Confectionery educational program: how to melt chocolate for cake, fondue and other desserts?

At first glance, it seems that melting chocolate is a simple matter. However, those who have to do this for the first time, quickly change their minds to the opposite, because in the confectionery business there are many tricks and it is easy to spoil the product without knowing them. How the chocolate mass will behave after repeated solidification, what its taste will be like - it all depends on the ability to choose good chocolate and correctly transfer it from solid to liquid.

Which chocolate is better to melt?

A person who has decided to make chocolate cake or sweets has two options: buy a regular tile in a supermarket or go to a specialty store with goods for confectioners where chocolate drops are sold.

The first option is not the best. The fact is that in the manufacture of tiles using ingredients that are designed to improve taste, keeping quality and consistency. They give the finished product a number of advantages, but when you try to turn a chocolate bar into lace jewelry or glaze, it can cause an unsuccessful result. And in general, the production technology is developed with the expectation that the chocolate will be eaten ready-made.

Nevertheless, chocolates are quite suitable as an ingredient for homemade confectionery.

To choose a tile that does not exactly spoil the taste and appearance of the dessert, you need to make sure that it meets three criteria:

• Contains cocoa butter in sufficient quantities (optimally - from 30%, acceptable minimum - 20%);
• without filling - including without nuts, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, coconut flakes, raisins, orange and lemon peel, cookies, waffles and other fillers;
• hard and not porous (chocolate with a high degree of probability forms lumps when melted).

It is important to buy only real chocolate, and not the so-called “pastry tiles”. They are distinguished by a very low price and the presence of cheap vegetable oils (including palm) in the composition.

The second option is suitable for those who want to get a perfect chocolate mass. Drops - chocolate in the form of small drops - are designed specifically for melting and further use in the confectionery business. There is nothing superfluous in their composition.

Chocolate melting technology

However, choosing the right chocolate is not all. The next step is the ability to melt it correctly. The final result depends on at what temperature and under what conditions melting will occur.

There are several ways to melt chocolate at home, and each of them has its own characteristics. But for all, the following rules will be fair:

• Not a drop of moisture. When water gets into chocolate, it loses its luster and elasticity, therefore it is important to wipe dry all the kitchen utensils used in the process. Also, do not cover the container with chocolate with a lid or film - condensation will appear under them.
• Regular stirring. Chocolate melts unevenly, so there is a risk that one part of it will burn, while the second will remain solid.
• Compliance with the temperature regime. Black and milk chocolate melt at 40 ° C, and for white and pink, 35 ° C is enough. If you exceed these indicators, you will have to face a defect - the so-called grease graying. It appears as a whitish coating on the surface.Since this coating is formed from cocoa butter, the product remains edible, but irrevocably loses its taste and decorative qualities.
• Timely termination of heating. If you leave chocolate under the influence of high temperature for a long time, it will lose its texture and become unsuitable for making jewelry or making glazes.

Not only for beginners, but also for experienced confectioners there are errors when working with chocolate. In this case, do not throw out the rejected mass - it can be added to the dough when baking muffins and gingerbread cookies.

How to melt chocolate in the microwave?

This is the fastest way - in the microwave, tiles melt in a matter of minutes.

The step-by-step process of melting can be described as follows:

1. First, you need to break the chocolate into small pieces of the same size. When using drops, this step is skipped.
2. Then the pieces are put into dishes that can withstand microwave heating. It should be deep and preferably transparent.
3. They put it in the oven, adjusting the following parameters: power - 350 W for black and milk chocolate, and if you need to melt white or pink, 250 W is enough; time - 15-20 seconds. If you have the “Defrost” mode, you should use it.
4. When the oven is turned off, the dishes are removed, the chocolate is mixed and the steps described in the previous paragraph are repeated. If the mass does not melt very actively, it is worth increasing the time to 30 seconds.
5. When all the pieces turn into liquid, the heating is immediately stopped.

You cannot leave the microwave at all times. Also, do not cover the dishes with a special plastic plate lid, even if it has a steam outlet.

In a microwave oven, it is very easy to overheat the mass. So that it does not become grainy, do not set the power above that indicated.

How to melt chocolate in a water bath?

Melting in a water bath takes longer, but allows you to fully control the process. To get an excellent result, you need to follow the instructions:

1. First of all, put a saucepan with water on the stove and bring it to a boil.
2. While the water is heating, they break the tiles into pieces or measure the required number of drops.
3. Put the chocolate in a suitable container and place it in a pot of water. The bottom of the container should not touch boiling liquid. It is also advisable that the steam does not penetrate around.
4. Periodically mix the mass for faster and more uniform melting. You can not be afraid that it will burn: with this method it is impossible. But overheating must be feared, therefore, at the slightest suspicion that the temperature is becoming critically high, you will have to put the tank aside and return it after a short cooling.
5. When all the pieces have melted, the stove is turned off.

It is important to be careful that water and steam do not get into the chocolate container.

How to melt chocolate for a cake?

To prepare the glaze, tiles or drops can be melted both in the microwave and in a water bath. However, the recipe will be different from that described above. The fact is that the top coating for the cake is made of a softer and more plastic mass than decorations or, for example, a candy shell. If you pour the cake with pure chocolate, when sliced, the icing will crack and will look unattractive.

The solution to this problem is simple to genius:

1. In a container designed for chocolate, put a piece of butter - about 25-30% of the weight of the tiles or drops.
2. When the butter has melted, cream of 30% fat is added to it - 2 tablespoons for every 100 g of chocolate.
3. After this, pour chocolate - it should not just melt, but mix with butter and cream, forming a smooth, evenly saturated mass. Do not forget about regular mixing.

For beginning confectioners, it is better to melt the chocolate for the cake in a water bath, because in case of overheating, which is difficult to avoid in the microwave, the icing will begin to crack almost immediately after solidification. This will affect the appearance of the dessert.

How to melt chocolate for fondue?

Melting chocolate for fondue is easier than for other desserts, since you do not need to worry about how the mass behaves when solidifying. Moreover, it should not harden at all - instead, you will have to follow the chocolate so that it is liquid all the time, while people gathered around the fondue bowl have a desire to enjoy fruit.

As in the case of glaze, additional ingredients should be put in the melting tank:

• condensed milk or heavy cream (about 100 g per 250 g of chocolate);
• liquor (a teaspoon - only for aroma);
• spices to taste (vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, red pepper for contrast lovers).

Dairy products are added at the beginning of melting, and liquor and spices are added at the end.

If the cream is curled, the situation can be saved with a blender, whipping the mass until smooth.

As a rule, fondue chocolate is melted in a special saucepan under which there is a candle. If there is no such vessel, you can replace it with a water bath.

If a special machine is used to melt chocolate in production, then at home it can be done without any complicated devices. To speed up the process, it is enough not to break the tile into pieces, but to grind it (for example, on a grater). Of great importance is the quality of chocolate - it should be made on the basis of cocoa butter, and not alien vegetable fats.