Hints and tips on chocolate making

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Which chocolate should I choose?

The choice of chocolate is crucial; standard bars of chocolate generally don’t melt (or reset) properly, so it is recommended that you follow in the footsteps of many professional chocolatiers and use a good quality compound chocolate. We have been using the same type chocolate in our fountains for over three years and our customers just love it! This chocolate is also perfect for making chocolates at home. Available in 1kg bags of easy to melt buttons you can purchase it directly from us.

White chocolate isn’t chocolate at all!

White chocolate is made from milk, sugar and cocoa butter but contains no actual cocoa solids. This is why white chocolate is notoriously difficult to melt.

So how do I melt my chocolate? Many yummy recipes involve melting chocolate. This is a very simple procedure, but one that is important to do properly otherwise you’ll end up with burnt, lumpy un-useable chocolate. Apart from in your mouth, the best way to melt chocolate is to place it in a large bowl and to microwave it on HALF POWER, stirring after each minute (it should take approximately 3 minutes in total). Melting chocolate should be down s-l-o-w-l-y.

So why does melted chocolate sometimes go lumpy?

This is probably because water has got into it. Do not allow any water to come into contact with chocolate, this includes steam, additives such as water based flavourings and colours and wet utensils. Alternatively you may be using the wrong type of chocolate. Bars of ‘eating chocolate’ (such as Cadbury’s Dairy Milk) are meant for putting straight into your mouth, if you try and melt it first it can often result in the chocolate becoming thick, lumpy or refusing to set properly.