Moulding/Pouring

Preparation

•hollow figures in chocolate e.g. eggs, cylinders…
•tempered chocolate(s)
•small palette knife
•sharp knife

Optional: marble at room temperature or aerosol dispenser with liquid nitrogen

Step by step

1. Secure the workpiece to the worktable. You may stick it to a chocolate base with tempered chocolate.

2. For all surfaces that you want to assemble: first scrape the smooth surfaces with a sharp knife to roughen them. This applies to the items to be stuck on as much as to the item you will stick them to. If you try to fix smooth surfaces together, things will not go as well as if they had been roughened. 1

Option 1
3. Put tempered chocolate on the marble. Choose chocolate in the same colour as the figure to be fixed. 2
4. The chocolate should be mixed together gently and thoroughly with a spatula until it becomes very viscous. The chocolate is then overcrystallised and will now harden very quickly. 3

5. With the palette knife, apply a small quantity of the overcrystallised chocolate to the roughened areas. Now stick the figure against this: stick it precisely and immediately, then hold it steady for a short time (to avoid finger marks this is best done with gloves) till the chocolate 'glue' has fully set. Now continue sticking the remaining items. 4 5 6

Option 2
3. With the palette knife, apply some tempered chocolate directly to one of the roughened areas you made on the main item. 7

4. Immediately stick the second figure on exactly the same spot on the main item.

5. Hold it steady against the figure and spray the liquid nitrogen shortly onto the area to be joined. (Be careful not to spray your hands!) Done! The chocolate sets immediately so this method can save you a lot of time. 8

Which chocolates are best for the montage technique?

In dark or milk chocolate:
The basic types with standard viscosity (SSS) are perfect for this process. They have the ideal viscosity for use as 'glue' and do not drip onto the figure.

In white chocolate:
If you want to mount objects with white chocolate, you should choose a less fluid type. The standard viscosities are always, due to their composition, a little too fluid too carry out this type of work. The ideal types are the ones with 2% to 6% less cocoa butter. You can identify these by the letters B to F before the basic code (SS).