"I use a set of mini cutters by Kemper for the shapes and varnish provides the shine. Texture can be added using sandpaper and liquid clay is great for melted chocolate," said IGMA Artisan Sarah Maloney.
"It hasn't been too hard to create the proper look for chocolate. There is a certain brand of clay that I use for milk chocolate that has a nice sheen when cooked. The brand that I use for dark chocolate is much more matte but that is easily fixed by using satin varnish. I used to use Fimo for most of my chocolate but stopped as the company changed the properties and now it no longer works well," added Ann Stupca.
Formulas for creating the perfect blend of chocolate are closely guarded secrets in the art world just like in the confectionary world. Conching and blending give way to smushing and blending, but the principal of mixing various colors of clay to achieve the perfect brown are the same in both worlds.
"The first tip is to mix polymer clay to the color "chocolate", always use a bit of translucent polymer clay to brown. After you add a little black and sometimes red. Second tip is to use sandpaper and a pin to give texture," instructed Ana.
"You have to be very careful making chocolate to get the perfect look. You have to use translucent clay, which will give depth and life to your work and never ever use the basic chocolate or caramel clays - be brave and mix them to get the good shade of color," agreed Skulteti.
"One tip that comes to mind is to stick to a firmer clay for the real small, detailed chocolates - I prefer Kato. The softer clays (Fimo, Sculpey) are fine for things like cakes or molded chocolates. Another thing to keep in mind is scale. Remember,
you should be able to lay 12 mini candies across in a line to get the diameter of one full-sized piece," said Stupca.
Skulteti. "Buy a set of Kemper mini cutters, some white and chocolate coloured pastels and have lots of pictures of chocolates or the real thing to work from. And be creative," said Maloney.
"I would encourage people to find beads, jewelry findings, etc., with interesting textures to use for molds. Get some two-part silicone molding material and play around with it. You really need to use molds for most chocolate candies to maintain their shapes and consistent sizes," said Niederer.
With so many different chocolate concoctions to attempt there are a lot of reasons to get excited about creating.
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