How are Riegelein chocolate figures made?
As a specialist for seasonal chocolate products, we are often asked how our chocolate figures, such as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, are created. We’re ready to let the rabbit out of the bag.
The cornerstone of each of our hollow chocolate figures is a two-part mold with a front and back. To make our hand-decorated confectionery items, we start by painting details like the eyes, beard or Easter basket using liquid chocolate and a brush – this is known as ‘make-up work’ in the industry.
Once these details are finished and have hardened a little, half of the mold is placed on a scale and the confectionery specialist pours in the required amount of milk or dark chocolate. Only now is the back of the mold joined to the front. Next, the employee turns the closed mold back and forth. This ensures that the chocolate spreads evenly over the sides of the mold and forms the typical hollow body. This process is continued in the so-called star spinner for around ten minutes before the mold is taken to the refrigerator to harden.
The process is very similar for large-scale production. Here, one half of the mould is also filled with chocolate before the entire mold is closed, turned in all directions and left to set in the refrigerator. Once the chocolate has cooled and hardened, the Santa Claus or Easter Bunny is removed from the mold and sent to another machine to be wrapped in tinfoil. The finished figures now only need to be manually sorted into boxes to ensure they arrive nice and safely at the supermarket.
By the way, the hand-decorated confectionery articles are produced directly in our Chocothek in Cadolzburg. Anyone who would like to see the creation of Santa and his friends for themselves is very welcome to visit us at the Chocothek.
