CHOCOLATE CIGARETTE CURLS

Nothing fancier than decorating a chocolate cake with chocolate curls.This is a  really cute little  garnish , which are very handy to jazz up desserts and cakes.
                   
CURLS USING PEELER

If you don't want the hassle of melting the chocolate, spreading it over a cold surface, flattening it out, waiting for it to harden and then scrape the curls out of it. Not to mention the cleanup afterward, then this is the perfect way.

• If you have a big chocolate bar , then use as is. Only requirement is that the choclate should be at 27 or 28 degree Celsius.
• For this, heat the chocolate bar in the microwave at 30 second pulses on power 4 .(For a 900 W Oven). Continue doing thing this until you get a dent when you press your finger in the bar.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
•  I had a lot of leftover chocolates, after my numerous trials.  I decided to make my own chocolate bar with the leftover chocolates. I was not ready to waste money on another. I put  the bits and scraps of chocolates in a bowl and kept in a saucepan filled with water.(Double-boiling). I found a video here on how to do it.
  
  
  
  

• I put a pan with water for boiling and put the bowl with chocolates on top. When you see the chocolates melt slightly , take it off the stove and give it a stir(about a minute). Give it a stir and see if all the chocolates have melted.
  

• This way you will know if the chocolate is melted completely . If it hasn't return it back to the pan with water.(again a minute). You don't have to wait for the whole chocolate to melt. It will continue melting even after  taking off the heat. 
  

•  Pour this  into a foil lined rectangular plastic box.
• Don't worry about using the plastic box , the melted chocolate won't be very hot.






• Set aside to cool. It will become firm. Or put it in the refrigerator to fasten the process.
• Once firm its ready to be peeled into cigarettes.
• Divide it into 3 equal sizes.
  

• Take 1 slab of the chocolate and using a vegetable peeler (it should be one that has the handle in the center) , peel the chocolate , holding the end of the chocolate with one hand. Don't put a lot of force while peeling. We want thin cigarette curls.
  

• Gently take and transfer the curl into a storage box. Store it in the fridge until ready to use.
  

• There will be some left over chocolate bits after peeling. You can use this for making curls by melting them and spreading it on cold surface.

• If the chocolate is too firm , peeling is difficult and we won't get smooth curls. So make sure it is slightly soft .

  

  curls obtained from very firm chocolate

CURLS BY MELTING CHOCOLATE AND SPREADING IT ON FROZEN PANS

• This method is best when you have leftover chocolate bits. It requires a little practice though. I had to check a number of tutorial and finally found a very good tutorial here
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• In the video she has use a marble slab. I have used back side of 9 by 13 aluminum cake pans and the back side of baking trays. Keep these in the freezer and let freeze for 10 minutes.

• In the mean time melt the chocolate using the double boil method as done in the peeler method above.
  

• You don't have to wait for the whole chocolate to melt , after 1 minute give it a quick stir with the spatula and see if it's almost melted , if not return to the double boiling pan and put for 1 minute. The chocolate will continue to melt even after taking it out from the heat.
  
  
  
  
• When the chocolate is melted  , take out one frozen tray and keep it ready to spread the melted chocolate. Take a spatula , dip it in the melted chocolate and run it on the back of the frozen tray. Making a very thin layer. When the color of the chocolate becomes matte from glossy , the chocolate is ready to be peeled. The color from glossy to matte changes very fast because we are doing it on a frozen surface.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Use a thin scraper (I have used a thin ,flat , round steel spatula). Work your way quickly scraping the chocolate into curls. This is has to be done quickly , lest the chocolate sets in the tray. The layers are thin so it will come off easily.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Take only one tray at a time. After using one tray return it back to the freezer. The surface has to be very cold for the chocolate to peel of easily.

NOTES

• A disadvantage of peeling chocolate using a peeler is that the curls are very thick when compared to the curls obtained from spreading on cold surface.