Category: Chocolate

Chocolate Equipment

.Reading time 9 minutes.

When I started Shoko Chocolates with a couple of friends some time ago, it was on a budget. We didn’t have fancy tempering machines or even chocolate melters. With some bowls, spatulas, a microwave and some polycarbonate moulds, we were up and running. Below is a list that we’ve compiled about the tools required for different types of chocolate work. Note that these lists cover the absolute basics (this is just a fraction of the tools that you would find in a professional, production shop). Also, for the sake of brevity, we have omitted common items that you would typically find in the kitchen (scales, ladles, scissors, whisks, spatulas, etcetera).

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Making Your Own Cocoa Butter Colours

.Reading time 4 minutes.
Here’s a quenelle mould with a blend of orange, yellow and green.

My motivation for making my own cocoa butter: I used to buy coloured cocoa butter, but in addition to the price of each colour, I’d often end up having to pay a cost associated with shipping and customs, increasing the average price per bottle. To bring down the price, I would end up getting a few more bottles, which I likely did not need in the first place. The other issue with buying coloured cocoa butter is that most companies offer the same range of colours, so if you want something different you’ll have to mix your own colours anyways…So why not just start with primary colours and mix small batches?

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Chocolate Violin

.Reading time 5 minutes.

Backstory: During the first COVID lockdown, with the stay at home order, I thought it would a good idea to improve my chocolate skills by making multiple showpieces at home: an iceberg with a polar bear, a queen bee on top of her honey box, and a large chocolate animal. Most of the showpieces were not as good as I’d imagined them to be, but with each of these projects I was able to learn something and improve my skills a little along the way.

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Dipping Chocolate

.Reading time 2 minutes.

In the Chocolate 101 page, I shared my story of how I became involved (temporarily obsessed) with chocolate. There was a somewhat intense period where chocolate occupied pretty much all of my free time. This involved cutting marzipan and lots and lots of dipping for practice.

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