Making Chocolate Forest Decor
Part 1: Create Edible Forest Floor Elements
This is the first set of edible forest decor for the Forest Floor desert. We will cover three easy-to-make chocolate forest decor including 3D chocolate twigs, pine needles and small leaves. A lovely to embellishment to any dessert for bit of woodsy fun.
These chocolate decorations can be made well in advance – which is what I recommend if you are going to try the Forest Floor recipe, as you will also be making chocolate soil, truffle pinecones, meringue mushrooms, crispy rocks and honey moss cake.
Chocolate Choices
The most important part of these chocolate forest decor is the chocolate you use. Any type of chocolate can be used, including white, milk or dark. And of the dark variety, you have the option of a basic semi-sweet to the a lot less sweet (I would not go past 70% cacao).
The trick will be how to melt the chocolate smoothly (not burning) and your tempering time may need to be adjusted. Dark chocolate takes a bit longer to melt, and white chocolate burns easily. You could use candy melts for these decorations (which skips the need to temper).
I used Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate chips for twigs and pine needles. I like the dark colors and flavor to accompany the blackberry cream in the Forest Floor dessert.
For leaf bits, I recommend some good quality modeling chocolate. I used a basic white modeling chocolate then colored it a bit been with an oil-based colorant. You could also use fondant or gum paste if you don’t care about the taste.
Specialty Supplies
Edible Luster Dust
A sparkly luster dust adds just enough shimmer to showcase texture and details. I find most molded chocolate to look a bit flat without it. I went more “magical” themed with gold and silver highlights, but you could also find more natural tones.
Edible Petal Dust
A matte dust adds color without shimmer. Great for undertones or just a more natural look to what you are coloring. I use a dark brown for adding shadows and dark washes.
Silicone Pine needle molds
Here are a couple molds I used to get small enough clusters of needles. It can take a while to make a handful on small batch at a time. The more molds you buy, the bigger the batches, the less overall time you spend waiting for chocolate to set.
Silicone Leaf mold
This is a 3D press mol for making rose (and other flower) leaves. Usually you use fondant or gum paste, but modeling chocolate holds up just fine (but does not “dry”).
Tempering Chocolate – Microwave Method
If you have a favorite way of tempering chocolate, please by all means, you do you. For those looking for a fairly simple way to quickly get to it, here’s my go-to method.
You will need:
✓ A ceramic or glass that is microwave safe, heat safe
✓ Chocolate: chips or chopped up. I batch about half a package at a time
✓ Strong spatula: rubber or firm silicone
✓ Digital Food Thermometer
Method
1. HEAT: Place 2/3rds of the chocolate (chips or chopped pieces) into microwave safe bowl. Heat at 50% power for 1 minute. Stir the chocolate to with spatula in a folding motion so that chips on top move toward the bottom.
2. MELT: Microwave again at 50% power for 1 minute. Then check the level of melting, stirring well. Temperature should be between 100-110°F. If necessary, reheat for 30-second intervals (dark choc at full power, milk/white at 50%) with vigorous stirring each time until chocolate looks well melted.
3. ADD: Mix in half the remaining un-melted chocolate and stir vigorously until all chips are melted. Repeat the process with the last bit of un-melted chocolate.
4.COOL: Once chocolate is smooth, check the temperature. You are looking for about 90 degrees. If it is still very warm, you can also transfer to a cool bowl. The chocolate is tempered when it is thick (yet still liquid), shiny, and does not feel hot to touch.
You are now ready to use the tempered chocolate!