Enrobed chocolate
A centre coated by pouring chocolate over it, rather than by casting a shell around it. The other of the two ways to make a filled piece, and the one that leaves a foot.
What it is
Enrobing passes a prepared centre under a curtain of tempered chocolate, coating it on all sides. Industrially this is a machine; domestically it is dipping with a fork. Either way the coating follows the shape of the centre rather than the shape of a mould.
The visible difference from a moulded bonbon is the base: an enrobed piece sits in a small pool of chocolate that spreads as it sets, leaving a foot. Makers either trim it or make a feature of it. Moulded pieces have a flat, sharp base because the mould gave them one.
Enrobing needs a centre firm enough to handle, which is why it suits set ganache, caramels, marzipan and fruit, and why very soft fillings are moulded instead.
- Category kind
- A confection form — this describes how it was constructed
- Legal status
- Industry convention, not a legal definition
- Also called
- enrobing, coated chocolate, dipped chocolate
- Texture
- snappy, creamy
What the percentage means here
Refers to the coating chocolate. An enrobed piece generally carries a thinner coating than a moulded shell, so the centre dominates further still.
Working with it
Needs couverture rather than an eating bar: the coating must be thin and even, which requires low viscosity. Chilled centres cause the coating to set too fast and crack.
Related
Commonly confused with
- Moulded chocolateThe two ways to build a filled piece. Enrobed pieces sit in a small foot of chocolate; moulded ones have a flat, sharp base from the mould.
Techniques that work with this
- Enrobing by handCoating a firm centre with a dipping fork. Slower than a machine, identical in result, and the fork technique is most of it.
Defined by
- EnrobingPassing centres under a curtain of tempered chocolate on a belt. The industrial alternative to shell moulding.
Sources
- ChocolateHQ editorial synthesis — ChocolateHQ(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)
- The Science of Chocolate — Royal Society of Chemistry(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)