Tempered chocolate

Why temper chocolate?

For the best results when making chocolate creations like chocolate bars and bonbons, always start by tempering the chocolate. This is also called pre-crystallizing chocolate. If you don't do this:

• the chocolate will not have a beautiful glossy shine, but turn a dull gray color and have a crystalline structure.
• it will take a long time for the chocolate to harden and it will never achieve the hardness required.
• the chocolate will not shrink enough, will be difficult to remove from the mold, or will stick to the mold.

This is because crystals will not form properly if chocolate is not tempered. Chocolate actually contains two forms of crystals: unstable and stable crystals. By tempering (pre-crystallizing) the chocolate, stable crystals are created that enable the chocolate to:

• solidify and achieve a beautiful glossy shine and even color.
• harden much faster. Because it's harder, the chocolate will break much better too.
• shrink optimally and come away from the mold cleanly.

How to temper chocolate?

For the best results when making chocolate creations like chocolate bars and bonbons, you should always start by tempering the chocolate. There are two ways to temper (pre-crystallize) chocolate

Microwave method:

1. Place the required amount of chocolate chips, or any left-over chocolate you might have, in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat the chocolate in the bowl at about 600 W for 30 seconds.
2. Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir the chocolate thoroughly. Then heat it for another 30 seconds. Repeat the steps above until you see the chocolate change into a liquid consistency. Now heat the contents for 10 seconds at a time.
3. When most of the chocolate has melted, you will see that the bowl still contains some pieces of chocolate. Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir the chocolate until the remaining pieces of chocolate have melted too.
4. The chocolate can now be used to make chocolate bars, bonbons, chocolate spoons and other chocolate creations.

Au bain-marie method:

1. You will need two pans that fit one inside the other for this method. Fill the biggest pan with water and suspend the smaller pan over it. Put 2/3 of the chocolate into the small pan.
2. Heat up the chocolate on a low heat. Continue to stir thoroughly until all of the chocolate has melted and then remove the pan from the heat.
3. While stirring, gradually add the remaining chocolate to the pan. Continue to stir until everything has melted and you have a smooth consistency.
4. Note: if you find that the chips/callets are melting very quickly, the temperature of your mix is too high. Keep adding chocolate chips/callets until just a few remain that don't melt straight away. The mixture has now reached its ideal temperature! Continue to stir thoroughly until all of the chocolate has melted.
5. The chocolate can now be used to make chocolate bars, bonbons, chocolate spoons and other chocolate creations.