Chocolate Decorations

Appears in

The Cook's Companion: A step-by-step guide to cooking skills including original recipes

Published 1991

About

Chocolate decorations are surprisingly easy to make and can transform almost any pudding or cake into a spectacular, professional-looking showpiece. A good-quality plain chocolate will produce excellent results.

Any leftover chocolate can be melted again and used in a sauce or cake filling or coating.

Making curls Use a swivel-bladed vegetable peeler to shave off curls from the side of a block of well-chilled chocolate.
Grating chocolate Gently rub a lightly chilled bar of chocolate along the coarse edge of a standard vegetable grater.
Coating fruit Leaving the stalks on, wash and pat dry fruits such as strawberries, cherries and grapes. Dip each fruit halfway into a bowl of melted chocolate and leave to set on a tray lined with a sheet of baking parchment.
Coating leaves Brush melted chocolate on the shiny upper side of a clean leaf Leave to dry on baking parchment, then peel the chocolate off the leaf, starting at the stem end. Rose and lily leaves work best.
Making scrolls or caraque Thinly spread melted chocolate as smoothly as possible on a clean flat surface and leave to set. Firmly push the edge of a pastry scraper away from you into the chocolate at a shallow angle and carefully scrape the chocolate off in long scrolls.
Making shapes Pour a 5mm (¼in) layer of melted chocolate on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Leave until set but still slightly soft. Carefully remove the chocolate slab and peel off the paper. Use biscuit cutters or a sharp-pointed knife to cut out a selection of shapes.
This jagged-edged chocolate bowl, filled with fresh strawberries, makes a simple but dramatic pudding.