The Plastic Wrap Hack To Give Chocolate A Shiny Finish

Bakers who venture into chocolate-making territory are truly brave (or have learned a thing or two about this popular treat). Chocolate is a fickle beast that can only be tamed with practice. To give poured chocolate a silky smooth finish, try this simple hack: Pour hot chocolate onto plastic wrap instead of acetate (the thick plastic sheets used by bakers) and let it cool for a glossy look.

Wrinkling the plastic after you pour is another excellent trick for achieving a natural, wood-bark look. And there are a lot more tricks like that one that you can use to create several designs. 

If you want your chocolate to remain flat, tape down the sides of a piece of plastic wrap before pouring and letting it cool. As long as the chocolate doesn't set, shaping the plastic wrap into any design is possible (though it's much simpler with a chocolate mold).

Now that you know how to give chocolate a shiny finish, you can choose several methods for making original chocolate pieces at home. 

Many bakers prefer using modeling chocolate, a mixture of pure chocolate and corn syrup, to create shapes and forms that look (and taste) great. The corn syrup in modeling chocolate makes the substance pliable, so you can shape it into anything from a rose to tree bark.

Another way to make chocolates is to learn to temper. Tempering chocolate requires a double boiler, chocolate rounds or bars (no chips), and a thermometer. The notion behind tempering is simple enough. Melt the chocolate until it reaches 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and heat the milk until it reaches 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour it into a mold or onto a piece of plastic wrap, and let it set until it hardens. But tempering chocolate requires a careful eye, as it can scorch and burn quickly.

If you want to pipe intricate details, create a chocolate drip, or write someone's name, pouring hot chocolate into a squeeze bottle can simplify these tasks. And if you add vegetable oil, the chocolate will be even easier to pour. 

Chocolate will take the form of anything you pour it onto when it's hot, which opens up a world of shape possibilities. Just be careful when you're removing chocolate from a mold or piece of parchment paper, as it can be fragile.

Pour the chocolate over a balloon to make a round shape or inside a cupcake liner to later fill with a jam or spread. Drip it down the side of a cake, or place it on a piece of parchment paper and let it cool in any shape you create; the sky's the limit. A versatile and impressive ingredient, chocolate is your friend in baking.