There are two basic types of chocolate ice cream coatings, “real” chocolate coatings and chocolate flavored compound or confectionery coatings.
Both types of coatings must be thin enough to cover and bend over the ice cream, thick enough not to crack open and let the ice cream seep through, and simultaneously be crunchy and melt in your mouth. That’s not asking too much, is it?
Most of these demands have to be met by the fat system used in the coating.
The first type, real chocolate, ice cream coatings are made with cocoa butter. This type is quite tricky. Cocoa butter contracts quickly and is prone to cracking. Adding milk fat or butter oil will soften the coating and make it more pliable and resistant to cracks. Also, it works best to bring the fat content up to about 40 to 45%.
The second type is the most common ice cream coating. It is a chocolate flavored confectionery type made with oils like coconut and palm kernel. These coatings are much easier to work with because they harden quickly and coat evenly.
Coconut oil combined with a small quantity of softer oil like peanut or sunflower, will quickly form a hard and thin shell while at the same time maintaining plasticity that covers almost any shape of molded ice cream. Typically the amount of fat is much higher than its cocoa butter counterpart. These coatings have around a 60% fat content.
In the consumer market the confectionery types of coatings are often sold as being fun for kids because they go on easy and harden quickly, though much of the chocolate flavor gets lost in the formulation.
Speaking of all this ice cream coating, how about that raspberry chocolate sauce I wrote about a few days ago? Maybe it’s time to try some of that over ice cream!
