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Showing posts from June, 2015

Chapter 8 – 5 Fun Ways to Make Your Chocolate Unique

One of the most fun things about making your own homemade chocolate is that you can play around with different ingredients and make your own unique chocolate recipes and chocolate treats.   Putting your individual stamp on the chocolate that you make will also make it more personal when you give the chocolate as gifts to people that you love. And if someday you want to go further and actually sell the homemade chocolate that you make then having your own unique chocolates will make it a lot easier to sell your chocolate.   But most people that make homemade chocolate use the same basic types of chocolate and the same base chocolate mixes from candy supply stores so how can you make your own unique chocolates without making your chocolate entirely from scratch? Here are five easy ways that you can create delicious treats that reflect your own personal style: 1. Mix chocolate bases – Just because a lot of people that make homemade chocolate use the same bases does...

Chapter 10 – Tips for Making Better Homemade Chocolate

When it comes to making homemade chocolates everyone has their own preferred methods that they use and really the only way to learn the best way to make homemade chocolate is to make some.   But, here are some quick tips that you can use to make your homemade chocolate better that have been gathered over the years by expert chocolate makers and home chocolate makers alike. These tips can make your homemade chocolate creations even better: When you buy chips or wafers of chocolate that you’re going to melt as a chocolate base for your candy don’t take them out of the plastic bags that they come in. Microwave them until they are melted or use a double boiler to melt them and then just cut a small hole in the corner of the bag and use the bag like a pastry bag to pour the chocolate into molds. When you microwave chocolate to melt it start with just 1 minute and then keep microwaving it in 1 minute increments until it’s melted. Every mi...

Chapter 11 – Tips for Packaging Your Homemade Chocolate

You can have a lot of fun packaging your homemade chocolate treats for a special occasion, to give as a gift, or just as a treat for the family or your friends. There are lots of different ways that you can package your homemade chocolate but when you’re picking out packaging for your homemade chocolate one thing that you need to keep in mind is that the chocolate needs to be in something that is airtight if it’s not going to be eaten immediately.   Because the first concern is always keeping the chocolate fresh usually homemade chocolate comes wrapped in two wrappers, one that is airtight and one that is decorative.   You can choose a traditional gold colored candy box with pillow sheet inserts that are the same as other candy boxes. These are usually very similar to the boxes of candy that are popular as Valentine’s Day and Christmas gifts.   Or you can use little cello bags that seal shut with a hair dryer or other heat source. Cello craft bags are easy t...

Chapter 12 – Homemade Chocolate Ideas for Christmas

Holidays are a great time to surprise your family and friends with homemade chocolates, and making homemade chocolate for Christmas is sure to make the holiday more festive.   If you love to give personal gifts to your family and friends, or if you are trying to keep your holiday spending budget low making homemade chocolates make great, inexpensive presents. Here are some ideas that you can use to make your Christmas holiday more festive with homemade chocolate. Homemade chocolates that are wrapped in plastic and then arranged in a pretty holiday tin make wonderful inexpensive gifts for teachers, ministers, postal carriers, newspaper carriers, delivery people, bosses, Secret Santa gift exchanges and holiday parties. When you need to bring a dessert to a holiday party and you want your dessert to really stand out make some homemade chocolates and arrange them on a holiday serving platter with a fresh fruit garnish. Homemade...

Chapter 13 – Making the Holidays More Festive with Homemade Chocolate Drinks

Almost everyone loves hot chocolate, and during the winter holidays hot chocolate drinks are everywhere.   Hot chocolate is a great drink to have at parties where people might not want to drink alcohol and where kids will be present.   Homemade hot chocolate mixes also make great gifts. So this year instead of spending a lot of money on fancy hot chocolate mixes to give as gifts or to keep in the pantry for family and friends you should make your own unique hot chocolate mixes that you use to serve hot chocolate to guests or use as gifts and stocking stuffers. Homemade hot chocolate mixes are easy to make.   The first thing that you need to make homemade hot chocolate is cocoa powder.   You can buy sweetened or unsweetened cocoa powder in the grocery store; it’s usually in the aisle where the chocolate milk powders and syrups are kept.   Then you need some powdered non dairy creamer or powdered milk.   Creamer will make your homemade hot c...