"Magic" chocolate ball dessert help!

[KeriRivera]

Hello all I'm new to this forum (and this website). I'm a professional pastry chef looking for some advice. My boss is obsessed with those trendy chocolate sphere desserts. I'm currently trying to produce some to put on our menu but for every 5 produced I only seem to get 1 to release cleanly from the mold without cracking or breaking. My chocolate is tempered properly I just want to know if any chefs have experience doing this and if they have some tips. I've tried to explain this to my boss (as he just wants me to produce produce produce) but alas he doesn't understand how pastry/baking can be so finicky.

Have a sweet day!
KR

 

[chefwriter]

I have no experience with chocolate and baking, etc. but so your post doesn't get lost down the rabbit hole, I'll try. Hopefully one of the experienced pastry chefs will come on and answer.
Can you make the walls of the sphere thicker? Is it better to chill or freeze the mold so the chocolate comes out easier? What about oiling the mold before the chocolate goes in?
Okay, I think that's all I've got. What about having the boss help you? Let him experience the chocolate production first hand.

 

[sgmchef]

Be different!

Make a three sided Pyramid shape. Then your building materials are fabricated from a uniform sheet of Chocolate, at least...

I'm just a chef, not a Pastry chef. Someone that does know the answer will come along.

 

[Pat Pat]

This video should give you peace. It's the same for everyone.

 

[chefpeon]

OK, I watched part of the video Pat Pat posted, and here are my tips:

1. Make sure the mold is super clean. After I wash it, I polish it with a cotton ball. Then I use that same cotton ball and LIGHTLY oil the inside of the mold.

2. Unmolding is easier when you use higher quality (more expensive) couverture.

3. Proper tempering is essential.

4. Also, it would be easier to coat each half of the sphere separately (as opposed to what the guy in the video is doing). Pour some chocolate into each half of the mold, swirl it to spread it around, then turn it upside down on parchment or a silpat to drain off. Then do another coat or two or three so it's sturdy. You might want to "paint" the chocolate in rather than swirling around because that is easier too. Let each coat drain off. Unmold each half, trim off the edges, then glue the sphere together with more tempered chocolate after unmolding each half. Not sure if that's what you're doing now though.

This should help. Let me know if it does.

 

[markos sdranis]

While looking at molds I ran into this https://www.cadcrowd.com/designs/large/1295_1455643952.jpg .

What chefpeon said about making 2 halves is the more reasonable option, but wouldn't a silicone mold be much easier to use?

 

[chefpeon]

While looking at molds I ran into this https://www.cadcrowd.com/designs/large/1295_1455643952.jpg .

What chefpeon said about making 2 halves is the more reasonable option, but wouldn't a silicone mold be much easier to use?

That thing you linked to is an ice sphere mold I believe. You can certainly use silicone sphere molds, the only thing is the chocolate won't be quite as glossy when you unmold it. Here's a link to a silicone sphere mold:

Also, here's a great video on making spheres. You can fast forward through a lot of it, and it may be very helpful.

 

[markos sdranis]

It is a hollow ice sphere mold, but why wouldn't it work for chocolate? You basically pour the water/chocolate and when it sets you deflate the balloon and unmold. Didn't know silicone molds do that.

 

[chefpeon]

It is a hollow ice sphere mold, but why wouldn't it work for chocolate? You basically pour the water/chocolate and when it sets you deflate the balloon and unmold. Didn't know silicone molds do that.

Right, I don't see why you couldn't use the ice mold for chocolate too, but if the OP had issues unmolding the spheres from whatever they are using, then they'll have the same issues with this mold. My tips may help and using an all silicone mold may help with that unmolding problem.

 

[foodpump]

O.k., a couple of things about chocolate:

Chocolate shrinks by about 2% if it is properly crystallized (tempered), and is as warm as it can possibly be without going out of temper--32 to33 Cel. The higher quality of couverture, the less of sugar and more of cocoa butter, which makes for better molding, more rigidity and strength, and more gloss.

Chocolate will take on any texture you pour it on to--if you spread it on parchment paper it will take on that texture. If you spread it on high gloss plastics, it will have a high gloss.

Try more experimenting, but try using high quality couverture.

 

[foodpump]

Oh, forgot to add, silicone molds may be o.k. for SMALL solid chocolate casting, but are pretty much useless for hollow casting-- the mold doesn't retain its shape when moved, and doesn't provide rigidity for multiple layers, as the first layers will crack.

 

[markos sdranis]

Oh, forgot to add, silicone molds may be o.k. for SMALL solid chocolate casting, but are pretty much useless for hollow casting-- the mold doesn't retain its shape when moved, and doesn't provide rigidity for multiple layers, as the first layers will crack.

You can put the mold in a plastic/metal casing so it won't deform when you move it

 

[foodpump]

Umm...yeah. That is, assuming the metal or plastic casing is a perfect impression of the silicone mold. In which case there is no advantage to using silicone over polycarbonate, and the cost of the silicone and its mating casing is more than polycarbonate

Look, silicone molds have their place, but in pastry work, not chocolate. They work fantastic when you pour in, say, cheesecake batter, bake, then freeze directly in the silicone. When solid, you can "peel" the mold away. Or financiers, or mousses, or...whatever.

Silicone molds don't work well with large hollow castings