Tempering Chocolate

One of the difficult part of making chocolate is to temper it. The purpose of tempering is to ensure the chocolate mould is glossy. There are many articles written on the same subject which you could source from the internet. The technique that I adopted is to melt 3/4 of the chocolate that you are using in a double boiler or microwave to 31-33 C for dark chocolate or 30 - 32 C for white / milk chocolate. Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and mix it with the balance 1/4 chocolate. This action reduces the chocolate temperature to 27C, fast - an ideal tempering temperature whereby the chocolate molecules have been stabilised and giving it the shiny appearance. Stir the chocolate mixture well, not too vigorously as it may cause bubbles especially the milk / white variety.

To test whether it has been tempered properly, drop a spoon of the melted mixture on a piece of oil paper. Once it has cooled and appears glossy, you did it! Otherwise, redo the step by reheating the chocolate mixture.

Another method which you could adopt is to spread the melted chocolate mixture on a marble slab to cool it to 27C. Turn it occasionally and test it using the oil paper too.

Once the chocolate mixture is glossy, start moulding it or..... you may dip your favourite fruit into the shiny chocolate mixture.

Whilst you are working on the mould and the chocolate is beginning to thicken, you may either transfer the mixture to the double boiler once again or use your hair dryer to "melt" the chocolate! Never knew your hair dryer has multi usage huh?

Happy tempering!