Short answer: to make chocolate garnish for a cake, start with tempered chocolate and choose the technique by the look you want: curls pushed off a thin layer on marble, shavings peeled from a bar at room temperature, squares and shards cut from chocolate spread on a guitar or transfer sheet, leaves drawn with a comb, flat shapes spread through a stencil, or pieces cast in a decoration mould. Colour with cocoa butter colours, never with anything that contains water, and store finished garnishes cool, dry and sealed until you place them on the cake.
Quick answer: which garnish, which tool
| Garnish | Tool we recommend | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Curls and shavings | Martellato professional chocolate scraper, 145 mm stainless blade | $36.95 |
| Glossy squares and shards | Pavoni guitar sheets FCH34, 390 × 390 mm, 100 sheets | $44.99 |
| Patterned squares and discs | Pavoni transfer sheets, pearly gold, 30 sheets | $85.50 |
| Leaves for cake tops | Martellato Leaf Comb 20FH01S, 8 leaves of 60 mm per pass | $105.50 |
| Flat flowers in three sizes | Martellato CHASIL34 decorative flowers chablon | $34.95 |
| Moulded sticks and shapes | Martellato Deco Sticks 20-D016 polycarbonate mould | $24.95 |
| A birthday message | Martellato Happy Birthday chocolate stamp, large, by Frank Haasnoot | $86.50 |
| A shiny, protected finish | Martellato Shiny Spray shellac lacquer, 300 ml | $46.75 |
Start with tempered chocolate
Every chocolate decoration starts with tempered chocolate. Chocolatier William Curley puts it simply: for all decorations the chocolate must be tempered. Tempering is what gives couverture its sheen and a firm snap, so your garnish looks glossy and breaks cleanly.
Work with a couverture you know. The FCH 55% from Venezuela, for example, gives its own curve on the product page: melt at 45–50°C (113–122°F), crystallise at 28–29°C (82–84°F) and work at 31–32°C (88–90°F). If you need a refresher, follow our guide on how to temper chocolate, and check the temperature with a probe thermometer:
- View the Martellato digital thermometer for chocolate 50T001 → $29.95
- View Bassan Sur del Lago 71% dark couverture, 5 kg → $273.00
Keep every tool and bowl dry: melted chocolate cannot tolerate even small drops of water, and steam or condensation is enough to make it seize into a grainy mass.
1. Chocolate curls
Curls are pushed off a thin layer of tempered chocolate that has just set.
- Spread a strip of tempered chocolate about 2 mm (1/16 in) thick on marble or a perfectly smooth surface, a little wider than the curls you want.
- Let it set.
- Hold a long knife or a palette knife at a 45° angle and push it away from you: the chocolate rolls up into a curl.
This is pastry chef Bo Friberg's method. For the full technique, with fixes when the chocolate breaks or smears, read chocolate curls vs shavings.
2. Chocolate shavings
Shavings are the fastest garnish: hold a chocolate bar in one hand and press a vegetable peeler deep into it as you slide it down the side. Keep the bar at room temperature, as Ricardo Cuisine advises. For curls and shavings side by side, with more methods, see chocolate curls vs shavings.
View chocolate scrapers and combs →
3. Squares and shards on guitar or transfer sheets
Spread tempered chocolate thin on a plastic sheet, cut it as it sets, and you get clean, glossy squares, triangles or shards.
- Pour tempered chocolate onto the sheet and spread it with an offset spatula to about 3 mm (1/8 in).
- Cut it with a sharp knife when it begins to set, but before it hardens.
- Let it set completely, then lift the pieces off the sheet.
This is the sequence chef Jacques Torres uses for his chocolate squares. Pavoni's guitar sheets are made for chocolate decorations: they give a smooth, glossy finish and let the pieces come away easily. For a pattern, use a transfer sheet: Pavoni silkscreens are printed with cocoa butter colours and work with dark, milk or white chocolate.
View all chocolate transfer sheets →
4. Combed leaves and feathers
A decorating comb makes a whole set of identical leaves in one stroke. Martellato designed its Combs collection, by pastry chef Frank Haasnoot, to make leaves and toppings that decorate cakes and single portions. To use a comb: spread tempered chocolate on acetate or marble, draw the comb through it, let it set and release the pieces.
| Martellato comb | Pieces per pass | Piece height |
|---|---|---|
| Leaf Comb 20FH01S | 8 | 60 mm (2.4 in) |
| Leaf Éclair 20FH04 | 6 | 120 mm (4.7 in) |
| Feather Comb large 20FH02L | 8 | 80 mm (3.1 in) |
- View the Martellato Leaf Comb 20FH01S → $105.50
- View the Martellato Leaf Éclair 20FH04 → $121.00
- View the Martellato Feather Comb 20FH02L → $113.99
5. Stencilled shapes with a chablon
A chablon is a stencil you spread chocolate through, so every flat shape comes out identical. With the Martellato CHASIL34 you spread chocolate, royal icing or coloured cocoa butter into flower motifs in three sizes from a single sheet, for bonbon tops, entremet finishes, plated desserts and seasonal showpieces.
For petals, roses and modelling-chocolate flowers, see our guide on how to make chocolate flowers.
6. Moulded decorations, letters and numbers
A decoration mould gives you identical, glossy pieces with no hand-shaping skill. Martellato's Deco moulds are made for chocolate decorations and showpieces, and Martellato designs its letters-and-numbers moulds for birthdays and anniversaries, on cakes, semifreddi or chocolate pieces.
- View Martellato Deco Sticks 20-D016 → $24.95
- View Martellato Deco Round 20-D012 → $24.95
- View Martellato Letters and Numbers MA3005 → $39.95
For the moulding steps, see our guide on how to make chocolate letters with a mould.
7. Chocolate stamps for a message
Martellato's Stamps line, created by Frank Haasnoot, makes elegant chocolate decorations for festivities and special events, in several sizes, to garnish single-portion desserts or cakes. For birthday cakes, the Happy Birthday stamp comes in two sizes.
8. Colour and finishing touches
Colour chocolate garnishes with fat-based colours and finish them with grains or a lacquer.
- Coloured cocoa butter: Pavoni's Chocolart colours are ready to use for colouring chocolate in the mass, on the surface and in moulds. Avoid colours that contain water: they make chocolate seize.
- Pearly chocolate grains: Pavoni's pearly grains are made for chocolate decoration, cake topping and entremet finishing.
- Shine and protection: Martellato Shiny Spray is a food-grade shellac lacquer that polishes and protects chocolate surfaces with a transparent, even gloss.
- View Pavoni Chocolart pink cocoa butter, 200 g → $79.99
- View Pavoni bronze pearly chocolate grains, 120 g → $43.99
- View Martellato Shiny Spray, 300 ml → $46.75
Storing chocolate garnishes
Make garnishes ahead and keep them sealed, cool and dry. The ideal storage for chocolate is 18–20°C (64–68°F) at 60% relative humidity, protected from odours and humidity, in sealed containers. Because chocolate must be kept away from odours and humidity, the refrigerator is not the ideal place for it.
White streaks on a stored garnish can be bloom: our guide on how to avoid chocolate bloom explains why it happens.
How AI can help your production
Describe the cakes on your weekly order list to an AI assistant and ask it to plan the garnishes: which technique for each cake, how many pieces to make, which can be made days ahead and which on the day, and a prep schedule for your decorating station. Ask it to write a one-page standard procedure for each technique, with the tempering temperatures from your couverture's technical sheet, so every shift makes the same garnish.
AI organises the information; tasting and the final decision stay with your chef.
Chocolate decorating tools at Zucchero Canada
We are an authorized distributor of Martellato and Pavoni Italia, and each brand covers a different step of your garnish work. Martellato gives you the hand tools that shape the chocolate: scrapers, Frank Haasnoot combs and stamps, chablons and Deco moulds. Pavoni gives you the surfaces and finishes: guitar and transfer sheets, Chocolart coloured cocoa butter and pearly grains. For the chocolate itself, Bassan's Sur del Lago 71% dark couverture is made in Canada from Venezuelan cacao.
Tools and decorations count toward free shipping on orders of CAD 300 or more within Canada; remote areas and the territories pay the actual carrier rate, and chocolate is excluded from free shipping. Orders over CAD 500 get 5% off automatically at checkout. Supplying a bakery or hotel pastry kitchen? Contact us or call 587-774-8873 (toll free 877-741-8251).
Chocolate scrapers & combs | Transfer sheets | Chocolate chablons | Chocolate curls vs shavings | How to make chocolate flowers
This article is for information only. Every business is different: draw your own conclusions based on your own expectations, budget and goals, and talk to qualified experts before you decide or invest.
Sources: W. Curley, "Couture Chocolate" (2011), chocolate shavings; B. Friberg, "The Professional Pastry Chef" (Wiley), "Chocolate Curls Using Tempered or Coating Chocolate"; Ricardo Cuisine, "4 ways the vegetable peeler can bring elegance to a recipe"; Jacques Torres, "Chocolate Decorations" (Food Network); Exploratorium, Science of Cooking, "Why does my melted chocolate seize up?"; BC Cook Articulation Committee, "Understanding Ingredients for the Canadian Baker" (BCcampus), §7.4 and §7.8; Martellato General Catalogue 2026 (Combs, Stamps, Chablon Project, Typeface) and Martellato product data; Pavoni Italia Food Equipment catalogue 2026 (guitar sheets, silkscreens) and Pavoni product data; FCH Origins and Bassan Chocolate product data on zuccherocanada.ca.
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