Broken chocolate is generally of inferior quality, brought on the market without any protective covering.
In those kinds of chocolate which are known as articles of luxury a distinction is to be made between;
1. Those moulds which are in one piece and completely filled with chocolate, so that the superfluous mass can be removed by a knife. In such cases the weight of the cakes is exactly regulated by the capacity of the moulds.
2. Those intended for moulding various figures of fruit etc. in which two or three parts make a closed space which is of the form desired.
Among the moulds of the first type must be numbered those used in the preparation of small tablets and sticks, and the sweetmeats known as Napolitains and Croquettes.
The second class comprises moulds for making chocolate cigars and chocolate eggs, and also the double moulds.
The moulds for the smaller tablets, cream sticks, napolitains and croquettes are also made exclusively from tin-plate, and the separate parts are enclosed in a stout iron frame, the top of which is ground down smooth, so that any superfluous portion of the filling can easily be scraped away. In that way from six to thirty pieces can be cast in one mould at the same time: the cooled chocolate can be released from the moulds by gently tapping one corner against a table. In napolitain moulds protecting hooks are attached, to avoid their sustaining any injury in this operation.
Examples of the more frequent moulds.
1. Chocolate Cigars.
These are made either by introducing the chocolate mass between the two halves of a double mould, of which each corresponds to a half of the cigar shape to be moulded and which each fit exactly one on the other; or else by pouring it into hollow moulds stamped out of one complete piece. Moulding presses[117] are utilised in the manufacture of material en masse. In these the cigars are filled into iron moulds, afterwards held together by means of iron combs, and so introduced in to the press. For each size and shape special moulds and plates are essential. Neither barium sulphate nor zinc white may be employed to produce an imitation of the ash on ordinary cigars, as both are objected to by health inspectors; nor are they necessary, for in phosphate of lime (tricalcium carbonate) we possess a perfectly harmless and at the same time efficient substitute, when it is mixed up with starch syrup.