How to Store Your Chocolate Creations
I know right? Who thinks about storing their chocolate? Those hot cocoa bombs during the cold winter months. The homemade chocolates. It is way more fun to just eat and enjoy them.
But sometimes you have to have them last for more than a few days without looking bad. Maybe you're hosting a party. Maybe you're making them as gifts or using them in a bake sale. Whatever the reason, if you need the chocolate to stay fresh and looking good for a while here are a few tips we gleaned from a post/aticle by Lake Champlain Chocolates (link below).
1) Don't Refrigerate. The fridge is way too cold to 
store your chocolate. Sure, you can use it for short periods of time to help cool your melted chocolate, but long term this is not the way to go. First, your chocolate is going to absorb the odor of whatever it is around...now think about what is in your fridge that it might be around. Do you really want your chocolate smelling like that? Second, moisture in the fridge can cause sugar bloom, which is when the sugar rises to the surface and discolors your beatiful chocolate creations.
2) Store it in a cool, dry place. Keep your chocolate consistently below 70 degrees Farenheit if you can, ideally between 65 and 68 degrees. Also, try to keep the humidity less than 55% so the cocoa solids and cocoa butter will stay stable for months.
3) Seal them in an air-tight container. This is one time when oxygen is not your friend. Oxygen will cause oxidation in your chocolate causing the flavor to change and can leave your chocolates looking dried out and patchy. We found some great storage containers from US Foods (a Restaurant Supply store) that have seemed to work really well and come in a variety of sizes.
4) Keep them away from the light. Just like oxygen is not your friend, neither is light. Sun light or artificial light can cause the flavor of your chocoalte to change.
5) Stored this way, chocolate will last a while. Depending on the type of 
chocolate, following the above tips will allow you to store your unused chocolate anywhere from 4 months to 2 years. You can also store you chocolate creations for several months without losing quality in taste or appearance.
We have found these tips to be very helpful in our own chocolate creating. Let us know how they work out for you. Also, if you have any questions about making chocolates or cocoa bombs, ask away and we'll do our best to answer those for you.
Want more information on long term storage for your chocolate? Check out the article by Lake Champlain Chocolates at the link below.