Having Fun with Antique Chocolate Molds
August 21, 2009
I love collecting things and I love all things chocolate. It seemed natural to put the two passions together. Now I enjoy collecting chocolate making tools and other items related to chocolate history and chocolate making.
Antique chocolate molds (or moulds) from the 19th- and early-20th-century are quite collectible.
Candy makers of yesteryear used coated-tin chocolate molds to create whimsical chocolate shapes. You may have fond childhood memories of chocolate bunnies and Santas at holiday time. These were the most abundantly made designs. Tin and tin-coated metal chocolate molds can still be readily found these days.
In 1870, the German manufacturer Anton Reiche was considered the master mold maker of the time. He produced more than 50,000 designs, for every occasion you can imagine.
As with many antique items, the fair market value is based on size, condition, and age. Prices can start as low as $10 for a small Easter egg mold and go up to about $3,000 for a 20-inch-tall rabbit.
I always keep my eyes open for these treasures at garage sales and antique stores or auctions. If I am in serious mood, I look online. You can find wonderful deals when you set your mind to it.
The thing I like best about my chocolate molds collection is that I can USE them, not just display them.
There are different kinds of molds out there:
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Double molds with opening, usually at the bottom.
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Double molds without opening, held together by clamps and clips.
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Folding molds. These are double molds with hinges and locks.
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Flat molds, mostly of square or rectangular shapes to produce chocolate tablets or bars.
Once you have your mold with all its pieces, clean it thoroughly and let it dry completely. Temper your favorite chocolate, pour it in, let it cool and pop it out! OK, I made that sound too easy. Truth is, there is some skill involved. (I'd love to teach you.) But now that you have your own mold, you can practice and practice. I don’t see a downside: just eat your mistakes!
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Are there any companies that still make the metal molds that are held together with a clip?
I have two lovely egg shaped chocolate molds but they are rusted.. how do I clean them without damaging them?
I have a very heavy egg mold, I am not sure if it is nickel or not, It is clamped together but one the bottom of each mold is a where you might fill with a filling, I am not sure how to use this. There are 5 large easter eggs.
I would need to see a photo of the mold to be sure about the best way to use it. But sight unseen, you would unclamp it, pour in tempered chocolate (holding it upside down?) and fill it up, then clamp it shut. Let it cool and if all goes well, unclamp it about 2 hours later and it should release from the mold. That is for a solid chocolate easter egg. For a hollow easter egg, you must pour in the tempered chocolate and get it well covered, then pour out the excess chocolate so that only chocolate is clinging to the sides of the mold. Clamp it and let it cool until solid. Release it about 2 hours later.
I didn’t realize that chocolate candy molds from the olden days could be found today still! It would be amazing to make some chocolate candies that I ate when I was a kid around the holidays for my own kids so they can have a similar experience! I’ll have to look for some online or something like that to see if I could find some.
I just bought my first antique chocolate mold. It has a clip at the top which appears to be stuck in place. Any ideas about how I can remove the clip without damaging the mold? Thanks.
Hi Danita,
Actually, I’ve had to use that trick, too! I’m glad you took great care when using the hammer on the antique mold. Other than a good temper (you say that you tempered the chocolate well so let’s remove that from the equation), one thing that comes to mind that might help is paying more attention to the cooling process.
Tempered chocolate in a mold still retains some heat. And, if you have an open mold at the top, heat from the bottom takes longer to dissipate than heat coming off the top. Also, the heat leaving the chocolate could be slow enough that it would have time to leave a thin layer of slightly melted cocoa butter that sits between the chocolate and the mold. This would cause “sticking” in spots and prevents the chocolate from releasing nicely. I recommend trying two things:
1. Use a fan to cool the chocolate. This helps get rid of the heat faster than just letting it sit. Note: You don’t need it to be colder (unless you have a huge mold of greater than 5 pounds), so Do Not put it into the refrigerator, or the chocolate will get shocked and you’ll have a different set of problems.
2. Set the mold to cool on a cooling rack to let air circulate underneath. This will move the heat away from the bottom of the mold where sticking is most likely to occur.
Using both these techniques at the same time might be the “better way”. Good Luck!
I just purchased a lovely old German vintage Santa Mold board. It is in very good condition. I tempered my chocolate well before I poured it in the molds. The tricky part was unmolding. We ended up taking a block of wood and using a hammer gently to pop them out of the molds from the topside.. It worked pretty well. But, I am sure that there is a better way? Could you advise?
I have a collection of molds that I have never actually used for anything other than display. Some of the tin coating is gone on the ones I’d like to try; what can I rub on the spots to make the chocolate release? I was thinking butter.
Mold release comes from the chocolate being in good temper and using the proper cooling techniques before de-molding. These conditions cause the chocolate to contract and separate nicely from the mold and simply “pop” out. No release agent necessary.
I would recommend trying it without rubbing anything on the spots. That said, if you want to try a releasing agent, the most compatible thing to rub on the mold is cocoa butter. Word of caution: You might see a different problem by rubbing on a layer of cocoa butter. This could cause fat bloom to form on the surface of the chocolate because that layer of cocoa butter could become untempered, or improperly tempered, during the pouring of the chocolate and/or during the cooling down process.
I have a heavy metal mold with 6 rabbits back to back a magnet sticks to it so i guess it is steel- i know it is a chocolate mold but is it valuable ?Thanks
I recently bought a couple chocolate molds at an auction. Both clamp closed and one has 4 rabbits but not an ordinary rabbit its Bugs Bunny. On the back it says Warner Bros. Productions Inc.
Any idea of the value and age?
Thanks,
Dave
Bryn,
No problem. Any questions regarding the Antique ice cream or chocolate molds please let us know. This has been our passion and our business for over 35 years.
Lenny,
What you have is a “Display” mold from Eppelsheimer. It was made in NY USA before World War II.
Chocolate shops would make the 18″ display for the front window of the shop to draw in the crowd. The crowd would by a smaller versions available.
That mold was made in sizes from 36″ (very very Rare) down to 4″. The 18″ was the second largest mold of that rabbit.
Both the 18″ and 36″ are on display at this website.
http://dadsfollies.com/chocolaterabbitsantiquechocolatemolds.htm
The 18″ is hidden in the upper right hand corner.
Thanks Again and Good Luck,
Dads Follies
Steven,
Thanks for your comments here. You are very knowledgeable and I appreciate you sharing it with us. I checked out your website – very good! Chocolate molds are so beautiful. I grew up the daughter of an antiques dealer (specializing in furniture and Red Wing stoneware) and got bit by the bug early in life. I fell in love with butter molds and have a treasured collection. At the time, I was all about things made of wood so metal molds were not even on my radar. What a fool I was! Take Care. Bryn
Steve,
Check to make sure the mold is clean and free of any rust. Most molds of that age are coated with Tin or Nickel, if the tin or nickel has worn away it will also be difficult for the mold to release. Check out:
http://dadsfollies.com/Molding%20with%20chocolate.htm
to see more on molding with chocolate.
Good luck,
Dads Follies
I have an 18″ bunny mould with a basket on the bunnys back, actualy two matching moulds. It has the number 8000 on it and a NY made in USA on it. It also has a trade mark that appears to look like a top? It appears to be old. Any idea of what I have
My wife has an antique easter bunny mold. 10 inch tall hinged with built in clips and built in framework. We can’t seem to get the bunny to come out of the mold in one piece. Tempering is good and has a nice high gloss where it does release from the mold. No visible damage to the inside of the mold. Any pointer for getting the chocolate to release from the mold?
Thanks
Steve