What products do you use to make your own chocolate molds for showpieces and where do you get them?

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Permalink Reply by Omar Forastero on October 6, 2010 at 1:35am

niice.what are you using to shape your sculptures? i use baking molds with different shapes and cover the molded area with plastic pastry roll.I dont find it to be giving me the cleanest result tho.

Permalink Reply by Wendy Buckner on October 20, 2010 at 12:18am

Hey Omar! I use just about anything as a mold that I can find for a base...I'm always looking for interesting shapes. As long as it is plastic or metal, you can use it. Glass does not work. For the flowers and other pieces, I usually freehand my shapes. I like to work with Gelatin to make shapes, I also use guitar paper a lot to make petals or "twists". Gelatin is fun if you haven't tried it.. I can explain it to you if you'd like. :)

Permalink Reply by Omar Forastero on October 21, 2010 at 2:19am

absolutely! i'd love it if you would.thanks wendy.also what books can be useful to learn more techniques? i was thinking about getting Wybau's "chocolate decoration" but not sure if its worth the cost. for petals i use plastic transfer sheet, rub the chocolate with a baby spatula/knife and hsape it the way i want, is guitar paper the same thing we are talking about?

Permalink Reply by Wendy Buckner on October 26, 2010 at 11:35pm

Yes...guitar paper is the same as a plastic transfer sheet. I will upload photos of a gelatin mold the next time I make one. Basically I make a whole sheet pan of plain gelatin and let it set up. Then I cut shapes out of it and use it as a mold. You can cut strips of it and bend them to form any shape you would like, making a mold (set the strips onto guitar paper or I usually spray a sheet pan with a little water and cover it with plastic wrap.) You can also make a 3-d mold with it. Pour a small amount of gelatin into a bowl and let it set up. Then place what ever shape you would like to mold on top of the small amount you let set up and pour gelatin over it completely...let set up. (If the piece is light and wants to float, pour a small amount of gelatin as the second layer and put object in it...let set up...this will make the piece stick so you can cover it completely with the gelatin.) Cut a slit in the set up gelatin and pull out your shape. I have done this with shells and other shapes that are kind of smooth. The thing that I don't like about using gelatin is that it will always bloom your chocolate where it touches it because of the water in the gelatin. You would have to airbrush it or I have even "carved or shaved" off the bloomed pieces if I didn't need to airbrush. The things I like most about using gelatin are that it is cheap, and reusable. When you are done with it DON"T THROW IT AWAY! Freeze it and use it again by simply heating it up!
Hope this makes sense. Like I said...I will post some photos pretty soon. It is lots of fun to play around with! :)

Permalink Reply by Omar Forastero on October 27, 2010 at 1:23am

awesome!can't wait to get my hands on some gelatin.waiting for the photos..i guess airbrushing is a must when it comes to showpieces, it's hard to leave fingerprints here n there. I find that holding a big piece together needs to be engineered thoroughly.if its not balanced or not supported well enough, its gonna collapse.I'd love to discuss the tricks behind balancing and support when you get a chance.i'm gonna post some modest work i did not too long ago.i'd appreciate your comments too.mucho gracias wends