How to Make Homemade Chocolate

The easiest way to make chocolate is to buy cooking chocolate from your local supermarket, melt it down,
and pour it into molds. Cooking chocolate usually comes in four different flavours: milk, white, dark, and caramel. You do not, however, have to restrict yourself to these flavours as any store bought chocolate can be melted down and used. Now, we will take a look at the different steps used in making your chocolate.

Break or chop up the chocolate and put it into a bowl; this makes it easier to melt. Next, place the bowl into a microwave oven and put it on high. Another method is to place the broken up chocolate into a ceramic or glass bowl, which is then placed over a pot of boiling water. The aim is to use the steam to melt the chocolate, so never let the bowl touch the boiling water.

If the chocolate retains its original shape - thereby slowing down the melting process - one can stir it, with a wooden spoon, halfway through the process. This will keep it from overcooking. Note: different kinds of chocolate melt at different rates. White chocolate melts the fastest, while dark chocolate takes twice as long. Cooking chocolate, on the other hand, is the slowest melting chocolate of all three.

If the melted chocolate is too thin to use for decorating, add glycerine, as this thickens its consistency.

Once the chocolate is melted, pour it into a mold and leave it to harden. Generally, molds can be brought at your local supermarket; for more variety, you might want to go to a catering supply store. Alternatively, you can make your own molds by using aluminium foil or hygienic non-toxic plastics. If you are on a budget, ice trays can make good mold. You should not, however, use copper as it releases a poisonous residue that can be harmful.

For variety, one can melt two or three different types of chocolate and pour them into the different sections of the same mold. For example, if you have a mold of the Easter bunny, you could pour white chocolate into the mold of his head, milk chocolate into his body, and dark chocolate into his legs. Mixing different kinds of chocolates into the same mold will give you a unique looking chocolates and a variety of tastes. Another idea is to fill the mold almost to the brim with milk chocolate then, while it is still in liquid form, pour white chocolate in a spiral into the same mold, creating a beautiful whirl effect. The possibilities are endless! Bon appetite!