Chocolate Curls

ms_bold's Note:

Delicate chocolate curls to garnish desserts, or to decorate cakes. Method found in an old issue of Good Housekeeping magazine. This recipe should provide enough curls to entirely cover a 2-layer cake. Adjust as necessary for desired amount of curls. ***NOTE***After submitting this recipe, I was informed that single ingredient recipes are not approved for this site. Therefore, the toothpick was added to the ingredient list. This toothpick is only used as a tool to lift the curls, as the heat of your hands will melt the delicate chocolate. The curls will not stand up to being punctured by the toothpick. They are adhered to the cake using the fresh frosting as glue.

• Total Time: 2 hrs
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 1 cake

• 25 ounces semi-sweet chocolate baking squares
• toothpick

Directions:

1. In a heavy 1-quart saucepan over low heat, heat 5 squares of chocolate, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth.
2. Pour melted chocolate into a 15 1/2" by 10 1/2" jelly roll pan; use a rubber spatula to scrape all of the chocolate from the saucepan.
3. With the same rubber spatula, spread the chocolate to evenly cover entire bottom of pan.
4. Refrigerate until firm, but not brittle, about 10 minutes.
5. Place jelly-roll pan on damp cloth on work surface (damp cloth keeps pan from moving while working).
6. Holding teaspoon at a 30 degree angle, scrape chocolate into curls (if chocolate softens and sticks to spoon, place pan in refrigerator several minutes).
7. With toothpick, transfer curls to another jelly-roll pan; refrigerate.
8. Repeat 4 more times to make 5 batches of curls in all.
9. To Garnish Cake with Curls: Using a toothpick as a tool to lift the delicate curls (the heat of your hands will melt or mar them), carefully press chocolate curls onto fresh frosting. (The gooey fresh frosting is the glue that holds the curls in place.)

Reviews

[mspie]

I tried to make these beautiful curls, but wasn't able to get the same effect most of the time. It was important to keep the chocolate firm, so I had to return it to the frig every few minutes. I did get some nice flakes that were less curly, so I was pretty pleased.

[ShaGun]

I tried for 45 minutes and never got a single big beautiful curl. One of my friends said I shouldn't have used Ghardelli semi-sweet chocolate because it doesn't have enough fat content. Maybe that was the problem. The chocolate shavings that I produced instead still looked nice.

[Chef #558985]

Exactly what I was looking for thanks