Filled Liqueur Bottle
Chocolate Making Project

By Bob Sherman

Liqueur filled chocolate bottles are a popular taste treat. In order to comply with laws regarding alcohol, the commercially made bottles have a low alcohol content which affects the taste, although some brands taste better than others. Because I enjoy these on occasion, I decided to try my hand at them using full strength liqueur and Merckens Dark Wafers. These are a lot harder to make than it would appear since chocolate is heavier than the liqueur, but more on this below.

Important Note: Most states have laws regarding how much of a product can be alcohol without requiring a liquor license to sell it. The alcohol percentage in these probably exceeds that so don't sell these without looking into the laws in your state (unless of course you already have a liquor license). Remember to keep these away from minors as well.

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PLEASE NOTE!! - Although chocolate making is relatively safe for the entire family to participate, adult supervision is required.

Chocolate
I prefer to use chocolate wafers designed for home molding chocolate. My preferred brand is Merckens which works well with all chocolate molding projects without tempering, and tastes great.

Melting Chocolate
For a small project like this either melting method may be used, but I prefer a double boiler for ease on control.

Double Boiler

1. Place chocolate in the pot.
2. Heat until creamy.
3. For best results, chocolate should be poured at 88 to 90 degrees F. Under no circumstances should chocolate ever be poured hotter than 160 degrees F. because this will destroy the mold.

A microwave may also be used but care must be taken not to overheat the chocolate.

1. Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.
2. Heat for 30 seconds. Note: When heating small amounts of chocolate, reduce this to 10 second increments.
3. Remove and stir.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the chocolate is creamy.
5. For best results, chocolate should be poured at 88 to 90 degrees F. Under no circumstances should chocolate ever be poured hotter than 160 degrees F. because this will destroy the mold.

1. The mild must be cut into 2 halves and the bottle bottoms cut open carefully.	2. Dark chocolate was used as it is a bit harder than milk chocolate.
3. Clip the mold together as shown.	4. The mold must be propped upright. I used a kitchen storage container and a coffee mug, but anything that will hold the mold upright will work so use whatever you can find.
5. Fill the mold cavities. Hint: Place the squeeze bottle in hot (not boiling) water between uses to keep the chocolate from hardening.	6. Allow to sit for 60 seconds then drain the mold back into your melting pot.
7. Place in the refrigerator for 3 minutes, then repeat steps 5 and 6. The object is to build the wall thickness to approximately 1/8 inch for durability.	8. Once the chocolate has hardened hold the mold up to a light. This will show any thin spots which can be touched up with a small brush as shown.
9. Use a pipette to fill the bottles with liqueur. Stop filling approximately 1/4 inch below the mold opening.	10. This is where I ran into difficulty. My assumption was that the chocolate would cool on contact with the liqueur, but it just sank in and caused the liqueur to overflow. To counter this I came up with a less elegant solution which worked - use a spoon to drop a big glob of chocolate into the hole. Unfortunately I didn't get a good photo of this step.
11. After the chocolate hardens, remove the bottles from the mold. Notice the blobs of chocolate on the bases. I used a candle making technique to remove the excess chocolate as explained in step 12.	12. Heat a metal pan atop your double boiler. Melt the excess chocolate off by pressing it against the pan. Set on a wax paper covered surface and allow to cool.
13. I dressed these up by rolling in 4 inch square wrapping foil.	14. Fold the bottom in, twist the top, and it's done. Although these are a lot of work to make, they are far superior to commercially made liqueur filled chocolates.

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Disclaimer: The information presented here is accurate to the best of my knowledge and common chocolate molding practices as of the time of this writing - April 2006. The author and the publisher accept no liability for the use or misuse of any of the information presented in this article. This articles is presented for informational purposes and is used at your own risk.

Author: Bob Sherman

Publisher: Bobby's Craft Boutique Inc.

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