Starting today Julie and I are going to be sharing monthly ideas on how to make your delectable eats look as good as they taste. :) To start this series I would like to remind you that people eat first with their eyes. So making food look as good as it tastes is worth a little bit of your time. Now let’s discuss what a garnish actually is. A garnish is typically edible, should enhance but not over power the dish, and should actually look good, but that part was self explanatory…I hope. Basically anything can be a garnish, from shaved cheese, to candied orange peel, to chocolate curls. Speaking of chocolate curls…
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You will need:
3/4 of semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons of shortening (preferably vegetable shortening)
Place both ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on 50% power until chips are glossy(1-2 minutes). Mix until smooth. NOTE: if your chips are not smoothing out, just microwave them for 15-30 seconds and then stir again. Spread melted mixture in a on the back of a sheet pan that will fit in your refrigerator. (For thicker curls make a thicker layer of chocolate, for more delicate curls spread the chocolate thinly.) Refrigerate 15-30 minutes until chocolate is very set.
Remove the pan from your refrigerator and use a metal cookie spatula to gently scrape off strips (refer to picture below) they will curl as you go. Make sure to keep the spatula slightly angled otherwise the chocolate will not curl. If your chocolate is not set completely it will come off in uncurled strips. If you encounter this problem, just place the pan back in your refrigerator and wait another 10 minutes.
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Make sure that the chocolate is completely smooth before you spread it on the pan, or you will have serious issues!
Don’t worry if the chocolate flows over the edges a bit.
This is the best spatula angle for curls.
And the finished curl! :)
I hope that throughout this series you will be excited to use simple, but beautiful garnishes on your next dish.
Happy eating,
Holly.
