Chocolate for Christmas
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With the right chocolate for Christmas, your pralines, chocolate bars, Christmas cookies and Yule log will look as if they came from a confectioner. This category offers couverture and baking chocolate in white, milk and dark, coloured Deco Melts and bake-stable chocolate drops, together with all the equipment you need: tempering machines, thermometers, palette knives, acetate sheets, praline cases and chocolate shells. Whether you are tempering chocolate for the first time or make dozens of pralines for friends and family every year, this is where you put together your Christmas range, from the first melt to the finished gift box.
Which chocolate for which use?
Tried-and-tested basics are the Callebaut chocolates in white (28%), milk (33.6%) and dark (54.5%), available in 400 g bags for home use and 1 kg for larger quantities. They are suitable for coating, moulding and ganache. If you produce a lot, the 54.5% dark couverture and the extra dark Callebaut 70.5% also come in 2.5 kg. Callebaut Gold 30% adds an original caramel note. For special gifts, choose couverture from Valrhona, Felchlin, Domori or Choba Choba with distinctive origin flavours: from Valrhona, for example, the dark Caraïbe 66%, Guanaja 70%, the milk Jivara 40%, the white Ivory 35%, the blond Dulcey 35% and the fruity Inspiration "Passion" and "Yuzu".
Deco Melts, drops and specialities
- Deco Melts in white, natural white, red, pink, green, yellow, light blue, dark blue, black or milk chocolate flavour melt easily and are ideal for cake pops, decorations and glazes, with no tempering required.
- Bake-stable chocolate drops (dark, milk and white) keep their shape in the oven, perfect for cookies and loaf cakes.
- Cocoa butter drops and Mycryo cocoa butter powder help with tempering and make couverture more fluid.
- Cocoa powder, including black cocoa, is used in doughs, truffles and for dusting.
- White writing chocolate and white and milk melting chocolate are perfect for lettering and fine lines.
Moulds, tools and packaging
For chocolate bars decorated with fir trees, stars, baubles or a Christmas village, you will find the moulds in Christmas chocolate mould. If you want to make pralines without your own mould, fill ready-made chocolate shells in star, heart or square shapes; there is a wide selection in Chocolate Shells for Pralines. For clean, glossy results a tempering machine is a great help: the machines range from 1.5 to 13.7 litres, with matching extra bowls. An infrared thermometer measures the temperature without contact. Stainless steel palette knives, acetate sheets in 15 and 30 cm and guitar sheets for chocolate are available right here; more tools such as dipping forks, chocolate combs and texture sheets are in Chocolate and praline utensils. For gifting, place your pralines in gold, silver or red praline cases and pack them in a box from Praline boxes.
How to temper chocolate properly
- Melt: melt the couverture slowly in a bain-marie or tempering machine, dark chocolate to about 45 to 50 °C.
- Seed: stir in some chopped chocolate or a little Mycryo until the mass cools down.
- Working temperature: dark about 31 to 32 °C, milk 29 to 30 °C, white 28 to 29 °C. Follow the instructions on the pack.
- Test: spread a little chocolate on an acetate sheet. If it sets within a few minutes and is glossy, it is ready.
Ideas and combinations for the holidays
Mould bars of Caraïbe sprinkled with nuts, fill shells with a Dulcey ganache or coat gingerbread with Callebaut milk chocolate. Red and green Deco Melts make colourful cake pops for the children's table, while Gold chocolate turns into elegant Christmas stars. For a beautiful Yule log, use guitar or acetate sheets to make thin chocolate plaques and decorative strips. Fruity pralines are easy with the Inspiration Passion and Yuzu chocolates, which give your pralines a fresh, fruity flavour.
Buying guide: what to look out for
Check the cocoa percentage: the higher it is, the more intense and bitter the flavour. Couverture with a high cocoa butter content flows better and is ideal for coating and moulding, while baking drops are made for the oven. Choose the pack size to suit your project: 400 g is enough for a few bars, a tempering machine needs more. Store chocolate dry, cool and away from light at around 15 to 18 °C, not in the fridge.
Frequently asked questions about chocolate for Christmas
Do I need to temper chocolate for pralines?
Yes, if you want the chocolate to be glossy, snap cleanly and release easily from the mould. Deco Melts and writing chocolate only need to be melted.
How much chocolate do I need?
A 400 g bag is enough for a few bars and some pralines. If you work with a tempering machine or plan lots of gifts, the 1 kg pack or larger is better value.
Which chocolate is best for Christmas cookies?
For baking into the dough, use bake-stable chocolate drops; for dipping and decorating, use couverture or Deco Melts in the colour of your choice.
What is blond chocolate?
Valrhona Dulcey is a white chocolate with a caramelised flavour and golden colour, ideal for ganache, pralines and bars.
See also: Christmas cookie · Christmas log · Couverture chocolate