Angie's Cocoa Powder Chocolate Candy Recipe Enquiries

by M. Zaki M. Radzi
(Malaysia)

Dear Angie.

First of all, I personally have browsed through multiple sites on chocolate making, just to find out that yours are the most probably thorough and also giving up good guidelines and simple interface of the web. Congratulation.


I am a dark chocolate lover but this has nothing to do with it. Haha. I have also browsed through almost all the Q&A section, just to end up, having to ask you about this recipe from your site.

3 cups sugar
3 cups milk
5 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

My question is, does this recipe works for pouring into candy mould and after being taken out from the mould and packed, will it retain shape at room temperature without melting or smearing your hand while eating? I'm from Malaysia a tropical country which the average temperature is around 28-30 degree Celsius.

I need to make a demonstrative speech for my class assignment in 3 days. I have to take pictures of making it and stuffs, and show the class the final product (as well as packing and serving 30 person of them).

What I have bought is, A box of fresh milk, Vanilla Powder, Vanillin Crystals, Moulds. This is my first time. I haven't tried yet.

Last but not least, if the recipe above is meant to be soft, how soft would it be? Do I have to use recipe using Cooking chocolate bars instead? Need help ASAP.

Sincerest,
Zaki(Him)

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Hi Zaki,

Thanks for the kind words about Chocolate Candy Mall. I'm glad you have found it so helpful.

The basic chocolate candy recipe you are referring to is NOT meant for making chocolate candy in molds.

As you suspected, to make molded chocolates, you really need to start with some form of solid chocolate already for the best results.

That basic chocolate recipe is more for almost a taffy like kind of chocolate.

I would suggest you either demonstrate how to make molded chocolates by getting chocolate pieces or bars and melting them over a double boiler.

You could use a combination of white, dark, and milk chocolate and use contrasting colors in the molds. "Paint" in the details of the mold with one color and then fill with the another color of melted chocolate after the first has set.

In the temperature you are dealing with, your finished candy will be much better and less likely to melt if you temper the chocolate first before filling the molds. That's a little extra work.

Or scrap the mold idea altogether

and make some delicious truffles!

Here's a fairly easy recipe and you can take photos as you go along. We'll use your bias for dark chocolate to make these...

• 1 lb. of dark chocolate (the darker the better)
  
• 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
  
• 1/4 cup of cocoa powder

1. Chop up the dark chocolate into very small pieces. A serrated knife works well to get it fine. Place all the chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside.
   
   
2. Scald the cream in a heavy pan - that means heat just till it starts to boil.
   
   
3. Pour the scalded cream immediately over the chocolate pieces and let it sit for about 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt. Then stir until completely smooth. This mixture is called ganache.
   
   
4. Allow the mixture to cool. You can chill it in the refrigerator for an hour or so to make it nice and firm and easier to form into balls.
   
   
5. Use a small scoop (like a melon baller or mini ice cream scoop) to form balls and place on a tray lined with grease proof paper.
   
   If you don't have the appropriate scoop, use two teaspoons to form your balls or even just roll them in your hands. If the mixture gets too soft (warm), throw it back in the fridge for a few minutes.
   
   
6. Chill your tray of shaped ganache balls for about 15-20 minutes to get firm again.
   
   
7. Place the cocoa powder in a small bowl and roll each ganache ball in the cocoa to give it a nice coating.

These cocoa powder covered chocolate truffles should keep well for your class and I'm sure they'll be a big hit. Everyone will want more than one! This batch will only make about 32 or so.

You can even get adventurous if you like and choose a variety of different outer coatings, instead of just the cocoa powder. You may want to experiment with...

- powdered icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
- crushed nuts
- flaked, dessicated, or shredded coconut
- cayenne pepper mixed in with the cocoa powder
- cinnamon mixed with the cocoa powder

...or some other clever idea you come up with.

Now listen, Zaki, since you are taking photos of your project for class, I expect you to either upload them here or send me a copy via email so that I can upload them on the site for you. We all want to see how they turned out!

My email address is angie(at)chocolate-candy-mall.com.

Let me know how it goes!
Angie