Raster Gang

Due to your “chocolate addiction”, if you consume more of it or other fatty foods, your body releases excessive serotonin, a hormone that regulates your gastric functions. The excess serotonin is useful for the brain to control your appetites, moods and anger, that’s why chocolate eating makes people happy and more energetic.

Scientists reason that this “addiction” and the changes in your moods is stimulated by the flavor and nutrients in chocolate. The significant news is you can make chocolates right at home. If you gain mastery in it, you may discover new chocolate candy recipes too. Hence you first step is to begin learning the terminologies of the process.

• Cocoa beans are roasted and grounded to acquire the cocoa liquor, which contains 53% of cocoa butter, the main ingredient of chocolates.
• Chocolate liquor, once cooled and molded, gets hardened and this unsweetened chocolate liquor is the baking chocolate.
• Cocoa beans have cocoa butter as its natural fat and this being the basic ingredient to white chocolate, is extracted from chocolate liquor. Chocolates gain texture and flavor when the butter is added back.
• The glossy patina of chocolate candies and truffles are added by couverture, which contains 35% of cocoa butter.
• You get cocoa powder for making instant chocolate drinks by dehydrating chocolate liquid, the cocoa butter taken out of the latter.
• 35% chocolate liquor is present in bitter or dark chocolate.
• Semi-sweet chocolate is 15% chocolate liquor with added sugar.
• To make chocolate candy bars, the necessary ingredient is milk chocolate that has chocolate liquor, sugar and milk in it.
• Tempering should necessarily be done because the chocolate gets shine, smoothness and long shelf life.

A double boiler, a mixing bowl, candy molds or baking sheets and a rubber spatula or spoon are required for making chocolates. The needed basic ingredient is white or dark chocolate and optionally, fruit.

Chocolate is melted in a double boiler and continuous stirring of this mixture with the spatula or spoon is done. Drying of this melted material is done on a baking sheet or in the candy molds or by setting it in the chiller. Fruit is enrobed with chocolate if you want fruit-filled candies. Air bubbles should not remain in the melted material. (This process can be skipped if you use a chocolate tempering machine.)

Visible blotches or crystals are prevented, smoothness and shine are given and crystals are evenly distributed by tempering. Difficulties may arise in tempering, particularly in maintaining specific temperatures while melting. A chocolate tempering machine, will do away with such difficulties.

Apart from gifting chocolates, you may sell them also to the “addicts” for a good price to earn good money once you have mastered the chocolate making process.