Rapidly Harden Hot Melted Chocolate

by Neal
(UK)

I am starting a business selling toffee/chocolate coated apples at events and need to know some specifics on how best to rapidly harden hot melted chocolate on an apple.

The hot dipped apples typically take between 15-20 mins to cool at room temperature but I need them available almost straight away and am thinking of using maybe dry ice or a blast chiller for this.


I will also be using toppings such as crushed nuts, marshmallows, and crushed oreo cookies on the hot dipped apples.


My questions are:

a) Would dry ice or a blast chiller be suitable for this?

b) If so how long would the hot dipped apples take to set i.e for the toffee / chocolate to harden

c) Would the dry ice or blast chiller damage the apple i.e turn it mushy at all?

d) Would the dry ice or blast chiller damage the topping (nuts, marshmallows etc) in any way?


Your help would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,
Neal

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Hi Neal,

I don't think I would use dry ice for the purpose of getting your chocolate coated toffee apples to set quickly.


I think it might be overkill and more hassle than it's worth. I'm also not so sure that it would be a "safe" option as far as toxicity is concerned, so I'm going to rule that one out for you. :)


A chiller blaster would probably work quite well, and perhaps be the best option for your specific purposes, but even that may not be absolutely necessary.


Have you tried just popping them into a refrigerator? Chocolate and caramel covered apples should set quite quickly in the fridge - in just a matter of a couple of minutes.


Having said that, to answer your questions, I don't think the blast chiller would damage the apple or the toppings as long as you didn't leave them in too long. It would be a fairly quick process because you only want to set the coating and NOT freeze the apples.


I love the idea you have of selling "freshly made" chocolate covered toffee apples at events. I used to love buying them myself when I was a kid at the fair, etc.


To my recollection, they weren't made to order on the spot, but they did make them there while you watched in some places, but I think when you actually went to purchase one you ended up with one that was "prepared earlier" so that the vendor didn't have to worry about how to rapidly harden hot melted chocolate or very hot caramel.


Send us some photos of your goodies and tell us about your business. Maybe we can create a feature page for you. ;)


All the best for your success.
Blessings,
Angie from Chocolate Candy Mall