Homemade Chocolates – 5 Common Mistakes To Avoid
Ever thought of looking up recipes online and whipping up a few batches of lip-smacking, homemade chocolates? Perhaps, you were inspired by some of Melt’s gourmet chocolate range and would like to take your culinary skills up a notch? We’ll admit – while making chocolates at home is incredibly satisfying, the process involved isn’t as easy as it seems. Chocolate is an intricate product to work with, meaning you’ll require some level of expertise to handle it and ensure that you get the taste, texture and shine just right. That said, it doesn’t matter whether you’re making bonbons, hazelnut slabs or praline chocolates, there are some common issues that you need to avoid. At Melt, our professional chocolatiers have put together 5 common chocolate mistakes that you need to steer clear of, as they could turn your amazing choco-creation into a choco-tastrophy! Let’s take a look! 1. Choosing the Wrong Chocolate When it comes to making chocolates at home, it doesn’t matter whether you’re using velvety cocoa flavoured white chocolate or bittersweet flavoured dark chocolate. The secret to nailing the recipe is to ensure that the ingredients are of high quality. What’s more, chocolate contains emulsifiers, sugar, cocoa solids and milk powder – all within a rich fat called cocoa butter. It is therefore important for you to choose chocolates containing real cocoa butter (without any additives, of course), since this is what helps you get that melt-in-the-mouth feel; easily found in our selection of sweet treats. If you’re looking for more information on how to choose the right ingredients and make your own amazing chocolate at home, then take a look at our virtual on-site chocolate experiences. 2. Burning the Chocolate “Melting chocolates isn’t a challenging task”, you might think. However, it takes only a few seconds to turn your pan of silky, smooth chocolate into a gritty, inedible mess. The most common mistake here is to melt your chocolate too quickly. When you do that, you end up burning the cocoa particles which result in a sticky texture. To keep your chocolate from burning, you could either melt it in a microwave (with a 15-second interval and frequent stirring) or use the bain-marie method (where you place your chocolate pieces in a heat-proof bowl which is then placed over a pot of hot water.) Regardless of the method you use, make sure you stop heating your chocolate when it’s 80% melted. That way, you not only keep it from burning but also retain its silky texture. For more tips on how to melt chocolates and get the right consistency, click here. 3. Using the Wrong Temperature If you want to make homemade chocolates that are not only glossy but also have a satisfying snap and melt-in-your-mouth texture, then it’s essential to get the tempering process right. This is the most crucial part as tempering helps you ensure that the cocoa butter crystallises at a predictable rate, producing evenly-sized crystals. Another reason to get the temperature right during the tempering process is because it gives you evenly-coloured and snappable chocolate. However, the real question here is – how do you figure out the right temperature? Roughly, the melting point for white chocolate is 27-28℃, […]
