Tempering chocolate can be difficult at first, but with a digital thermometer it is easy to do! Tempering chocolate stabilizes the crystals in the chocolate, which makes the chocolate more shiny and crisp, which is useful when making decorations for cakes. Dark chocolates contain no milk solids compared to milk or white chocolate.
TIP – Always keep your eyes on the temperature of the chocolate, if the chocolate gets too hot it will cause the chocolate to go lumpy. This will make the chocolate unusable and you will have to throw it in the bin.
Tempered Dark Chocolate
1. Place a pan of water over the hob and heat till simmering. Next break the chocolate into small pieces and place 2/3 of the chocolate into a heatproof bowl.
2. Put the pan of simmering water and melt the chocolate. Keep heating the chocolate until it reaches 55C-58C/131F-136F. Remove from the heat.
3. Add the other 1/3 of the chocolate into the bowl and mix the chocolate. Keep on mixing until the chocolate reaches 31C-32C/88F-90F.
4. As soon as the chocolate reaches this temperature use the chocolate as quick as you can.
Tempered Milk Chocolate
Tempering milk chocolate requires different temperatures because there are less cocoa solids in the chocolate compared to dark chocolate. Also milk chocolate contains either milk powder or normal milk, which gives the chocolate its creamy taste.
1. Place a pan of water over the hob and heat till simmering. Next break the chocolate into small pieces and place 2/3 of the chocolate into a heatproof bowl.
2. Put the pan of simmering water and melt the chocolate. Keep heating the chocolate until it reaches 45C-50C/113F-122F. Remove from the heat.
3. Add the other 1/3 of the chocolate into the bowl and mix the chocolate. Keep on mixing until the chocolate reaches 27C-28C/81F-82F.
4. As soon as the chocolate reaches this temperature use the chocolate as quick as you can.
Tempered White Chocolate
Tempering white chocolate requires different temperatures because there are no cocoa solids in the white chocolate, which makes it more unstable and harder to handle. White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, which gives white chocolate its yellow colour and distinctive taste and smell.
1. Place a pan of water over the hob and heat till simmering. Next break the chocolate into small pieces and place 2/3 of the chocolate into a heatproof bowl.
2. Put the pan of simmering water and melt the chocolate. Keep heating the chocolate until it reaches 45C-50C/113F-122F. Remove from the heat.
3. Add the other 1/3 of the chocolate into the bowl and mix the chocolate. Keep on mixing until the chocolate reaches 28C-29C/82F-84F.
4. As soon as the chocolate reaches this temperature use the chocolate as quick as you can.