becky
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read the disclosure policy to learn more.
Thank you for supporting this blog!
I launched my pastry career not with baking, but chocolatemaking, earning a Professional Chocolatier’s Certificate from Ecole Chocolat in 2017. I further honed my chocolate skills at Le Cordon Bleu, and have loved working with chocolate ever since then.
In my work as a recipe developer, pastry chef, and chocolatier, I often find myself reaching for the same chocolatemaking tools and ingredients. Below are a few of the things that make working with chocolate easier, more creative, and more fun.
Wire Whisk
Buy Now → A wire whisk is my go-to for most applications, including tempering. Whisking also makes ganache ultra-creamy, creating melt-in-your-mouth truffles.
Infrared Gun
Buy Now → I rely on my gun thermometer for tempering chocolate. Always stir chocolate vigorously before taking a temperature reading with a laser thermometer!
Cocoa Butter
Buy Now → Use colored cocoa butters to create vibrant designs and artistic decorations by airbrushing, painting, or molding onto chocolate surfaces. I like the Chef Rubber and Roxy & Rich brands.
Oil Based Coloring
Buy Now → Oil and water don’t mix! Instead of gels, opt for oil-based food colorings to tint white chocolate. For example, I tinted the green chocolate in these watermelon lollipops with oil-based color.
Enrobing Fork
Buy Now → An enrobing fork makes chocolatemaking easier, allowing you to dip and enrobe bonbons with ease, and to create fun decorations in your chocolates.
Cotton Gloves
Buy Now → Wear cotton gloves when handling bars and bonbons, to avoid creating fingerprints. Cotton gloves will also help to preserve the shine of tempered chocolate.
Melon Baller
Buy Now → You’ll need a melon baller for scooping chocolate ganache into equally-sized portions for rolled truffles.
Digital Probe
Buy Now → For tempering, I alternate between infrared gun and this trusty Taylor Instant-Read Digital Thermometer.
Rubber Spatula
Buy Now → A good-quality rubber spatula is a must for chocolatemaking. This red-handled Rubbermaid spatula is standard in many kitchens, including mine.
Cake Scraper
Buy Now → Use a cake scraper with a decorative edge (like a zigzag or sawtooth) to create thin chocolate ribbons or other tempered chocolate decorations.
White Chocolate
Buy Now → In addition to dark and milk chocolate, your pantry should include a good-quality white chocolate couverture, like this Callebaut 28% white chocolate.
Milk Chocolate
Buy Now → Callebaut 33.6% milk chocolate couverture is one of my favorite milk chocolates for making bars, truffles, and bon bons. I often use it in baking recipes, too.
Dark Chocolate
Buy Now → At Le Cordon Bleu we used Callebaut’s 54.5% dark chocolate for most of our lessons, and this versatile couverture has been a staple in my cabinet ever since.
Ruby Chocolate
Buy Now → This new chocolate variety made a splash as “the fourth kind of chocolate.” Ruby cocoa beans lend this Callebaut couverture its signature shade of pink.
Truffle Cups
Buy Now → For prettier presentation (and less mess) serve homemade truffles in paper truffle cups. They come in brown and white, as well as decorative patterns.
Cotton Balls
Buy Now → Cotton balls (cotton wool) are useful for polishing polycarbonate chocolate bar and bon bon molds. Polished molds create shiny chocolates!
Bonbon Mold
Buy Now → I have a big collection of polycarbonate bon bon molds, in all kinds of shapes and sizes. It’s good to keep a variety of mold options on hand.
Silicone Bowl
Buy Now → I usually melt my chocolate over a bain marie or double boiler. But if I do use the microwave, I place my callets in a silicone bowl.
Bar Mold
Buy Now → In addition to bon bon molds, it’s good to have at least a couple of chocolate bar mold options available.
Acetate Roll
Buy Now → Acetate creates smooth, glossy surfaces by providing a flexible mold for setting tempered chocolate
Transfer Sheets
Buy Now → Use these decorative transfer sheets to make pretty chocolate bon bons by transferring intricate cocoa butter designs onto the chocolate’s surface as it sets.
Double Boiler
Buy Now → A double boiler consists of two stacked pots, with the bottom one holding simmering water to gently heat the top pot, melting the chocolate without direct heat.
Clear Boxes
Buy Now → I love these small, clear boxes for packaging and gifting homemade treats like chocolate truffles, bon bons, and hot chocolate bombs.
Marble Slab
Buy Now → Use a marble slab or pastry board to create the ideal work surface for tempering chocolate, without damaging your countertops.
Metal Bowl
Buy Now → If you don’t have a double boiler, you can sit a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water to create a bain-marie, or hot water bath, for tempering.
Palette Knife
Buy Now → A palette knife is used in chocolatemaking to spread, smooth, and manipulate melted chocolate, creating even layers, sharp edges, and delicate decorations.
Valrhona Inspiration
Buy Now → I love Valrhona’s Inspiration fruit couvertures (my favorites are passionfruit and raspberry) for chocolate ganaches, truffles, and cookies.
Rebecca Frey is a freelance recipe developer, food writer, photographer, stylist, and pastry chef. She earned the Diplôme de Pâtisserie (French Pastry Techniques Diploma) from Le Cordon Bleu London in 2020 and an MSc in Culinary Innovation from Birkbeck, University of London in 2022, where she focused her dissertation research on Pennsylvania Dutch recipes. She also holds a Professional Chocolatier’s Certificate from Ecole Chocolat. Rebecca has developed recipes for websites including Serious Eats, The Spruce Eats, Wine Enthusiast, and others. Follow her on Instagram @bastecutfold.
