Joe’s Chocolate Recipes

There is a saying in the patisserie industry - chocolate is a diva. It’s true. Not only is it difficult and fussy in storage, with all sorts of things that can go wrong, it can be frustrating to handle in cooking if you don’t know what you’re doing. Don’t worry though, once you’ve grasped a few basic principles, it is fairly straightforward.

The first key thing to successful cooking with chocolate is choosing a good product to work with. Don’t buy the same cheap chocolate for cooking as you would for eating. Ordinary brands often contain vegetable fats which make it unsuitable or at least difficult to work with, and the results will reflect that. Once, in my youth, I foolishly tried to make a dessert with cheap “eating” chocolate, and it wouldn’t set - for several days!

If you are heating chocolate on its own, don’t do it over direct heat. It will be too fierce, and the chocolate will burn, and become unusable. The best way is by using a double boiler, or if you haven’t got one of those, then a suitably shaped heatproof bowl over a saucepan that it just fits into. Don’t let the water touch the bottom of the bowl or double boiler, and keep it at a very gentle simmer. Cut or break the chocolate into small pieces to enable it to melt quickly or evenly, and stir occasionally until the chocolate is entirely melted.

Second, but just as important, make sure all your equipment that is going to come into direct contact with the chocolate is completely dry. Water added to melted chocolate causes it to “seize” - it becomes a stiff paste with a rough texture that is almost unusable in any recipe, though some authors say it can be saved by adding a little pure white vegetable fat or by mixing it with cream to make a sauce. Too bad if that wasn’t the original intention of your recipe! You may need to top up the level of water in your double boiler during the melting process to stop it boiling dry, if so, obviously do it with great care. Don’t cover chocolate during or after melting it, as condensation could form which would make the chocolate seize.

Some people swear by melting chocolate in the microwave, and it can even be tempered in the microwave, but I’d recommend approaching this with some caution unless you know your microwave very well, and you are prepared to spend some considerable time testing the best heat settings and timings for the chocolate you are using, as you can get hot spots that burn, and ruin everything. Those that use this method say start with about 2 minutes at medium for dark chocolate (low for milk or white chocolate), checking at regular intervals throughout. The chocolate won’t change shape, but when it starts to look shiny, it should be removed from the microwave and stirred until completely melted and smooth.
Finally, the lower the cocoa content of your chocolate, the more gentle the heat needed. White chocolate particularly has a tendency to turn into a lumpy “clogged” mass if exposed to too much heat - another good reason for buying the best quality chocolate you can afford.