Adventures in chocolate
You remember the sweetened condensed milk I had to have? You had to see it coming. We had fudge this year. My lactose intolerant preschooler can have neither chocolate or sweetened condensed milk, so I didn't tell her I even made it. Poor child.
But I wanted to try my chocolate molds to see if it would work with fudge. It does! The edges aren't particularly sharp, but you can recognize the shape for sure. Not all my chocolate molds are Christmas appropriate, but they all worked.
I will definitely do this again another year. Maybe I'll try to find a lactose free recipe next time.
My other adventures with chocolate haven't always gone well. The first time I tried to melt chocolate in one of those metal double boiler bowls with a handle and spouts on the side was a complete disaster. I blamed it on the cheap white chocolate I was trying to melt. I learned later that chocolate seizes when it comes in contact with water. That's what happened to us and probably because our double boiler container didn't keep the boiling water out very well.
The next time I melted chocolate, I couldn't get it to set up at all. I left the candies I made in the freezer, but as soon as it started to come close to room temperature, it was liquid.
I then learned that chocolate you buy by the bar has to be tempered. I tried tempering with coconut oil and ended up adding too much coconut oil. My cake pops were visible through the chocolate.
So considering my track record with chocolate, I was nervous making the tiny words for the top of a cake planned for a going away party. But I wanted them out of chocolate anyway. I broke down and bought some very overpriced candy melts. These were made with a silicone alphabet form with black candy melts. There was some patching for those that broke, but they set up in moments at room temperature. My first positive experience with melting chocolate! (Okay, candy melts aren't exactly chocolate, but you get the point.)
But I wanted to try my chocolate molds to see if it would work with fudge. It does! The edges aren't particularly sharp, but you can recognize the shape for sure. Not all my chocolate molds are Christmas appropriate, but they all worked.
My other adventures with chocolate haven't always gone well. The first time I tried to melt chocolate in one of those metal double boiler bowls with a handle and spouts on the side was a complete disaster. I blamed it on the cheap white chocolate I was trying to melt. I learned later that chocolate seizes when it comes in contact with water. That's what happened to us and probably because our double boiler container didn't keep the boiling water out very well.
The next time I melted chocolate, I couldn't get it to set up at all. I left the candies I made in the freezer, but as soon as it started to come close to room temperature, it was liquid.
I then learned that chocolate you buy by the bar has to be tempered. I tried tempering with coconut oil and ended up adding too much coconut oil. My cake pops were visible through the chocolate.
So considering my track record with chocolate, I was nervous making the tiny words for the top of a cake planned for a going away party. But I wanted them out of chocolate anyway. I broke down and bought some very overpriced candy melts. These were made with a silicone alphabet form with black candy melts. There was some patching for those that broke, but they set up in moments at room temperature. My first positive experience with melting chocolate! (Okay, candy melts aren't exactly chocolate, but you get the point.)
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