Sunway Hotel's Chocolate Room - Preparing Bunnies for Easter

CHOCOLATES are sensitive to temperature and humidity.

“You need to have the right temperature of between 16 and 18 degree Celsius when working with chocolates.

Rich delights: The white, milk and dark chocolate tablets.

“It melts if hotter and sets way faster if colder,” said pastry Chef Chern Chee Hoong from Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa as he welcomed members of the media into the Chocolate Room.

The special room located within the pastry kitchen is much cooler than the rest of the kitchen.

It is equipped with a variety of moulds, chocolate products, freezers, melting machine and chocolates.

Right texture: Chern stirring the melted dark chocolate. For shape: (Left) The various moulds used for making the Easter chocolates.

“This is where the hotel's chocolates, pastries and pralines are made,” added Chern as he began by introducing three varieties of chocolates used for Easter bunnies.

The Easter bunny and chicks-making session for the media was under Chern's supervision.

Perfect: Chern with his chocolate bunny.

Commonly used chocolates in the kitchen are dark, white and milk chocolates from Switzerland.

“In the olden days, chocolate blocks were used but now chocolates come in tablets of equal size to make melting them easier and to control consumption,” Chern said, adding that melting temperature for milk and white chocolate was from 26 to 27 degrees Celsius while for dark chocolates it was 29 to 30 degrees Celsius.

He also said that 70% of guests preferred dark chocolate to white while milk chocolates were a favourite among women.

The chocolates are melted separately in the melting machine before being ladled into the moulds shaped in the form of bunny, chicks and chicken.

Chern chose a simple bunny design for his demonstration and coated it with milk chocolate.

Festive treats: Some more Easter goodies made and sold at Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa.

“For the first coating, it is important to check for bubble formation in the hard-to-reach areas of the mould.

“If there are bubbles, tap gently on the area to release them,” he said while tapping his choc-filled mould before pouring out the contents back into the melting container.

The process was repeated for three coatings.

After the third coating, the chocolate-coated mould was placed in a freezer at four degrees Celsius for about five to 10 minutes to crystallise.

“After this, you can remove the clips holding the sides of the mould to get the shape.

Miniature: (Left)The chocolate bunnies and chicks.

“But if the bunnies don't take shape, you can re-melt them again,” said Chern.

He also said that chocolates must be stored away from other food as it could absorb different aromas.

He said it was best packed or wrapped.

Easter Day chocolate goodies are now being sold at the hotel.

For details, call 03-7492 8000.

Source : STAR
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