How to Decorate With Chocolate Curls

Chocolate curls add a decorative and delicious element to cakes and pastries.

Chocolate curls are strips of chocolate that have been wrapped into a coil and chilled. They normally adorn the tops of cakes and pies, and serve as both a tasty treat and a visual complement to the dish. Making chocolate curls requires few ingredients and only minutes of preparation time. While it takes practice to produce perfectly rolled curls every time, learning this method of preparing chocolate is fun and useful for any amateur chef. Does this Spark an idea?

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Baking pan
Spatula
3 oz. semisweet chocolate
1 tbsp. vegetable shortening

Instructions

- 1
  
  Gather together 3 oz. of chocolate and 1 tbsp. of vegetable shortening. Place the chocolate into a microwave-safe mixing bowl. Use semisweet chocolate, as it lends optimal flavor and texture for the chocolate curls. Add about 1 tbsp. of vegetable shortening to the bowl. Place the bowl in the microwave and turn on the power for as long as it takes the shortening to melt, or about 40 seconds. Check to make sure that the chocolate is soft but not completely melted. Stir the chocolate and shortening together using a fork until the mixture is homogenous.
- 2
  
  Take a baking pan or cookie sheet and place it upside down on your work space. Use a pan that has a flat, regular back for the best chocolate curls. Clear enough space in your freezer to accommodate the pan with the door closed. Pour or ladle the chocolate mixture onto the back on the baking pan. Use a knife or spatula to spread the mixture thinly and evenly on the pan. This may take up most of the surface area of the pan.
- 3
  
  Place the pan with the thin layer of chocolate carefully into the freezer. Check the readiness of the chocolate every minute by applying pressure to the chocolate with a finger. A light impression should appear, but the chocolate should retain its form. Let the pan warm up in the air for a minute or two if no impression forms when pressure is applied. Leave the pan in the freezer for two to three minutes until it is ready.
- 4
  
  Take out a metal spatula or a stiff scraper and, beginning at the far end of the chocolate layer, press down and forward, and the chocolate should curl around itself. Break off the curl by lifting up the spatula. Place the chocolate back in the freezer if the chocolate doesn't form curls, or let it rest in the room if the chocolate splinters. Press out several curls with the desired length and place the curls onto a plate. Coil the chocolate back together if the curl unravels at any point during the preparation.
- 5
  
  Place the plate with the chocolate curls back into the freezer and let them harden. Garnish cakes, pastries, or other desserts with the chocolate curls to give dishes visual appeal and rich, chocolaty flavor. Try placing them upright around the circumference of the cake, or pressing one into the top of a cupcake. Let your imagination guide you when decorating baked goods.

Tips & Warnings

If you want to make very quick chocolate curls, try scraping at a block of chocolate with a vegetable peeler.
Add flavorings or herbs to the mixture of chocolate and shortening to give your curls extra pizazz.