I'm having trouble with some two-color transfer sheets I had custom printed. In the past, I've used single-color custom transfer sheets from the same manufacturer without problems, but for some reason the second color in the two-color sheets is not adhering properly (see photo at bottom).

The transfer sheets are printed with vegetable fats (not cocoa butter). The gold "outline" is actually a solid gold shape with the red printed on top. I'm dipping my room-temperature centers in tempered chocolate (Valrhona Extra Bitter) and immediately putting the transfer sheets on top, as I've done in the past. Then I allow it to harden for several hours to overnight at room temperature (65-70 degrees). But the transfer sheets are not transferring properly.

I've noticed in the past that the vegetable-fat transfer sheets seem to require more time to bond with the chocolate. I tried leaving the chocolates overnight to see if that improved adherence, but no luck. I also tried chilling the chocolates in the refrigerator to firm up the chocolate coating. Chilling for 20-30 minutes had no effect. Chilling for several hours did work, but of course would cause problems with moisture as soon as the chocolates were removed.

I'm wondering whether anyone can provide suggestions, either for how to make these sheets work, or how to fabricate a custom transfer sheet that will adhere better. I'm particularly wondering if the vegetable fat base is part of the problem - I've noticed that transfer sheets with actual cocoa butter transfer faster. If so, I'd also love to know where I can get small runs of custom transfer sheets that are printed with cocoa butter, not vegetable fat.

Thanks!

Tien

updated by @tien-chiu: 04/13/15 18:52:20