Hollow figures - getting creative - lining technique

This uncomplicated lining technique teaches you how to create chocolate figures with a distinctively creative line pattern, using three different types of chocolate.

GOOD TO KNOW

What should you take to heart when making hollow figures?
Use polycarbonate moulds. These yield the highest gloss and contract slower than chocolate, which makes unmoulding far easier.

Choose the fluidity of the chocolate according to the size of your moulds: a three-drop fluidity for smaller moulds, a two-drop fluidity for bigger ones.

Heat the moulds briefly before pouring in your tempered chocolate. This way, you’ll avoid temperature shocks that could make your chocolate turn grey afterwards.

Make sure that the heat can escape from the mould during cooling. If it remains trapped inside the mould, chances are high the chocolate shell will show dull spots after the chocolate has cooled down.

Needed:

• Single moulds (for two chocolate figure halves)
• Chocolate melter or tempering machine
• Dark, milk and white chocolate
• A ladle
• Two piping bags

Temper your melted chocolates and warm your moulds up to 26 to 27°C with a heat gun before use. Do make sure that your moulds are squeaky clean and don’t make them warmer than your chocolate.

Step 1
Fill a piping bag with tempered dark chocolate and create a line pattern with it inside the mould.

Step 2
Scrape off any excess chocolate from the mould surface and let the chocolate harden for a few minutes before adding your second colour on top. This keeps the chocolates from mixing.

Step 3
Fill a second piping bag with tempered white chocolate and create a line pattern on top of the first one.

Step 4
Scrape off any excess chocolate from the mould surface and let the chocolate harden for a few minutes.

Step 5
Fill the mould with tempered milk chocolate and create a hollow figure based on the techniques demonstrated in our tutorial about moulding chocolate figures.

Which type of chocolate is best suited to create chocolate hollow figures?

For small and medium-sized moulds:
All chocolates with a basic three-drop fluidity are ideal for this. They contain exactly the right amount of cocoa butter to form an even chocolate layer with the perfect thickness.

For medium-sized hollow figures, we recommend repeating steps 1 to 4 carefully to achieve a thick enough chocolate shell.

For large moulds:
Your best choice for large moulds is a less fluid chocolate, i.e. chocolate with a lower cocoa butter content. It leaves a thicker chocolate layer inside the mould in just one single pouring. Given that the chocolate shell shrinks during cooling, it is important that it has the necessary minimum thickness. This determines the strength of the shell and makes unmoulding much easier. Chocolate recipes with a two-drop fluidity (containing 3% to 4% less cocoa butter) are perfect for these applications.