I have heard of spraying a combination of
chocolate and cocoa butter over showpieces and
confections. The look gives a nice finish and
hides impurities.

My questions are:

1. Is it possible to use coumpound
chocolate in place of couveture when spraying,
and still achieve a nice finish?

2. Can you spray over marzipan?

3. Can you spray with white chocolate?

By Yankee on Tuesday, March 20, 2001 - 09:10 pm: Edit

Methinks:

1) The cocoa butter thins out the couveture so that you can spay it. I'm not sure what compound chocolate is. I used to have this little funnel to check the viscousity of the chocolate mixture. You would fill it up and time how long it took for the mixture to pour out, and adjust accordingly.

2)It might crack. The expansion rates are probably different for marzapan and chocolate. Spray it and see.

3) Sure. I remember trying this, but since the chocolate isn't really white, it ended up looking like wax on what I was using it for, so I went back to regular chocolate.

I have not done this in a while. It does create a nice finish...and a big mess and noise in the kitchen. It will cover up imperfection, but not impurities. It's also fun to paint the dishwashers, but that's another story.

Have fun.

By Ltom (Ltom) on Thursday, March 29, 2001 - 02:57 am: Edit

Compound chocolate is coating. Are you trying to cut down on cost? Why don't you try an experiment & let us know what happens?

Yes, you can spray with a combination of white & cocoa butter (our company had to cover a monitor and keyboard for a bar mitvah) but it can take more coats which looks like funky cream coloured moss.

We finally got a "spray screen"--improvise with 3 sheets of material (plexiglass, etc. that can be wiped down) linked with plastic ties (kind that goes in one direction and locks) so it can fold up or stand on work table--hardware store should have all you need. Lu

By Yankee on Thursday, March 29, 2001 - 10:44 pm: Edit

Have you guys ever used one of those smaller spray guns (the kind you can find at an art or hobby store)for spraying chocolate?

The "Power Painter" thing is big overkill for our shop, so I've always wondered if those smaller sized, compressed air gun will work.

By david on Tuesday, July 03, 2001 - 05:24 pm: Edit

Compound chocolate is very suitable for spraying and may be thinned with hard fat which usually comes in a flake form, a brand name of this is Paramount crystals. Using all compound chocolate in a centerpiece as well as the spray will increase its tolerance to temperature fluctuations and allow the finish to last longer.

White chocolate may also be sprayed but it is more transparent and tends to spray less smoothly. Titanium dioxide may be added to increase its opacity but this tends to whiten it to much. A couple of thin coats is better.

Cracking often comes from to much cocoa butter being added, 20% is usually max. The piece being sprayed should also not be to cold this will also effect flow and finish.

Additionally, spraying a piece does not cover imperfections, it enhances them.

A HVLP(high volume low pressure) sprayer is good for spraying.