How to Make Chocolate Candies

Everybody loves chocolates, which makes this great mood lifter a viable business. Chocolate candies are perfect as gifts, or simply as desserts. And another good thing is they’re easy to make, as chocolate  candy molding involves only a 3-step process: melting, pouring, and setting.

Start-up capital is P650 for 44 pieces, and time to finish is 1 hour.

Materials Needed:

• Pan
• Stainless steel or heatproof bowls
• Plastic molds (P90 each for local and P120 for imported)
• Wooden and stainless spoons
• Chopping board
• Knife
• Disposable plastic gloves
• A clean cloth
• Toothpick, lollipop stick, or plastic straw

If you have the budget, you may also buy a double boiler and an artist brush for making designs on the chocolate mixture.

To make 44 pieces of almond-shaped dark chocolate, you will need:

• Bittersweet chocolate, P67 per 500 grams
• Peanuts, P3.12 per 40g, for fillings. Other fillings may be raisins,  marshmallows, walnut, pecans, almonds, or cashew nuts.

For packaging:

• Flutter paper cups, P10 per 100 pcs
• Boxes sized 3.5×5.5×1 inches, P40 per 10 pcs

Procedure

1. Make sure all your utensils are clean and dry. Put on your plastic gloves and cut the chocolate block into small pieces so they melt faster.  Place the chocolate blocks in a pan small enough to fit inside the boiler. If you don’t have boiler, just use a bigger pan that can accommodate the pan for melting chocolate.
2. Place the boiler containing water over the stove and let the water simmer.
3. When the water simmers, put the pan containing the chocolate blocks inside the boiler, taking care that the water level doesn’t reach the pan’s rim. Stir constantly using the wooden spoon until the chocolate melts completely and becomes smooth and thick.
4. Pour the melted chocolate onto the mold or heatproof plastic containers. Use the stainless spoon to scrape off the sides of the pan. If you want fillings like nuts, marshmallows, rice crispies, dried fruits, or raisins, pour a tablespoon of chocolate first, then the filling of your choice, and coat with another spoonful of melted chocolate. Tap the mold or use regular straw to fix the fillings and remove air bubbles from the chocolate mold. Make sure the mold is hilly covered.
5. Cool for a few minutes and then put the chocolate mold inside the freezer for three minutes. When the three minutes are up, remove the mold from the freezer. Turn a mold upside down on a flai surface and tap gently to remove the candies. (Another way to find out if the candies are ready is to see
   if the sides of the mold have turned white or cloudy.) If the chocolate doesn’t come off easily, return the mold to the freezer to allow it to harden more,
6. Place the candies in fluted paper cups and arrange them in a box. Decorate box with ribbon and card. The chocolates can last up to two weeks.

How Much Will You Make

The total production cost for each box is P31.30. You can sell the chocolates for P40 per box and earn P8.70 from each box. Charge extra for more time-consuming processes, such as making chocolates with
special designs.

Where to get supplies

Chocolate Lover
45 P. Tuazon Blvd. cor. C. Beniztez St. Cubao, Q.C.
Tel: (02) 411-7474, 724-5752/4964
Email: info@echocolatelover.com
Web: www.echocolatelover.com

See also: How to Make Chocolate Shapes and Mouldings

source: Jona Fagar, www.entrepreneur.com.ph, photos by At Maculangan

updated: 10/28/09