Why would you want to make your own chocolate icing? Because
a) it’s easy and fun to do
b) it doesn’t take long
c) it tastes much better than the mass-produced chocolate mix.

Managing chocolate icing has always been in the forefront of my mum’s baking. If she didn’t like her icing, she wouldn’t be happy with the cake – no matter how delicious it was. So I learnt to make my own chocolate icing quite early in my baking life, although I’ve never been such a perfectionist as my mum.

To make chocolate icing, you need:

• 100 g chocolate (cooking or dark one)
• 50 g margarine or shortening

Not only do these amounts yield enough chocolate icing to cover most desserts, but I’m often left with a surplus. The good thing is that you can store the chocolate icing in the fridge, and reheat it whenever you need it.The choice of the right ingredients plays a crucial role if you want your cake/cookies look and taste good. For example, we in Slovakia almost always go for a regular cooking chocolate, which is available in all stores around the country. I used it for Banana No-Bake Minicakes pictured above.

However, when we were making Dobosh Cookies with my daughter recently,  I had no cooking chocolate at home but a Slovak brand of dark chocolate. I was surprised how shiny and deep in colour our cookies came out when dipped in the icing. They looked almost as immaculate as my mum’s.As for the margarine or shortening, again we have a special brand in Slovakia that works very well for icing, so that’s what most Slovak housewives use, including my family. I guess each country has its own selection of margarines and shortenings, so feel free to share your favourite ones in the comments.

Method:

Break the chocolate and the margarine/shortening into a small cooking pot and melt over a medium-low heat. You can do this by placing the pot straight on a cooker plate, or in a steam bath.

Put aside to let cool a little.

Depending on the cake or pastry you want to coat, pour or spoon the icing over the top and smooth to achieve a nice finish.

In some cases, the recipe will call for dipping the individual cakes or cookies in the warm chocolate mixture.

And here is what the end result may look like: 

This is what it looked like before slicing

What is your experience with chocolate icing and how do you make it?
I’d love to hear your suggestions and ideas.