So, I finally finished my chocolate box. It was sort of a gigantic project to accomplish in only a few class periods. But, it was definitely an incredible learning experience. I was literally
covered in chocolate at the end of each day. I would even find chocolate flecks on my face sometimes. I'm assuming my freckles hid them enough that no one thought I needed to be informed. haha!
Every aspect of the box is edible from the feet of the box to the gold dust I brushed all over the box. To make the actual box I tempered a bunch of dark chocolate, poured some chocolate on a parchment covered sheet pan and spread it out. Then I let it cool and set at room temperature. I repeated this process until it was as thick as I wanted it to be. When the last layer was almost completely set I used a warm knife to cut out the pieces for the box. Once all the pieces were completely set I used tempered chocolate in a piping bag as the "glue" to piece it all together. It was definitely delicate work.
Once the box was completely assembled I brushed the whole thing with an edible gold dust to give it a rustic look. I used chocolate fondant for the ribbon and the polka dots on the top.
I then filled the bottom of the box with chocolate shavings (both dark and white). Then I arranged all of my homemade chocolates inside to display them. For the chocolates we had to include one of each of the following:
Dark chocolate confection
Milk chocolate confection
White chocolate confection
and some kind of jelly (made with pectin or gelatin)
All of these were made completely from scratch as well and I tempered all of the chocolate for each of these confections. Even after all of this chocolate business I still feel like there is so much more to learn about chocolate. I will get there. Eventually.
So, anyway, I am pretty happy that the box didn't a) crumble or break on me b) turned out somewhat professional looking and c) had the antique/rustic look I was going for. Here are some pictures of the entire process:
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| "glueing" the sides to the base |
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| I used silicon molds for the spherical feet |
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| Me using the guitar cutter to cut my confections. This contraption uses real guitar strings to cut the chocolates. |
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| Strawberry and chocolate confections waiting to be dipped in chocolate |
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| Left side: Strawberry and chocolate cream filled chocolates. Right side: Dark chocolate sticks with sea salt, craisins and pistachios. |
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| Brushing my box with gold dust |
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| The lid to my box before I secured everything on. |
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| Adding a little detail to hide the seams |
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| The finished product |
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| Filled with my homemade confections. Top left: Mango and cherry jellies, Top: Strawberry and milk chocolate creme filled chocolates, Top right: Dark chocolate sticks, Bottom: White chocolate and raspberry ganache filled chocolates. |
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| Finally complete |
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| Let's hope I get an A! |
