The Definitive Guide To Chocolate Coating Wafers

Sweet Shoppe Coating Wafers are now available!

The orders are rolling in, and we're super excited to share this journey with all of you. If you haven't tried them yet - what are you waiting for? Our sample kit is only $9.99 for 3 lbs of chocolate melts! If you're still not sold, check out the reviews and look at the creations people have made with them!

Today we're doing a deep dive in all things coating wafers - the be-all and end-all of coating wafers aka coating chocolate aka chocolate confectionary coating aka candy melt guide.

How do people make that glittery Oreos or those breakable chocolate hearts? It's coating wafers. Nine times out of 10 people are using coating wafers. No more FOMO. You, too, can make spectacular cakesicles and dipped strawberries just like your favorite Instagram accounts. 

Okay, so now that you know the trick of the trade, what in the world are chocolate coating wafers?

What are chocolate coating wafers?
As discussed previously in this blog post coating chocolate is a mixture of sugar, oil, and sometimes cocoa powder with a similar flavor and texture as chocolate. The difference between regular chocolate and chocolate coating wafers lies in the absence of cocoa butter (the typical fat in chocolate), making coating chocolate wafers much easier to use.

With coating chocolate, there's no tempering, and it's solid at room temperature. Coating wafers are perfect for both casual bakers and confectionery business owners because they consistently give excellent results. If you're a beginner in the candy-making world, coating chocolate wafers are the best way to get started.

Some popular brands of coating wafers are Merckens, Clasen, and candy melts by Wilton. Mercken's is by far the most popular with loyal customers, some of whom only use Merckens and have been using it for over 30 years. Also - side note - we just launched  Sweet Shoppe Coating Wafers, our premium in-house brand of coating chocolate. Shameless plug over.

Where to use chocolate coating wafers?
Where to use coating chocolate? Pretty much anywhere. Say you're in the mood for a lovely chocolate pop - melt some wafers down, pop a stick in it, and pop it in the fridge. In a few minutes, you'll have your very own chocolate pop that was easy as ever to make, not to mention less expensive than a store-bought chocolate pop.

Where else can you use coating wafers? In any chocolate-covered item, you want to make! If you can think of it, you can coat it in chocolate. Chocolate-covered pretzels and chocolate-dipped cake pops are a few of our favorite ways to use coating chocolate. And yes, chocolate-covered potato chips and chocolate-covered bacon are still a thing. Let me know if you come up with any weird but good combinations! Chocolate-dipped Hot Cheetos, anyone?

Side note question: would you watch a youtube video about coating different foods in chocolate and seeing if it's good? Not anything too gross like raw meat but maybe like fried rice or asparagus? I don't know, guys, I don't know.

I have a list of less weird options in the section below called "what can you make with coating chocolate." If you want some recipes, let your girl know.

Where to buy chocolate coating wafers?
Nowadays, online shopping is the best option for ordering high-quality chocolate coating wafers. It is summertime right now in the U.S., and chocolate melts, so that's something to be aware of before ordering. If there's a heatwave in your area, your chocolate will most likely melt. That's usually okay because you're melting the coating wafers down anyway, so it doesn't matter if they melted a little upon arrival.

Although the weather is unavoidable, most online stores have cold packing options available to purchase. If you don't want your chocolate to melt please please please order a cold pack.

If you are worried about your coating wafers melting or need them this very moment, you can purchase some in stores. Most often, you'll find coating wafers to buy in craft stores and maybe your local Walmart. If you're looking for exceptional taste and the highest quality, your best bet would be ordering them online from a trusted distributor. Now that you know where to get chocolate coating wafers, it's time to take a deep dive into what you can make with coating wafers.

What can you make with chocolate coating wafers? How to use chocolate coating wafers?
Like I mentioned in the other section, "where to use coating wafers," the sky's the limit when it comes to what you can do with coating wafers. Below I'll detail some of the most popular ways to use them. First up - cake pops. Also called cakesicles now or cake balls for the stick-less kind of cake pop.

Cake Pops 
Cake pops - the ever-popular baby shower and birthday party accompaniment. Seriously have you seen some of these cake pops? Check out some of our favorite cake pop artists on Instagram. A few of our favorite artists are @cakepopsbyrachel, @_ohmypops_, and @yumsiecakepops!

Geometric Breakable Heart
Another super popular thing to make with coating chocolate is the geometric breakable chocolate heart. Sometimes called a bash cake, a geometric breakable chocolate heart is a hard chocolate shell (in the shape of a heart) with some surprise goodies when you break the surface. Some popular goodies include chocolate-covered pretzels, strawberries, Oreos, or individually wrapped candy. They are so pretty to look at, even more fun to break, and honestly not that hard to make. We'll be posting a tutorial from start to finish on our Youtube. On to the next cool thing to make with coating wafers.

Drip Cakes
Drip cakes (insert heart eye emoji). If you don't know what I'm talking about, see the picture below. They are so pretty in a whimsical, carnivalesque sort of way. Perfect for a tea party or any party, event, celebration, wake, thang you got going on. I am determined to make one of these things for Halloween this year. I want to make it super spooky looking with a delightful raspberry drip. Also, a neon green drip maybe in a cauldron cake or something? Stay tuned for these recipes because you'll; it's going to be crazy.

Hard Crack
Another notable thing you can do with coating wafers is hard crack for ice cream. You know that stuff in a jar that you pour over your ice cream, and it hardens and makes for little chocolate bits in your ice cream? Yeah, you can make your own! There's no need to get that store-bought stuff in a jar. Plus, you'll look extra fancy and impressive if you make this for guests - even if those guests happen to be your children.

There are seriously SO many things you can make using coating wafers. If I were to list them all, it would be longer than that soap opera series your grandma used to watch. In another post I'll go into more specifics on tasty treats to make with chocolate coating wafers. 

For now here's a list of some other fun things to use coating wafers for:
1. solid chocolate lollipops
2. mirror glaze
3. candy bark (hello easy, edible holiday gifts)
4. hot chocolate bombs
5. chocolate decorations like curls, flowers, or mermaid tails.

How to melt chocolate coating wafers?

Microwave
To melt coating wafers, all you have to do is microwave them for 15-second bursts, mixing after each 15-second interval until smooth and melted. I know it seems tedious heating and stirring all those times, but it really will ensure the best shine and consistency of your chocolate coating. Microwaving is the fastest and easiest way to melt coating chocolate. I highly recommend using a microwave but if you don't have access to one or don't like to use them, have no fear. You can quickly melt them using a double boiler. A double boiler (or the double boiler method) is much simpler than it sounds. It's just a saucepot (or pot you use to boil noodles) with some water in it with a bowl that fits snugly on top of the pot. See the picture below for a visual.

Double Boiler
There's a couple of things you need to pay attention to when melting chocolate with a double boiler. First, use a potholder or some dishtowels when handling the bowl or pot. They will be very hot, and you don't want to burn yourself and be in pain while you're trying to make cake pops, okay? Second, make sure your water in the pot doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl - otherwise, it could scorch the chocolate. There's plenty of "how-to" guides on the world wide web, but again if this seems too involved, microwave it and say thank you to the inventor of microwaves, Percy Spencer.

Candy Melter
Finally, the last alternative is a candy melter. It's kind of like a wax melter, except it's food safe and designed specifically for candy wafers. It keeps the coating wafers at a warm temperature, so they stay liquid while you're dipping your cake pops or what have you. I don't own a candy melter (I use a microwave), but it could be a worthwhile investment if you like to dip a lot of cake pops at once or you're into kitchen gadgets.

 
What do chocolate coating wafers taste like?
Chocolate coating wafers taste similar to regular chocolate. Note: they are not pure chocolate. Learn the difference here.

The white coating wafers colors taste like vanilla (like white chocolate does). The milk coating wafers taste like milk chocolate. The dark coating wafers are not as bitter as real dark chocolate. I think our dark chocolate coating wafers taste like Oreos, but that's just me. Some coating wafers have other flavoring added to them like mint, salted caramel, or coconut, to name a few. Generally, these coating wafers are also colored to reflect their flavor (ie. Mint flavor is green). The flavoring's specified on the packaging and product descriptions, so be sure to read it if you want something colored a certain way and not flavored.

How long do chocolate coating wafers take to harden?
Coating chocolate hardens based on how you use it and how much of it you use. For example, if you're dipping cake pops or strawberries with a thin coating, it can take anywhere from 60 seconds to 5 minutes to harden. Suppose you're using the coating chocolate to coat a mold, perhaps for a breakable heart or a chocolate-covered oreo. In that case, it will take longer, somewhere between 10 - 60 minutes, depending on the thickness of the coating.

I always put whatever I'm making in the fridge to harden because I'm impatient. You can use the freezer if you're really in a pinch but if you're looking to take pictures of your treats, only keep them in the freezer until they're set and immediately move them to the fridge. Otherwise, your chocolate will have a weird film on it and won't be as cute in photographs. My general rule of thumb is if it feels tacky, put it back in the fridge.

How to color chocolate coating wafers?
All you need to know is chocolate and water are not friends. To color coating wafers, you need to use candy colors (an oil-based coloring). It's a little different from the typical food coloring you find at the grocery store (water-based coloring). Candy coloring is oil-based, which integrates nicely with the oil in the coating wafers, ensuring that the chocolate won't seize (i.e., form into a clump of chocolate).

Some kinds of coating wafers come already colored. You can find them in our store here. If you don't want to be bothered with coloring your chocolate yourself, it's the easiest way to go. However, if you're making custom cake pops for graduation with specific colors, it's best to use candy coloring to get the exact color you want. There are so many different color options available now that generally, people prefer to color the chocolate themselves.

How to store chocolate coating wafers?
If you're buying small amounts like 1lb, 2lb, and 5lb bags, the bags themselves come with zipper closure. Just zip them close and store them at room temperature away from anyone who might eat them.

If you buy a much larger amount, say 25 lbs and have some extra wafers, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. Coating wafers stay fresh for a long time when stored properly - up to 24 months.

If you melted a little too much coating wafers and have some liquid chocolate leftover (something I always do), you can do one of three things. One, eat it. You can eat it with a spoon, your fingers, a shovel, or suck it down with a straw. I've eaten melted chocolate out of a plastic syringe before. It sounds weird, but it's delightful. I highly recommend giving it a try. Second, you can find something lying around in your pantry - pretzels, graham crackers, popcorn - whatever you have on hand and dip them in the remaining chocolate. Who knows, maybe you'll come up with some incredible dipped thing and sell it on shark tank and become a millionaire. It's possible. The third and final option is to let the chocolate cool, pop a lid on it, and store it in the fridge until you need to use it again.

When to use white chocolate coating wafers?
Use white chocolate coating wafers when you want a vanilla flavor or need the coating to be a specific color. When you need to color coating wafers, white wafers are the best to use. When you're looking for that freshly laid snow, printer paperwhite color, look no further than Stover's Sweet Shoppe Ultra White. And I'm not just saying that because it's our brand. It's seriously the brightest, whitest shade of white available in the market today. Ultra White is a favorite among confectionary artists for its pure color delivery.

Any other questions?
Thanks for being here for this deep dive into coating wafers. Do you have any other questions about coating wafers?

Let me know in the comments!