How to Color Modeling Chocolate

Modeling chocolate is an amazing medium that looks exactly like fondant from a distance, but acts quite differently up close. It is fun to work with, holds its shape better than fondant and it doesn’t dry out as quickly giving you more time to create detailed works of art! While modeling chocolate can be colored the same way as fondant, there are just a few things to keep in mind. Before we get started coloring our modeling chocolate, in case you missed it, first, learn how to make modeling chocolate with candy melts.

Now, let’s begin! As Lauren Kitchens emphasizes in her Bluprint class Intro to Modeling Chocolate, air is not the enemy of modeling chocolate, as it is for fondant. Heat is the enemy of modeling chocolate.

The heat she is talking about is the heat coming from your hands as you work with it. When coloring fondant we knead and work with it until we get a nice smooth color, but with modeling chocolate we’re only able to work with it for a short time before it gets too warm and begins falling apart. If this happens, there is a very simple solution: set it down and let it cool. You don’t need to wrap it up, just leave it alone. Once it is cool, you will be able to continue to work with it.

Just like coloring fondant, it is best to use gel colors. There are many different companies that make them, I just happened to have AmeriColor.

Using a toothpick or skewer dip it in the bottle of color and wipe the toothpick across the modeling chocolate. Then using your hands, knead the color into the modeling chocolate. It may be best to wear gloves to protect your hands so you don’t end up with rainbow hues all over your fingers.

You can make dark or light colors depending on what you need, just be sure to watch the temperature of your modeling chocolate as you knead it.

There are so many amazing things you can do with modeling chocolate and Lauren Kitchens’ Bluprint class is the perfect place to start! So, have fun creating and expanding the possibilities of your cake designs with beautiful, colorful and yummy modeling chocolate!

Come back to the Bluprint blog on Saturday to learn how to make swiss meringue buttercream an easy “no-cook” way.