Melt the chocolate, create a parchment paper cone, pour the melted chocolate inside, close the cone, cut the tip about the same size as a tip of a pen and start writing on your plate at a 3/4″ inch distance using your whole arm to write instead of just the hand and practice practice, practice…
In this little tutorial, I’ll show you how you can write on a plate with chocolate, but in order to be able to do that, you must first learn the steps that come before
First, you need to learn how to melt the chocolate, without this first step you cannot advance to the next, because how are you going to write with chocolate if you don’t know how to melt it?
After that is taken care of the next logical step is simply how to write with chocolate, learning the basics of how to write with chocolate is paramount to advance to writing on a plate with the chocolate part.
Once we cover the main topic of this article which is how to write on a plate with chocolate you should practice and try more advanced, practices why stop there? the more you practice the better you’ll get at it why not try to decorate a cake with melted chocolate.
Make a day out of it, you’ll have lots of fun, develop a new skill and have a nice and tasty reward at the end.
These are the topics I’ll be covering in this article:
- How to Melt Chocolate.
- How To Write With Chocolate.
- How to Write on a Plate With Chocolate.
- How to decorate a cake with melted chocolate.
- How to make melted chocolate thinner.
- What Not to Do When Trying to Thin Melted Chocolate.
How To Melt Chocolate.
The first thing you’ll need to do is to cut the chocolate into small pieces, and it’s wise to make the pieces about the same size because that way they will melt at the same rate.
If you’re going to use the microwave to melt the chocolate you should use a bowl that is heatproof it’s more convenient as you will have to be testing the chocolate constantly in small amounts of time, to prevent it from burning.
Prior to pouring the chocolate into the bowl make sure the bowl is completely dry and whatever utensil you’re using to stir is dry as well.
It’s recommended you check between 10 to 25 seconds at a time, and don’t forget to stir every time you take the bowl out of the microwave.
You’ll know the chocolate is ready once it becomes smooth and uniform without any clumps, now the amount of time will depend on the quantity of chocolate you’re trying to melt.
Normally should take about 1 minute to a minute and a half.
If you’re not a fan of the microwave there’s another way I recommend to melt chocolate, by is using a regular pan and your trusty stovetop.
Once again you’ll want to cut the chocolate into small even pieces and place them in a heatproof bowl placing it over the pan without touching it, it’s very important to not let any water or steam come in contact with the chocolate.
Any contact between the chocolate and water will slow down the melting process, and make a mess out of things, stir occasionally and when you see the chocolate becoming smooth with no solid particulates, means that the chocolate is in an ideal state and you can stop the process.
The biggest lesson here is to keep water away from the chocolate at all costs!
How To Write With Chocolate.
The best way to write with chocolate is through practice and more practice, we already covered how to melt the chocolate which is the first step in the series the next step should be what to use, what’s going to be your tool, or “pen”.
You’ll want to get parchment paper and transform it into a cone here’s how you can do it.
First, you’ll want to fold the parchment paper into 2 triangles and use a sharp knife to cut it without breaking the paper, it’s important that you don’t break it in order to avoid contaminating the chocolate with tiny paper bits.
Make sure one side of the triangle is shorter than the other.
Lay the triangle-shaped paper on the table with one hand secure it by pressing down and with the other hand make the first fold into the shape of a cone it’s important to grip the extremities with the right hand so the paper doesn’t get loose.
In this step use your left hand to wrap the remaining paper around the body of the cone you created in the previous step, after that you’ll be left with a small flap that can be tucked into the body of the cone itself.
And there you go this is how your cone should look like, the cone is now ready to receive the chocolate that you melted previously, the best way to do it is to place it inside a cup, so it maintains the vertical position, this way both your hands will be free making it easier to avoid mistakes like spillage.
Make sure not to fill the cone to the brim, you’ll need some leftover paper to seal the bag.
start folding until you can fold no more, this will keep the bag closed on its own, after with a pair of scissors make a small cut on the tip, and start writing.
As you use the cone you’ll notice the cone becomes slimmer, at this point stop and fold it a couple of times to regain pressure.
It’s common practice to use the cone-like you use a toothpaste tube by squeezing from the top and not the middle, this will allow you to write for longer periods of time maintaining the same line length and consistency.
If the chocolate begins to harden, you can put the cone in the microwave for a short amount of time, I mean seconds never a minute.
Now that you’ve got the tool you’re going to be using it’s time to start writing.
How to Write on a Plate With Chocolate.
What you want to do is snip a tiny hole on the tip of the cone, no bigger than 1/16 inch that’s the equivalent to the tip of a pencil or pen.
Get your plate and start writing, I recommend you hold the cone 3/4 inch above the plate, start applying pressure to the cone until you achieve the desired speed of flow.
Always maintaining the cone in the air keep writing by applying the same constant pressure until the letter is formed, to transition to the next letter stop applying pressure and move to the spot you want to start writing the next letter
This way you avoid the connection of letters in an undesired way, destroying the whole word you’re trying to write.
There are certain types of calligraphy that would benefit from the joining of the letters and it actually has an amazing effect when done right but that’s a more advanced technique, and hard to accomplish without the required experience.
Write with your whole arm not just your hand, this will be difficult in the beginning because of the habits we’ve developed over the years by regular writing, you need to fight this tendency and start mastering the technique of using your whole arm, the more you practice the better you’ll get at it.
The best way to start is to practice printed letters that are easier to accomplish, this will serve as a core foundation to the development of the skill, learn to crawl before you learn to walk.
If you try to jump into cursive, most likely you won’t be happy with the results and be discouraged, in fact, I recommend the use of extra chocolate because believe me, mistakes will happen, especially in the beginning stages.
Here’s a little trick you can use to make a nice effect on the plate, instead of writing on the plate, write on a piece of parchment paper and put it in the fridge.
After it cools down you can pick the letters and transfer them to the plate or to whatever else you want to, this will make it so much easier to get a beautiful and flawless end result.
Other Hobbies to try
How to Decorate a Cake With Melted Chocolate.
There are two common ways to do this, the first is to use a bottle, this way is easier because you have more control over the flow of chocolate and the used amount only depends on the pressure you apply to the bottle.
Place the tip of the bottle 3/4 inch above the surface of the cake and gently squeeze the bottle to release the chocolate.
The time you spend squeezing the bottle will determine how much chocolate will fall and the length of the drip on the side of the cake, the more you add the longer the drip will be, be careful not to add too much or this will completely ruin the effect
After you’re done with decorating the sides of the cake is time to start filling the top with chocolate, you can just use the same bottle to fill the whole surface or, just pour straight from the bowl.
After you’ve poured the chocolate over the center, you’ll need to even it out, for this effect use an offset spatula to achieve a preferable result.
Keep in mind the temperature of the chocolate will determine the thickness of the chocolate, if you want it to drip faster heat it up, if you want it to drop slower, let it sit for longer.
The temperature of the cake is also worth mentioning, if you’ve kept your cake in the fridge know that your chocolate will cool down faster making the side drips cool down faster as well and become smaller.
If you don’t have a bottle and can’t be bothered to go out and get one for such small a task I completely get it, then a spoon will work as well.
The way you use the spoon is by pouring chocolate close to the edge of the cake and then slowly pushing it over the edge to create the desired drip effect.
Continue with this process until you’ve covered the entire length of the cake all the way around.
How to Make Melted Chocolate Thinner.
Sometimes things don’t go the way we want and the results are less than optimal, especially when you’re at a beginner level in case the chocolate you’ve melted ended up being too thick for you to write with, knowing how to thin it is a great skill to have.
Oil and butter are great products to use, because of their fat content, the addition of fat is the best way you can thin melted chocolate,
The exact amount will depend on the quantity of chocolate you’re trying to thin, start by adding a little amount to the chocolate and stir for a short period of time until the fat completely blends with the chocolate.
Use unflavored oil so you don’t alter the taste of the chocolate.
Another good product to use to thin your melted chocolate is paramount crystals.
Paramount crystals are made from vegetables and contain vegetable oils which are the fatty portion of vegetables, they are used by professionals due to their effectiveness and ease of use.
A small quantity should be enough, but it all depends on the amount of chocolate you’re trying to thin so pour carefully, start with a tiny quantity 1tsp and go from there pouring more if necessary.
Warm milk also does the trick, because it also contains a high quantity of fat, any kind of milk will work but whole milk seems to work better, don’t forget to warm the milk to the same temperature as the chocolate, any temperature shock might result in seizing of the chocolate.
Heating up the chocolate will also cause it to thin, but you need to be careful not to overheat it, do it slowly keep a close eye, and stir as necessary to induce the release of extra heat.
What Not to Do When Trying to Thin Melted Chocolate.
What you definitely don’t want to do on any occasion while you’re trying to thin chocolate is to add water, that’s a big no-no.
Instead of thinning, you’ll get the reverse effect which is thickening, if you accidentally drop some water in, the trick to try and salvage the chocolate is to add more water, boil the water and add small portions maybe 1 tbsp of boiling water, and stir vigorously.
Changing the temperature of the melted chocolate too quickly is another mishap that you need to avoid, even when adding all the safe ingredients that were mentioned above, the sudden change in temperature will cause the chocolate to clump together creating a not so hot mess… (pun intended)
Before you add any ingredient make sure the temperature is similar to the temperature of the chocolate, this also goes for the bowl you’re going to use, heat up the bowl, or any container you’re planning to use to hold the chocolate to minimize the chances of failure.
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