In Pictures:

The Music of a Chocolate Violin and Viola:
Making Sweet Music in a Pastry Kitchen

Pastry Chef Jacques Laurent painting the finishing gold highlights on a chocolate violin.

Photos taken 7-96 and 8-96 by Renee Shelton inside pastry kitchen, Ritz Carlton, Laguna Niguel.

Wood Imprint on Chocolate:

To create this,
first a melted, colored chocolate is placed on strips of special plastic. Then, with a rocking motion, scraped with a rubber wood-like decorative comb. This is let to set, then a layer of tempered dark chocolate couverature is placed upon in and smoothed with an offset metal spatula to the desired thickness.
When the second chocolate is set, the thin plastic is removed revealing the design.

The chocolate string instruments are assembled as follows:

The back part of the violin
is made of a sheet of
tempered chocolate that is
cut out in the shape
of the violin.  
The sides are made of        
strips of tempered chocolate             
that have a wood colored imprint on them.                 
(See right to create wood imprints on chocolate.)                       
The sides and waist of the violin                             
are placed and "glued"                               
with melted chocolate                                     
while the sides are still yet soft,                                       
or not yet set up,                                        
to mold them into shape.                                     
The sides follow the shape                                   
of the violin bottom (back)