How long would cream filled chocolates keep for?

by Mandi
(England)

I have a question about the shelf life of homemade chocolate. How long would cream filled chocolates keep for?



I'm looking in to making my friends and family cream filled chocolates for Christmas, with each of them choosing their own flavouring and chocolate (dark/milk/white).


The only issue I'm having is the filling, I work in a gift shop and we sell handmade Belgium chocolate (by Van Coillie) and the rep for them said some chocolates are preserved with a tiny bit of alcohol.


What I'm asking is, I've found a recipe for creme filling that calls for butter, icing powder and a tiny bit of milk and optional flavourings/colourings, but I don't know how long this recipe keeps for? Would anybody know?


I'm also considering the idea of using fresh cream and flavourings - I know that alcohol and sugar are natural preservatives but I don't know how well they would work to preserve the cream and how long it would keep for or how much alcohol/sugar should be used, does anyone have any experience with this?


I've looked at the Basic Fondant recipe and Uncooked Cream Fondant recipe on here, but I don't know how long these would last either?


Sorry there are a lot of questions in this, but I want to make these chocolates something special and I don't want to go giving my friends and family food poisoning for Christmas! So any help would be great.


Thanks,
Mandi








Hi Mandi,

It's tough to answer a question about how long cream filled chocolates would keep
for because there are so many variables to consider.


I understand your concern about not wanting to give your family food poisoning :) but I don't really think that would be a likely outcome.


Cream filled chocolates are usually pretty safe if they are kept at a stable cool room temperature and not exposed to a lot of light (particularly white chocolate).


The main tip I would suggest is to be sure that you thoroughly cover the fillings so that there are no cracks in the chocolate where air can get to the centers.


If you go to the trouble of tempering the chocolate, you'll have an even better and more stable result.


Using fondant in your centers is certainly an option. Of course, there are things to consider with that too. For example, if you use fondant around cherries to make chocolate covered cherries, as they set, the fondant undergoes a change to create more of a liquid center. It's supposed to do that and doesn't indicate that the fondant has gone "off" or anything like that.


I honestly think your cream filled chocolates would be perfectly fine between now and Christmas as it's only a month away, but perhaps others who have made cream filled chocolate candy for Christmas gifts (in advance) can give you some more specific pointers and timescales.


Hope they turn out great. I'm sure your family will love them.

Blessings,
Angie from chocolate-candy-mall.com


P.S. Here's an interesting article about chocolate shelf life by a quality control consultant from Blommer candy that may give you further insight.

Comments for How long would cream filled chocolates keep for?

Click here to add your own comments

Feb 20, 2014
Freezing candy " cream filling" ONLY NEW
by: Vicki

Mandy did you ever get an answer your question about freezing the creamy inside to cover in chocolate late. I'm trying to do the same. I just made a batch, but don't need a large quantity for now. Thinking if I could store it, that would be great. Can't find an answer.

Let me know if you found the answer yet.

Aug 08, 2013
centre filling query NEW
by: sejal

in sticky centre, soft centre ansd in marmalade choclates we use cream as filling so i just want to know how long we can preserve with freeze and without freeze

Nov 30, 2012
Keeping cream filled chocolates NEW
by: Deb J

I have kept mine up to 3 weeks and they are still good and fresh. I just keep them in a tightly covered plastic container, out of light in a cool place.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Chocolate Candy Mold Creations.

Search our Site:

Sign up for our FREE newsletter,
Charmingly Chocolate

E-mail Address

First Name

Then

Don't worry -- your e-mail address is totally secure. I promise to use it only to send you Charmingly Chocolate.


Some of our delicious Site Sponsors




chocolate club





Chocolate Candy Mall Thank You