[lizbakes]

I have designed a miniature crisp chocolate cutout cookie that will be dipped in chocolate. I temper chocolate for other purposes, but I don't think it would be worth the time to use tempered choc to coat dozens & dozens of tiny cookies. Also, I don't want it to bloom if customers accidentally expose it to warmth, cold, etc. (The cookies are for Easter.)

Which chocolate coating tastes really good? I'll need a dark one, the color of the thin-mint cookie coating.

[aguynamedrobert]

They make those white chocolate coatings to taste really sugary and different from real white chocolate. Now of course with that said, I am a fan of going to disneyland and getting a mickey mouse white chocolate coating on a stick! lol...they are nice for cookies and things...Dark chocolate coating isn't used as much and of course doesn't taste as good as real chocolate but it can be used...

You can order dark chocolate coating from Guittard at http://www.chocosphere.com/cgi-bin/w...=2561467_19476

They are called A'peels

Good luck,
Robert
www.chocolateguild.com

[HeavyMetal Chef]

this will have a different chocolate flavor but have you tried pate glace? It is a quick way for you to dip things....just melt and dip....good for choc. covered strawberries and cookies....cools fast too but has a different flavor from tempered chocolate.

[amatuer andma]

You might try the Ghirardelli candy making and dippping chocolate. It holds up pretty well to changes in temp and humidity, within reason, and is "melt and dip" friendly.

[JCakes]

I've been using the Felchlin Ultra Gloss in dark and white to dip/coat cookies with excellent results - no blooming, no streaking and holds for a very long time...

[cookie mama]

I have been using a brand name special dark chocolate morsel, melted down with a bit of olive oil added while melting. I have used this on several occasions for my sprinkle cookies. I coat the underside of each cookie with this chocolate. So far I have had much luck with the coloration in tact. If you want to try this, why not try it on any cookie and try to abuse them in a way you feel would cause the chocolate to change before using it on the Easter cookies.

[aguynamedrobert]

Wow I've never heard of Olive Oil being used before when adding fat to chocolate...how does that affect the taste? good bad?

Robert
www.chocolateguild.com

[cookie mama]

aguynamedrobert,
I never noticed a change in taste and I guess having emtpy trays indicate that nobody else seemed to notice I never added allot.
I honestly could not say how much, maybe about a teaspoon for 12 oz of chocolate. I use mostly dark chocolate so maybe the stronger chocolate taste of dark chocolate compensates for the olive oil. Maybe sweet butter would be a safer bet for milk chocolate.

[m brown]

just make a coating with
chocolate, glucose, oil and brandy.
you could add a shortening in place of the oil, that is your call.

[cookie mama]

Hi MBrown,
I never used brandy or anything else when melting down choc. Doesnt it cause the chocolate to firm up? Please enlighten me, as I love brandy, whisky, and assorted liquors with chocolate
I am really not in my league on this thread. I want to learn so much more than the experiences I do have baking and using confections.
Thanks!

[Eeyore]

Adding oil to chocolate can make it perform like coating chocolate. Flavor is effected somewhat.

The only benefit of olive oil over some other oils is flavor. But I dont think that it is a flavor that would necessarily enhance chocolate. It's much more expensive and won't perform any better than plain ol' vegetable oil.

When you add a liquid along with the oil and glucose you shouldn''t have a problem with the chocolate seizing.

eeyore

[cookie mama]

Thanks Eeyore,
I will have to try a little Chambourde in my chocolate very soon
This would make a real rich covering over a "very " moist" chocolate cake with a
fresh raspberry preserve filling.

[Eeyore]

Yum.

However I would, instead, just make a ganache instead and add the chambourde to the cream when you take it off the heat.

It's very similar with a couple of advantages. Basically you're replacing the fat in the vegetable oil with the fat that is already in the cream. But your going to get a creamier, more flavorful result.

If you used the oil, you might get a kind of shell on the cake. Im not sure because Ive never really tried it. But the point of adding oil to chocolate is to get the similar glossy firm texture as chocolate without having to temper. I dont know what adding glucose will do to just chocolate, but adding it to ganache improves the viscosity and can result in a glossier, "chewier", moister coating.

let us know what happens.

eeyore

[lizbakes]

Ok -I am trying to decide between Clasen, Felchlin, and Merckens. I was trying to avoid ordering all of them, but I think I'll just do it and, as one poster said, make the cookies & expose them to all sorts of Easter-type hazards, and see which one tastes and performs the best.

[m brown]

go with the lower priced chocolate for making coating.