Sat, 12 May 2018
What's Needed:
400g of dark 70% chocolate
Additional 100g of dark 70% chocolate
A probe thermometer
Chocolate moulds (polycarbonate moulds are best)
Metal scraper
Method:
1. Before tempering the chocolate prepare the chocolate moulds by ensuring they are perfectly clean and dry. Wash in warm soapy water, rinse clean and dry fully.
2. To temper the dark chocolate: Place 400g of dark 70% chocolate in a clean dry bowl and place over gently simmering water.
3. Melt the chocolate. Check the temperature of the melted chocolate using a probe thermometer.
4. Once the chocolate reaches between 50C and 55C remove the bowl from the heat.
5. Add 100g of unmelted chocolate to the bowl stirring continuously. The addition of the unmelted chocolate will help lower the temperature.
6. Gently stir the bowl of chocolate until the temperature has lowered to 28 29C. This may take 5 to 10 minutes.
7. Return the bowl of melted chocolate to the simmering water for just a few seconds to raise the temperature to 30C. The chocolate is now tempered and ready to use
8. Pour the tempered chocolate into the prepared chocolate moulds. Using the scraper scrap off any excess chocolate.
9. Gently tap the moulds on all sides using the back of a spoon to remove any air bubbles that might be present in the chocolate.
10. Tap the moulds on the table and scrap off any excess chocolate to create a perfectly smooth finish. The scrapped off chocolate can be returned to the bowl of melted tempered chocolate to be used again later.
11. Place the moulds into the fridge to set for 15 to 20 minutes.
12. Assuming the chocolate is correctly tempered as the chocolate sets it will shrink ever so slightly which allow the chocolate to be demoulded perfectly.
13. To demould the chocolate, give the moulds a firm bang on the kitchen counter. The chocolates should pop out perfectly.
About Chocolate Tempering:
To create handmade chocolates that have a beautiful shine, lovely mouth feel and a good snap when broken we need to temper the chocolate that is being used.
Tempering chocolate re aligns the fat molecules within the chocolate creating beta crystals. It sounds very complicated but is in fact very easy. To temper the chocolate a probe thermometer will be required.
The process of tempering very simply involves melting chocolate to a certain temperature before lowering the temperature. Once the lower temperature is reached the temperature is raised slightly, at this point the chocolate is tempered and ready to use
Each type of chocolate will have different temperatures that need to be reached.
1. Dark Chocolate is melted to between 50C and 55C, the temperature is then lowered to between 28C and 29C before being raised to 31C at this point the chocolate is tempered and ready to use
2. For milk and white chocolate, the chocolate is melted to between 45C and 50C, the temperature is then lowered to 26C to 27c before being raised to 30C at this point the chocolate is tempered and ready to use.
The easiest method to use to lower the temperature of the chocolate is the seeding method. This simply involves adding unmelted chocolate to already melted chocolate. The unmelted chocolate lowers the temperature of the chocolate naturally while the temperature of the already melted chocolate will melt any chocolate that has not already been melted. Chocolate discs or pistoles are best to use but if using a bar of chocolate chop the chocolate finely as this will allow easier melting.
