of shortening when it seized?

Did you add a spoon of shortening when it seized?

Did you add a spoon of shortening when it seized?

no i didnt try that,but will definitly next time, thanks!

You CAN overheat chocolate in a double boiler and you CAN get condensation from the double boiler into the chocolate without even realizing it.

I find that melting chocolate in the micowave in a plastic microwave safe bowl at 50% power--or less-- works very well.

If using a double boiler, the top pot/bowl MUST be an extremely tight fit to the bottom pot. If you get the water to boiling and then add the top pot with the chocolate, it decreases the amount of steam and is very gentle to the chocolate.

As for adding in candy colors, I'd suggest gently warming them in warm water (place bottle of color in a zip loc bag and put that in warm water) or in a heating pad on low before adding it to the warm chocolate. If trying to make a very dark color, no matter how hard you try, it may affect the quality of the chocolate. Colored cocoa butters work better for darker colors.

If you add shortening or oil, the chocolate will not set up as shiny & hard as it would without the addition of the soft fat.

Rae

Proprietor at my cake store said food coloring for chocolate has to be oil-based. It is different from the paste colors you use to color royal icing, buttercream, cakes, etc., or the grocery store ones. I didn't ask about melted chocolate and powdered colors.
Shanter

I really appreciate all the input, i took another try, using both candy melts and white chocolate with the candy colors, i added some shortening and they didnt sieze! may not be as shiny, but worked great, Yay! made my night! LOL

Yup. I haven't noticed a difference in the shine but that's probably because I've never seen them side by side. When I'm at the seizing point, or when it jut isn't thin enough, my only option has been to add shortening. I did pick up some cocoa butter a few weeks back but I can't remember why. Blakescakes: can I add that to chocolate to keep it at consistency? Is that why I bought it?

I've tried the Paramount crystals before and they never dissolved. I had to throw the whole batch out. Are there specific instructions for adding it?

I don't like Wilton's Candy Melts. I'd much rather use Merckens or real Chocolate. I don't care for the taste of the Candy Melts.