Homemade chocolate: mistakes to avoid

Making homemade chocolate may seem simple… but do not be deceived!
The aim is to avoid any moments of head-in-hands devastation. We’ve all been there – your once beautifully glossy chocolate turns matt with visible white patches, or you go to break off a bit of your creation to taste-test and that reliable clean snap of cooled chocolate is replaced by a crumbly, gritty collapse. Preparation, attention to detail and how you handle the chocolate are the keys to homemade chocolate success. Read on to discover the common mistakes to avoid when making homemade chocolates.

1. Using the wrong type of chocolate

Chocolate is essentially comprised of cocoa solids, sugar, milk powder and an emulsifier all within a rich fat; cocoa butter. Cocoa butter has a relatively low melting point, crucial to giving chocolate that melt-in-the-mouth character. Some lower quality chocolate confectionary may substitute real cocoa butter for vegetable oils and hardening agents. This alters the way the chocolate responds to the heating and cooling process.

Using high-quality chocolate that contains real cocoa butter with no additives will give you the smooth, velvety texture you crave. Whether it’s dark, milk or white chocolate that’s destined to be central to your homemade chocolate masterpiece.

2. Burning your chocolate

A typical error involves melting the chocolate too rapidly. Allowing the chocolate to reach too high a temperature causes the cocoa mass particles to burn, giving the chocolate a gritty texture and a taste that is far from chocolatey.

There are two common methods for melting chocolate: using a bain-marie (where chocolate pieces are placed in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of hot water); or using a microwave.

If using the microwave, ensure the chocolate pieces are of a similar size to start with and heat the chocolate in 15-second intervals on a low-power setting and stir frequently.

Regardless of your chosen method for melting, it’s good practice to stop heating when the chocolate is 80% melted, as the remaining 20% will melt when mixed with the rest through a good stir!

3. Using the wrong temperature for tempering.

Tempering means heating and cooling your chocolate at a controlled temperature throughout the process.

This is important to ensure the crystallisation of cocoa butter happens at a predictable rate so that evenly-sized crystals are produced.

As a guide, the melting point for dark is chocolate is 31-32℃, milk chocolate 30-31℃ and white chocolate 27-28℃. There are several ways to know you’ve hit the right spot at home.

4. Using wet moulds
If your homemade chocolate creations involve using a mould, make sure they are completely dry. Chocolate and moisture do not make good companions!

5. Adding cold ingredients to chocolate
It’s worth considering how to introduce the cold ingredients to your tempered chocolate. If the difference in temperature between the two is significant, the cold ingredients could make the cocoa butter in the chocolate harden immediately, giving it a gritty texture.

6. Putting your chocolate in the fridge or freezer
Take heed. Allowing the chocolate to cool too quickly will undo the tempering process and result in disappointingly dull-looking chocolate.

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