Up to Your Elbows in Chocolate

Lesson — The Art of Dipping Bonbons

Dipping wonderful goodies like cookies, fudge, roasted nuts or candied ginger in chocolate is easy. You just have to learn the technique and then practice to get a perfect coating. You can use a fork to do the dipping or you can use your fingers, which is the traditional way to dip.

Make sure the "goodies" that you want to dip are free of moisture or crumbs that could mess up your chocolate. Drop the goodie into the bowl of tempered chocolate. This is much easier than trying to use the fork to put it in. Quickly turn and retrieve the goodie using either your fingers or a fork.

If you are using your fingers, give the goodie a little shake, letting the excess chocolate drip back into the bowl. Then roll and push the goodie off your fingers and onto parchment paper or a silpat mat.

If using a fork, quickly retrieve the goodies and then tap the fork (with the goodie) three or four times against the surface of the chocolate mass; the physical properties of liquid to liquid will pull even more chocolate off the top and sides of the goodie. Then tap the handle of the fork on the side of the bowl to shake off the chocolate clinging to the bottom of the fork.

Place the chocolate covered goodie gently on parchment paper or silpat mat using a quick jerk movement with the fork to release it from the bottom of the coated goodie. Remember that during your dipping, the chocolate will want to solidify on the goodie as well as on your fork or fingers, so work quickly.

Judge your dipping success by the neatness of the coating and the lack of a foot on the bottom. That foot or puddle of excess chocolate is what forms around the bottom of your confection when too much coating has been left on the goodie.

Let your confections harden in a cool place and then store in a plastic bin. You will only need to use the refrigerator to harden and store your chocolates if you live in a warm climate and don’t have a cool or air-conditioned space. The longer you leave your confections loose in the refrigerator, the greater the chance they will develop “sugar bloom,” which is undesirable spots or tackiness on the outside of the chocolate.

If you want to store your finished chocolates in the refrigerator or freezer for eating later, make sure you seal the chocolates in freezer bags or plastic bins with as little air space as possible. Bring the chocolates slowly to room temperature without opening the bag or box so that any condensation forms on the outside of the bag or box and not on your chocolates.