Rock n Roll

This is the first technique post, please let me know what you think.

This technique was shown to me by Nancy Carey as we prepared for the National Showpiece Championship.  At first I was a little apprehensive to use it, seemed to be too time consuming.  In the end we were able to streamline the process.  In the end the judges loved the idea, it helped to transition our piece from the white boxes we were using to the darker color of the chocolate.  We also used them to give the piece the appearance it was growing out of the ground.

What you will need -
Formula
1000 gr Dark Couverture
1000 gr Granulated Sugar
Method
1. Combine melted chocolate and sugar
2. Spread evenly between metal bars
3. Allow to crystallize

Tools
Wood rasp
Scraper

Scrape surface with rasp

Continue until surface is evenly scraped

Use scraper to smooth out the surface

Break sheet into rocks

Use the rasp to finish the edges

I have tried this working with tempered couverture and no tempered, there was no significant difference in the final product.  This batch was made with some recycled chocolate we used for another showpiece, as you can see it was a nice finished product.  These rocks were created for the rebuild of our winning piece we are assembling this weekend at the Chicago School of Mold Making.