How to Make Chocolate Shards

Making big, beautiful chocolate curls to garnish a dessert can be daunting. These Chocolate Shards are super easy to create and make for an elegant, impressive presentation!

Chocolate Shards

Have you tried to use a peeler and a bar of chocolate to make curls? It’s definitely hit or miss.  The chocolate melts in your hand. You end up with more crumbs than curls. They aren’t nearly as impressive as you’d imagined. I DO love the Pioneer Woman’s technique. It’s definitely a more reliable method to create big beautiful dark or white chocolate curls.

But in my experience, you need about 4 ounces of chocolate to make 2 ounces of curls. Not ideal considering the cost of a chocolate bar. This recipe for chocolate shards is pretty much foolproof.

Easy Chocolate Garnish: One Ingredient and a Few Simple Steps

• How many recipes have just one ingredient? Well this one does. And it takes an ordinary dessert into the extraordinary realm!
• First, you melt some chocolate. Make sure it’s chopped fine. I like doing this in the microwave, but you must do it gently. Meaning stopping and starting at 30 second increments, stirring until smooth.

• Next, you spread it thinly over a sheet of wax paper, and top it with another sheet of wax paper. Wax paper helps it from not sticking. I have not tested this with parchment paper, but it could work if your parchment has a bit of a sheen making it non-stick.
• The last step is to roll it up, chill for two hours, unroll and, voila, you have chocolate shards! How can you NOT try this??? Watch the video to see how easy this “recipe” is to make.

Check out my Easy Chocolate Mousse Tart that’s featured in these photos. It’s the perfect base for these chocolate shards, along with this Chocolate Velvet Pie and Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookie Icebox Cake! These chocolate shards take and ordinary chocolate dessert and make it extraordinary!! Even the non-crafty like me can bake these garnishes!

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Chocolate Shards

An easy way to add a special touch to your chocolate desserts.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 minute

Total Time 6 minutes

Yield 12 (Enough for one large dessert)

Ingredients

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (I recommend a 4 ounce Ghirardelli bar instead of chocolate chips)

Instructions

1. Gently melt the chocolate in the microwave, stopping and stirring at 20 second intervals.
2. Place a 16-inch sheet of waxed paper on a flat surface. With a small off-set spatula, spread the melted chocolate evenly over the waxed paper, leaving the edges free of chocolate. Top with a second sheet of waxed paper and very gently smooth the top.
3. Roll from short side to short side and carefully place the roll on a baking sheet. Chill for 2 hours.
4. To make shards, hold onto the short end of the roll and unroll with your other hand. The chocolate should break into pieces. Remove the top sheet of waxed paper and carefully (as so not to melt chocolate) move shards to the top of the dessert or to a container. Keep cool if not using immediately.

Notes

Total time does not include 2 hour chilling time.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1/10 of batch
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 54 Total Fat: 3g Saturated Fat: 2g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 1mg Carbohydrates: 7g Net Carbohydrates: 0g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 6g Sugar Alcohols: 0g Protein: 0g

You Might Need:

• OXO Offset Spatula
• Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate, 4-Ounce Bars (Pack of 6)