Do you want to make your praline shinier? Or perhaps you want your chocolate bar to have that perfect snap when you bite into it? You will need two things:
Couverture Chocolate and take it through a tempering process.
The chocolate tempering process is a method that is often feared by many chefs and home bakers because it is so easy to get wrong. It can be a frustrating experience when done incorrectly. That’s why we’ve created a video to help!
What is tempering?
Tempering itself is the process of heating and cooling chocolate at certain temperatures. The purpose of tempering chocolate is to pre-crystallize the cocoa butter in it, which is important to make your chocolate ready for processing. During tempering, the cocoa butter in the chocolate takes on a stable crystalline form. Based on the type of crystal, the best crystals in preparing chocolate products are beta crystals. Beta crystals have a small structure which results in a glossy texture and is capable of forming large crystal clusters. Tempering that done correctly will make the unmolding process a lot easier. Properly tempering chocolate will have shiny, glossy appearance and once solidified will provide a “snap” sound once bitten into it.
In the video below we will highlight tempering methods that you can do with simple household kitchen equipment. It's not that difficult, promise!
The video will demonstrate:
1. The ice bath method
2. The seeding method
3. The microwave method.
Our chefs are always happy to answer any chocolate tempering questions that you have, so leave us a comment and have your questions answered by one of our in-house chefs!
