Chocolate Curls

How to make pretty homemade chocolate curls shavings with this easy and perfect technique to decorate and add a delicious touch to all your cakes, desserts and homemade baked goods.

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Chocolate shavings or chocolate curls are widely used in baking, especially to decorate cakes, such as entremets, a Christmas log, tarts and other desserts.

Composed mainly of chocolate, you can make chocolate curls with dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate and even with colored fruit chocolate like strawberry, ruby or passion chocolate.

Make chocolate curls at home - it's super easy and much cheaper than store-bought chocolate curls. They are perfect for easy decorating and add a sweet touch to all your desserts, ice cream, cupcakes, layer cakes and more.

Which chocolate is best for shaving?

For making chocolate curls, use preferably baking chocolate (chocolate bar) which melts better and has a high percentage of cocoa butter. You can also find this type of chocolate in the form of bars, callets or small pistols.

• Dark chocolate: Choose a good quality chocolate, I use 54% or 62% for dark chocolate chips.
• Milk chocolate: Choose milk chocolate with at least 30% cocoa butter.
• White chocolate: For white chocolate chips, chocolate with at least 28%.

Useful tools: A baking thermometer, an angled spatula for cutting shavings, a steel smoother, a metal spatula or a knife.

⚠️ You will find the quantities and complete instructions in the recipe card.

Do I have to temper the chocolate?

What is it? Tempering chocolate is a well-known technique in pastry making and is used by chocolatiers in the making of chocolates and candies.

This professional technique, consists in melting the chocolate while following a temperature curve, which allows to have a more solid and brilliant chocolate.

How do we do it? We melt the chocolate in a double boiler to reach the 1st temperature, then we let it cool down to the 2nd temperature and melt it again at the 3rd temperature to be used.

• Dark chocolate: Melt at 122°F - 131°F (50-55°C), cool to 82°F (28°C), and use at 89°F (32°C).
• Milk chocolate: Melt at 113°F - 122°F (45-50°C), cool to 82°F  (28°C), and use at 86°F (30°C).
• White chocolate: Melt at 113°F - 122°F (45-50°C), cool at 80°F (27°C), and use at 84°F (29°C).

Does it work without tempering? Yes you can make chips without tempering the chocolate, you just risk having dull shavings, with white marks, and less solid.

How to make chocolate Shavings

Melt the chocolate

• Place the chopped or broken up chocolate (or in this case chocolate chips) in a bowl.
• Melt it either in a double boiler (more convenient for tempering) or in the microwave until it is liquid.

Tip: Follow the temperature curve to melt your chocolate (see notes on the recipe sheet) for shiny, streak-free, stronger chocolate.

Spread the chocolate plate

• Pour the melted chocolate onto the flat side of a baking sheet or marble board and spread with an angled spatula until you have a layer of chocolate about 2 mm thick.
• Let the chocolate cool at room temperature, in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes until you can touch it with your finger without leaving a trace.

Tip: Be careful the chocolate should just set and not be totally hard otherwise your chips will be brittle.

Cutting

• Using a stainless steel spatula or a knife, slide the cooled chocolate plate lengthwise forming a C shape until you have nice curls of chocolate.
• Repeat this step for the entire chocolate sheet and place your chocolate shavings on a large plate before storing them in an airtight container.

Tips: Collect the chocolate crumbs and failed shavings to melt them again and start a new chocolate sheet (no need to temper the chocolate again)

Recipe ideas

Here are some dessert ideas where you can use your chocolate decorations to add more deliciousness:

• Black Forest cake with cherry
• As filling in your creams and frostings like stracciatella.
• To decorate cupcakes frosting
• On an ice cream, a hot chocolate, a pie, tart etc..
• Your desserts, mousses etc.
• On a Christmas Yule log

Storage and tips

Room temperature: Chocolate shavings are best stored at room temperature in an airtight container for several weeks.

Fridge and freeze: During the warmer seasons you can keep them in the fridge or freezer to prevent them from melting.

Be careful the chocolate plate must be just set otherwise you will not be able to make curls, your chips will be breakable.

Keep at it! At first it will be difficult, but once you get the hang of it you will be able to make perfect chocolate curls!

Don't throw the crumbs away! They can be reused and melted again to start this recipe.

Vary the angles and length of the cuts to get different chocolate curls (the chocolate plate must be lightly warm chocolate to make long ribbons curls).

Other techniques: You can also grate directly into a room-temperature chocolate bar using a vegetable peeler for small chocolate shavings.

More basic chocolate recipes

• Hot chocolate bomb
• Homemade chocolate chips

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