Painting With Colored Cocoa Butter

You can paint with colored cocoa butter to give confections an artistic edible decoration. The cocoa butter comes in a variety of different colors and has no taste so it won't affect the flavor of the item you are decorating. Pastry chef's first started using colored cocoa butter to enhance the look of their chocolate confections in the late 1990's. Early on you had to create your own colors by mixing powdered color with pure cocoa butter. Now it is much easier as you can buy colored cocoa butter in bottles from specialty pastry supply stores.

The most common application for colored cocoa butter is on chocolate moulds. Once the color drys you can fill the mould with chocolate. Because of the natural fats in the chocolate and cocoa butter the colored cocoa butter adheres nicely to the chocolate. The end result is a beautiful shiny piece of chocolate.

The effect is so beautiful that many chocolate companies are now decorating all of their chocolates with colored cocoa butter. To make your chocolates look beautiful follow these easy steps:

1. Warm the cocoa butter in your microwave for 10 to 15 seconds. Stir the mixture and microwave for 10 more seconds. Keep stirring and microwaving until the colored cocoa butter is smooth and completely melted.
2. Use a paint brush and apply the color to your chocolate mould in whatever fashion you choose. This is your chance to let your artistry shine!
3. Allow the freshly painted moulds to set for at least 5 minutes before painting with a new color.
4. Allow mould to set for 10 minutes when done painting.
5. Once the mould has set you can fill it with melted chocolate and cool it in a refrigerator. This usually takes up to an hour or more.
6. Tip: Make sure you knock out all of the air bubbles my tapping the mould gently on a table.
7. After your chocolate has set in the mould you can turn the mould upside down and tap it until the chocolates come out.
8. Admire your work! The chocolates should come out of the moulds with your colored cocoa butter designs. Make sure to store them in an airtight container to keep them fresh!