People often wonder how chocolate candy is made, and many might have tried to make chocolate dipped pretzel sticks or chocolate covered strawberries at home using regular chocolate â€“ only to find difficulty in getting the chocolate to stick and
harden properly. The reason for this result is because tempered chocolate or chocolate coating wasnâ€™t used. So what does that mean? Letâ€™s find out!
Chocolate Coating vs. Chocolate Candy
Chocolate coating, also called compound chocolate, is what Sephraâ€™s Melano chocolate is. Essentially, chocolate coating contains over 5 percent vegetable fat substituted for the cocoa butter found in chocolate candy. This allows the chocolate coating to harden quickly around food or in a mold once melted to produce professional looking homemade chocolate candy.
Chocolate candy contains more cocoa butter and makes it taste delicious, but doesnâ€™t give it the qualities needed to harden quickly during candy-making. Instead, chocolate candy would need to be tempered before it could be used in molds or to create chocolate-coated confections.
Tempering Chocolate Candy
Tempered chocolate is chocolate candy whose cocoa butter crystals have been re-established, meaning theyâ€™ve been precisely melted down and then re-established into solids, similar to water freezing into ice.
In order to temper chocolate to make it ideal for candy-making, you must take it from solid to liquid and then turn it back into a solid that forms â€œV crystalsâ€, meaning the chocolate is glossy, firm, and has a good snap and will soften near body temperature.
Tempering is an involved process, however, that is often time-consuming and difficult if you arenâ€™t a professional. So what is a hobby confectioner to do?
Making Candy With Sephraâ€™s Candy Coating
Sephraâ€™s candy coating, or Melano chocolate, is perfect for the hobbyist because you donâ€™t need to temper this type of chocolate. It still produces delicious and professional looking candy, but reduces mess and the headache of trying to temper chocolate candy yourself. Instead, focus on the variety of candy-making supplies offered by Sephra.
Using Sephraâ€™s candy coating, which is also chocolate for chocolate fountains and comes in dark, milk or white chocolate, is easy.Â If you make a mistake, simply eat the evidence and start again! Sephra offers a wide variety of molds perfect for special occasions like weddings and birthday parties, but also offers shapes perfect for everyday indulgence.
You can also use Sephraâ€™s candy coating to make chocolate lollipops, using lollipop molds and sticks or pretzel sticks to hand out to friends. Sephra offers safe white chocolate dye, so you can easily decorate your chocolate creations!
If you want to eat chocolate, choose chocolate candy. If you want to make chocolate candy, choose Sephraâ€™s candy coating!