April 27th, 2021
Chocolate is perhaps the most versatile ingredient in the world, but that doesn’t mean that cooking with chocolate is easy. While it features in brownies, biscuits, cakes and mousses, the science behind cooking with chocolate is different for each recipe.
At Melt Chocolates, we regard ourselves as gourmet chocolate experts, meaning we know a thing or two about cooking with chocolates. Take a look at this definitive guide to find out more about how to cook with chocolate.
When baking with chocolate, you probably think using regular chocolate will do the job. What you might not know is that there are certain elusive differences between normal and cooking chocolates. Let’s understand what these are to use the right type of delectable, luxurious chocolate for all your delightful creations.
The primary and also the most dominant difference between cooking and normal chocolate is the sugar content. Cooking chocolate contains considerably greater amounts of cocoa with little to no added sugar. This gives it a rather prominent and strong cocoa flavour, making it perfect for baking.
Thanks to its relatively low sugar content, you can control how sweet you want your dessert to be. This way, you can ensure that your sweet treats don’t become overly sugary; this will ensure that it’s perfect for bringing out the intense flavour of dark chocolate.
We all know how versatile chocolate can be, which makes them so easy to add to any sweet culinary composition. Cooking with dark chocolate in particular is a great way to add some cocoa goodness into any baked goody.
At Melt, our seasoned chocolatiers retain the perfect chocolate flavour profile in all our creations. We explain this further in our virtual on-site chocolate tasting class. Be it for cooking or for eating, at Melt, our luxury chocolates never disappoint.
We also have sugar free and vegan alternatives that help keep your preparation as healthy and environmentally conscious as possible. Our dark chocolate collection is perfect for cooking as it melts evenly and smoothly to create an exceptional baking experience.
If baking is not on the agenda, you can simply snack on our delectable chocolate bars. If you’re craving a delicious chocolaty beverage, order from our hot chocolate range!
If you plan to use chocolate to decorate your baked and other creations, you need to learn how to effectively temper chocolate. This is an extremely important step, especially if you wish to maintain the satisfying snap and the glossy shine. You will need a thermometer to pull off the perfect finish.
If you temper your chocolate incorrectly, you’ll be left with a bland, matte look that tastes fine but wrecks the overall aesthetic of your chocolaty preparation. At Melt, we temper our chocolates to perfection meaning you are guaranteed to hear the appetising snap, not to mention the flawless shine as you bite into it and feel the flavours disintegrate in your mouth.
Take your pick from our collection of chocolate blocks, slabs and bars to enhance the flavours of your chocolate dish.
If you wish to create your own edible accessories to decorate your chocolate creation, bear in mind it may take some time and quite a few attempts to get it right. However, if you are on a clock but still wish to attain a professional look and finish, why not experiment with some shortcuts?
At Melt, our dark and milk chocolate collection can be used to create various designs, or you could use these to simply create stripes. If you are making something for your kids, use fun animal moulds to shape your chocolate and use this to decorate the base or the top.
You can experiment with some tempering techniques to create more edible chocolate accessories to decorate your creations.
No matter how you decide to cook with chocolates and decorate them, we hope that the tips above will help you. Keep at it to improve your chocolate cooking skills.
Sign up for our monthly chocolate subscription to experiment with delectable flavour profiles. Moreover, attend our virtual chocolate-making class to learn more about professional culinary creations.
If all this delectable reading has tickled your sweet tooth, then visit our website and order your favourite confectionery treat today.