Mmm...Chocolate. It's beautiful. It's messy. It's challenging and finicky. It's chocolatey goodness.
I don't even begin to fancy myself a chocolatier. I mean chocolate is seriously its own art form. However, in my own chocolate adventures, I have found a few tricks of the chocolate trade that can help you create your own chocolate art {or just melting chocolate and dipping goodies}.
The key to melting chocolate is low & slow, no water or alcohol, and chocolate chips are not suitable for melting.
Low & Slow. Chocolate doesn't fancy heat, however, it LOVES to be stirred. When melting chocolate make sure to heat chocolate slowly and stir slowly {and often}. You do NOT want to overheat the chocolate, and the low and slow method will avoid overheating and achieve chocolate perfection.
Say No To Chocolate Chips. Chocolate chips are never a suitable form of melting chocolate. Chocolate chips were designed specifically to keep their shape {think chocolate chip cookies}. If you are looking to melt chocolate look at baking chocolate {which can be found at your grocery store in the baking aisle} or cocoa-flavored candy wafers.
Candy wafers are essentially chocolate flavored candy. They are specifically designed for chocolate melting art, and are great for beginner chocolate bakers {can be found at your local bakeshop or online}.
No Water or Alcohol. Chocolate seizes up if it gets wet. This leaves a yucky hard mess that makes chocolate impossible to work with.
You may be wondering when the challenging and finicky comes in. Well, for me this is trying to avoid sugar bloom or fat bloom. If you've ever noticed little speckles on your now hardened chocolate or dipped chocolate goodies then you have experienced sugar bloom or fat bloom.
So what is sugar bloom and fat bloom?
Sugar bloom is the result of surface moisture. The moisture causes the sugar in the chocolate to dissolve; the moisture then evaporates and leaves the sugar crystals on the surface behind. This is sugar bloom, and it gives you that lovely speckled greyish chocolate look.
Chocolate surface moisture occurs when your chocolate sweats. The two biggest culprits to sugar bloom are humid storage and storing chocolate in a cool temperature and then moving it too quickly to a warmer temperature (think the refrigerator to your pantry).
Fat bloom is vastly similar to sugar bloom and creates pretty much identical ugly, spotty, chocolate results. Fat bloom is the result of the fat and the chocolate separating. The causes are the same as sugar bloom - humid storage and quick surrounding temperature change.
Although sugar bloom and fat bloom can create a less than appetizing look to your chocolate or more importantly ruin good chocolate artistry, it is still perfectly safe to eat. It may taste a little grainy, but other than that it will still have its chocolatey goodness.
The last bit of chocolate tidbits I am going to leave you with is proper chocolate storage. Chocolate {regardless of type} is a sponge. It will absorb surrounding odors so unless you want your chocolate to taste like last night's garlic chicken, it is important to store it tightly wrapped and away from your smelly leftovers.
Also, in an effort to avoid bloom of any kind, chocolate should be stored in 65-68°F temperatures with no more than 55% humidity. If stored properly, milk or white chocolate can last up to 6 months.
For those of you who really love chocolate check out, Fun Facts About Chocolate.
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