Welcome To How To Cook That
I am Ann Reardon
Today we are making modeling chocolate and this is a very useful thing for cake decorating.
You can use it instead of fondant to cover cakes or to make different shapes out of the
only difference is it doesn't set firm like fondant does even if you leave it for a couple
of days so it wont be suitable for some 3D shapes.
Traditionally it is made from corn syrup and candy melts, here in Australia they are very
expensive ingredients I will show you how to make it using those but I will also run
through some different alternatives that you can use instead.
So lets start with the basic recipe and method.
Put 100g of candy melts into a bowl and then melt them, I like melt them in the microwave
and I do that by putting them on for 30 seconds on full power and stirring really well.
Then put them in for another 20 seconds and stir well.
It is really important that you do this stirring because microwaves heat unevenly so if you
don't stir it will burn.
Then repeat 10 second bursts until it is melted.
Next warm 2 tsp of corn syrup to the same temperature as your melts.
Then take a small amount of the melts and mix it into the corn syrup really well.
You don't have to do this step you can just mix the corn syrup into the melts.
But I find it is easier to get a smooth even mixture if you do it this way.
Now add this to the remainder of the melts and mix using a spatula until it is just combined.
So I can't stress enough that you just mix until it is only just combined don't keep
mixing.
As soon as you see a little bit of roughness stop, resist the urge to stir any more or
you will ruin it.
Then leave that at room temperature overnight.
The next day you have this hard lump, in the bowl you can warm it slightly in the microwave
for about 5 seconds to make it softer and then knead it until you get a smooth pliable
ball.
Next for those of us who are in Australia and elsewhere in the world who can't get candy
melts at a reasonable price.
I experimented with glucose syrup and nestle white chocolate melts.
Glucose syrup is a lot thicker than corn syrup and in most recipes they can just be swapped
for equal amounts.
But for this recipe when you do that you end up with
a hard lump which turns into a crumbly mess when you try and knead it, you can warm it
slightly in the microwave and bring it back into a ball but it is still not smooth and
pliable like it should be.
So back to the drawing board and several experiments later ... I will run you through some of those
results.
Starting with the traditional recipe you've got your candy melts and your corn syrup you
have this smooth and pliable result which is what we want.
Next swapping for equal parts of glucose syrup and nestle melts and a drop of gel food colour
it is useable but barely it crumbles really easily.
Now for nestle melts and a greater amount of glucose syrup and the results is much better,
it is more elastic and smooth but still not quite as good as the candy melts with glucose
syrup.
For all of the amounts used in these experiments all written in a table so it is easy to see
what is going on just go to the website howtocookthat.net there is a link in the description below the
video.
And then what if you want to use real milk chocolate with cocoa butter in it like your
cadbury milk chocolate and not your melts.
The best results I found were using corn syrup which gave a nice rollable mixture which tasted
great.
You can also use the extra glucose syrup also worked well but was not as smooth it was kind
of a little bit sticky in places.
A few forums also suggested adding water to thin down the glucose syrup and just in case
you are thinking of trying that one I'll show you here it gave the worst results.
So don't waste your ingredients doing that.
For all of the quantities used in these experiments and more combinations go to the blog howtocookthat.net
there is a link in the description below this video.
Thanks for watching and join me next week for a cake decorating tutorial and subscribe
for more cakes, chocolate and dessert recipes.
You can add your requests in the comments below.
Have a great week, I'll see you Friday.
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