Tempering chocolate: ± 2 °C too much?

Question

I am planning to buy a laser thermometer to measure the temperature of melted chocolate for tempering it. As I have found out, the thermometer I want to buy has a measuring tolerance of ± 2 °C. That means even if it shows the correct temperature on the display, the chocolate can be 2 °C too hot or 2 °C too cold. Will this cause any trouble? Do I really need a thermometer that has a smaller measuring tolerance?

FYI: 2 °C are about 36 °F

Edit: 2 °C are about 3.6 °F, thanks msh210!

Asked by Sven

Answer

Yes, it is too much. Chocolate has very tight working intervals. Dark chocolate must be used at 32°C. Below 30°C, it is too thick for use, and at 35°C, the cocoa butter separates from the chocolate. An error interval of 4°C when your complete workable interval is 5°C wide is simply unacceptable. You want a thermometer with a much higher precision, actually one which shows you tenths of degrees centigrade.

You also want a thermometer which reacts quickly enough. If you are working with small quantities, a ten seconds delay in measuring can give you errors of over half a degree centigrade, which is also a lot, given your tight working interval. Try finding a thermometer with a 4 sec response time or less.

Also, you don't want a laser thermometer at all! The difference in temperature between the surface of the chocolate and the mass of it near the bottom can be substantial, I once measured 4°C difference in something in a bowl with about a litter of stuff (it can't have been chocolate, probably it was custard, I forgot exactly). You need a candy thermometer for chocolate. Buy a laser thermometer separately for measuring the surfaces of pans, if you need it.

As a last note a 2°C interval is not 36°F, it is just below 4°F. The formula is 32 + 5/9, so your converter probably meant that when there are 2°C outside, a Fahrenheit thermometer shows 36°F. This is obviously incorrect for calculating intervals.

Answered by rumtscho

Check more discussion of this question.

What is the purpose of tempering chocolate?

Question

What is the purpose of tempering chocolate? If I'm dipping something in chocolate, can I get by with just melting the chocolate?

Asked by KatieK

Answer

Chocolate is an odd substance when it comes to melting and hardening. When chocolate hardens, its melting point will end up being just a few degrees higher than the hardening temperature.

When chocolate crystallizes at high temperatures, it forms a strong, dense crystalline structure that, texture-wise, is quite brittle. Most bought chocolate (baker's chocolate and chips) is already tempered, but when you melt it, you break down that crystalline structure, and if you harden it at room temperature then it ends up forming very weak crystals that will melt in your hand.

If you use a special coating chocolate (couverture or the lower-quality compound chocolate) then you don't need to worry so much about tempering (although it's still a good idea), but if you use ordinary chocolate and don't temper it then your coating will end up being messy and wet and rub off on your hands while you eat it. It might even melt while stored.

Tempering is the key to making a room-temperature-stable chocolate coating. If you don't do this, you'll need to keep your pastries refrigerated until they're ready to consume.

Answered by Aaronut

Check more discussion of this question.

Why does my ganache keep breaking?

Question

I'm making truffles, and my ganache keeps coming apart. The chocolate acts like it's overheating, but it's not. I've confirmed the temperature of the water in the double boiler several times, and the chocolate never exceeds 120 degrees. Here's my recipe and process

20 oz of chopped chocolate 72% 1 3/4 cups cream 1/4 cup Cognac 2 tbsp Butter splash of espresso powder

I'm making this in a double boiler, as I find it usually turns out smoother. I don't know why this recipe isn't working today, I've made it twice and it's failed both times, though I've used the recipe many times over the years.

The only difference is the cognac, but I've used other liquid as flavoring. Is there something in liquor that changes the melting properties of chocolate? The liquid is going in with the chocolate, so it's not seizing.

I've destroyed $40 of Valhrona today, so needless to say, I'd like to know why this is happening.

Asked by Josh Infiesto

Answer

I found an answer in McGee's 'On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen'.

The basic ganache is 1:1 chocolate:cream (by weight). With lots of chocolate the emulsion can come apart.

In 'Keys to good cooking' McGee describes how to restore a failed ganache. You put it over a double boiler and when it reaches 33ºC y stir it vigorously. If that fails, start with a smaller batch, just like you'd recover mayonnaisse.

McGee recommends letting it sit on the counter to cool slowly overnight.

The relevant pages are not shown on Google Books preview.

Answered by BaffledCook

Check more discussion of this question.

How can I make melted chocolate set faster?

Question

I am going to be operating a stand selling frozen bananas (just like in Arrested Development), and we dip the bananas in chocolate. I bought some milk and dark chocolate wafers that can be used in fondu fountains, however we have no fountain. We will just be dipping the bananas in the warm chocolate.

My question is, how can I decrease the setting time of the chocolate? That is, I want the chocolate to solidify into a shell around the banana as quickly as possible so that the chocolate doesn't drip off the banana. Is there something that I can add to the melted chocolate wafers to decrease the set speed?

Edit: Just found this question, thanks to rumtscho's comment. No-melt chocolate coating on ice cream bars

Asked by dbmikus

Answer

Real chocolate (cocoa solids, cocoa powder, and sugar) is not the best thing for what you want. If properly handled, it can give you a great tasting glaze - but you don't have the conditions to handle it properly (slow cooling), so you will run into problems with it (bad texture, sweating, bad looks/dull). Also, it won't be a really snappy shell. And at this temperature, the good flavor is not very noticeable anyway.

What you want to use is cocoa-containing fat glaze. This is the stuff which commercial "chocolate" coated ice cream like the Magnum brand uses. It is sold in supermarkets as "chocolate cake glaze" and similar names, but check the ingredient list to be sure. It should consist of cocoa solids and vegetable fat, possibly some emulsifiers too.

You should only melt your glaze, preferably have a low-temperature water bath at your booth (not full boil), and hold the glaze there for dipping. Don't add milk at all. Milk is a bad choice for chocolate covering anyway. Cream is used for making cake icings called ganache (mixed with real chocolate, not this glaze stuff), but it makes a soft, smeary icing, not a hard, snappy shell. Use the glaze the way it is, without adding anything.

This glaze is quite hard at room temperature already. A thin layer of it on a frozen banana should go to below room temperature almost instantly. I think you will have your shell without any special preparation. But I have never done it this way, so I would advise you to experiment. If my hunch is wrong, there still isn't anything you can add - this stuff doesn't harden because of anything added, it hardens because at room temperature, it is a hard solid. So your only way to speed hardening is to return the banana to the freezer for a short time. But then you are likely to get a condensation problem, so keep it as short as possible.

Answered by rumtscho

Check more discussion of this question.

Amount of Chocolate-chips in a Chocolate-chip cookie?

Question

I've been making chocalote chip cookies for a while and I just can't decide how many chocolate chips to put in each cookie. So maybe once and for all I can get a good answer to the question:

What is the best percentage of chocolate-chips for a chocolate cookies? And what are the pros and cons for putting more or less chocolate chips?

Asked by nayish

Answer

While it depends on your taste and recipe, I can tell you what's my favorite amount.

I tend to chop chocolate to pretty big pieces (cubes approximately 2cm long). I tend to put as many chocolate chips as it takes so that some of them fall off when mixed with the dough. I then additionally push leftover chips in dough when forming cookies. I try to avoid chips that are too small and chocolate powder; somehow the cookies are better when chocolate powder is not mixed into dough. I suppose the contrast between the dough and chocolate chips is what makes them tasty.

Answered by Domchi

Check more discussion of this question.

Rubber like skin on surface of chocolate mousse

Question

When I make chocolate mousse, I usually end up with a slightly rubbery surface on the mousse.

To make the mousse, I do the following:

• Melt dark chocolate in a bowl over simmering water
• Separate 2 or 3 egg whites from the yolks
• Whip the egg whites
• Mix the yolks in with the chocolate and add a bit of sugar
• Fold the egg whites in with the chocolate mix
• Transfer to bowls and put in the fridge

Usually when I go to eat them the next day, there is a rubber like surface on the mousse, but underneath it's nice and soft.

I am just wondering what causes this, and how to prevent it?

Asked by GRA

Answer

The cause is that the mousse dries out on the surface. It builds a skin of dehydrated mousse. It happens with most cremes, not only your yolk foam.

To prevent it, put plastic wrap on the mousse. Don't span it over the bowl, press it on the surface itself, without leaving air between the mousse and wrap. Your mousse will stay soft. This also works for custards and starch-thickened puddings.

In general, also cover other things you put in the fridge, or they can get an unpleasant odour.

Answered by rumtscho

Check more discussion of this question.

Why doesn't chocolate go bad?

Question

After all it has oil and sugar in it. Why doesn't bacteria love it? Thanks!

Asked by Adam C

Answer

Simple: it has no water.

Chocolate is a suspension of cocoa solids and sugar in cocoa butter. It is made from fat and carbohydrates only. Bacteria, as everything else, need water to live. They can't survive in something hygroscopic (like jam or honey) or something with no water at all (flour, chocolate, pure fat). Similar for molds. So, independent of temperature, chocolate won't go bad in the sense that it will never grow colonies of bacteria.

As Hobodave mentioned, it can "grow bad" in another sense. If held at high temperatures (somewhat above 30°C), the chocolate butter will separate from the mix and form a dull yellow-grayish crust on the chocolate surface. Also, if you leave it in contact with oxygen for long enough (many months), the cocoa fat will go rancid. In both cases, it is perfectly safe to eat the chocolate without risking food poisoning. However, the taste is much worse than in normal chocolate.

Answered by rumtscho

Check more discussion of this question.

Chocolate-Flavored Cheese

Question

Would it be feasible to make a chocolate-flavored cheese? The idea that originally occurred to me was the use of chocolate milk for this purpose, but I'm not sure that's the best solution. Does this food already exist? What kinds of cheese are doable in this situation?

Asked by Adele C

Answer

The other answers refer to products that are cheese-flavored fudges or cream cheeses blending with cocoa.

Your question seems like it is asking about making a cocoa flavored cheese from scratch.

I have not tried chocolate in particular but I have been experimenting with flavoring cheese (and tofu) and have some data points that might be helpful.

I have not had much success with flavoring the milk before it is curdled. The curdling and pressing process is designed to force out water and water soluble compounds. I would expect much of the cocoa dissolved in the milk to be wasted. Additionally, I wouldn't expect store-bought chocolate milk to work very well because of all the additional sweeteners, emulsifiers, and thickeners that are included. I don't know how it would behave when making cheese but I wouldn't be surprised if they got in the way of forming a good curd.

I have had more success with adding dry flavorings to the curd after it is drained and before it is pressed into the final shape. This is the same time that the salt is added. Some water is still pressed out and so some flavor is lost but much less than in earlier stages.

I am still experimenting with how much dry flavoring can be added before the curd doesn't set properly. The cheese becomes more fragile the more ingredients interfere with the milk proteins.

An easy way to start would be with a simple paneer or queso fresco. Simply heat up milk, stir in some acid (lemon juice, vinegar, citric acid, etc), let the milk protein precipitate out, strain it, mix in salt and some cocoa powder, and let the mass drain in a cloth until it is the consistency that you want.

Answered by Sobachatina

Check more discussion of this question.

What to do with seized / split chocolate?

Question

My kids love making brownies, but every now and then the water gets into the bowl while they are melting the chocolate. The chocolate then seizes or splits, and you have a sodden mess.

Can this chocolate be used for anything?

At the moment, it just goes in the bin.

Asked by nzpcmad

Answer

If you're not talking about very much water getting into the bowl, then these techniques should help.

1. Remove the bowl of chocolate from the heat source.
2. For every ounce of chocolate, add one tablespoon of one of these: warm water, melted butter, vegetable oil, hot milk/cream.
3. Stir or whisk until smooth. Add a bit more liquid if needed.
4. Use the repaired chocolate for sauce, frosting, or a batter (like for your brownies!). It won't work well for coating candy.

You may also want to check out this discussion on how to melt chocolate without getting it wet.

Answered by JustRightMenus

Check more discussion of this question.

Is it possible to sweeten chocolate without making it gritty?

Question

I read the following question earlier:

• Converting pure chocolate to “bittersweet” chocolate

In this question, the OP asked if he could change pure unsweetened chocolate into bittersweet chocolate for cookies. In the answer, it was recommended not to add the sugar into the chocolate because the chocolate will take on a gritty texture, but to instead add the sugar to the cookie itself.

My question is, is there any way to change a darker chocolate into a sweeter chocolate without the grittiness? Likewise how would one change a sweeter chocolate into a darker chocolate?

Asked by Jay

Answer

Doing both is possible, but there is no point. For both, you need a conche, and this is a good contender for a gadget not worth its shelf space in a home kitchen. For a good chocolate, you have to mix the melted combination of base chocolate and additional ingredients for hours (Wikipedia says 6 for low quality, up to 78 for best quality), and this is what the conche does for you. For a nice structure and shine, you also want to temper the chocolate afterwards and cool it under appropriate conditions.

Chocolate is made by pressing roasted cocoa beans to cocoa liquor (consists of cocoa butter and cocoa solids). The dry reminder of the beans is then ground to cocoa powder (and sometimes also deacidified in a Dutching process). The cocoa butter can be separated from the liquor. The pure liquor can be tempered and sold as high-end baking chocolate, also called "unsweetened chocolate" in the US (low-end blocks of "baking chocolate" are mostly cocoa powder mixed with hydrogenized vegetable fat). To create bars of chocolate, chocolate creators like Lindt put cocoa liquor together with sugar in a conche to create different grades of dark chocolate (US name: semi-sweetened chocolate), or also add milk or milk solids to create milk chocolate. Lower grade semisweet chocolate has cocoa powder added, so a 72% chocolate will always have 72% cocoa bean products and 28% sugar, but depending on the brand, the ratio of cocoa solids and cocoa butter will vary, which will have effect on its behavior in confectionery (a higher ratio of cocoa butter will produce a smoother chocolate with more shine).

If you insist on changing the darkness of a chocolate you have and achieve reasonable quality, you have to throw together the needed ingredients, conche them, and temper them. For example, you could start with 100 g 60% semi-sweet dryish chocolate, add 80 g cocoa butter and 20 g cocoa powder, and you will end up with 200 g of smooth 80% semi-sweet chocolate, if you do it right. Given the prices for high quality raw materials, the price, energy requirements and space taken up by a conche, and the availability of different grades of chocolate, I don't see any reason to do so instead of directly buying good quality 80% chocolate.

This all assumes that the final product you want is pure chocolate. If you are making, say, a chocolate flavored custard, where you mix ganache into custard, and you have a chocolate bar darker than what the recipe specifies, you get a perfectly good solution by first dissolving sugar in the warm cream and making the ganache with it, and then adding it to the custard. Other recipes which work with chocolate mixes (e.g. cake layer batters) function in a similar way - add your ingredient (cocoa powder if your chocolate is too light, sugar if it is too dark) to a wet ingredient which will dissolve it, and then mix the melted chocolate in as usual.

Answered by rumtscho

Check more discussion of this question.

Why do chocolate chips stay softer after being baked?

Question

I could be wrong, but I have the feeling that after baking chocolate chip cookies, the chocolate chips are still melted; or at least a lot softer than before you bake the cookies.

It's logical that the chips melt, when they are in the oven, and even half an hour later. But why are they still softer the day after? What's the explanation behind this? It's as if the melting point has lowered.

Or am I imagining things?

Asked by Mien

Answer

Chocolate is in is most essential form made up of cocoa butter and cocoa solids. The chocolate you buy is tempered, the crystals in the cocoa butter are aligned and properly formed, this is what keeps it shiny and gives it a snap.

When the chocolate melts, without tempering, in the cookie the crystals in the cocoa butter melt but do not form properly again, this means the chocolate becomes soft, dull and 'blooms' fat which is where the cocoa butter rises to the surfaces forming a white layer (this will disappear upon melting).

Also in a cookie there will be a high proportion of fat and when the chocolate melts it combines with the fats (in the butter) and will create essentially pockets of chocolate glaze, which obviously doesn't set hard.

Answered by Sebiddychef

Check more discussion of this question.

What is the best way to melt chocolate?

Question

Sometimes when I melt chocolate in a double boiler it will turn grainy, and melting in a microwave often burns it. What is the best way to melt chocolate to get good, smooth results?

Asked by ElendilTheTall

Answer

It depends on what you're doing with the chocolate.

If temperature isn't that critical and its going to be mixed into a cake or brownies or such, then do it in the microwave. Its simpler and as long as you don't rush it, its does a good job. Just go 10-20 seconds at a time, in bowl that doesn't hold heat well.

If you need precise temperature controlled chocolate (for tempering perhaps), its best to use a double boiler. The bottom pan just has steaming water - so I never really count that as a dirty dish. With the double boiler, you get several advantages. It won't get any hotter than the water. It its gradual and gentle. And you can monitor and stir as the temperature rises. If it turns grainy, its likely a bit of water dripped in. Depending on the top bowl on the double boiler, its possible to accidentally knock some condensation into the chocolate...and now its toast. I use a top bowl that has a small outer lip on it to keep this from happening.

Answered by rfusca

Check more discussion of this question.

Callebaut callets vs. block?

Question

So I know that one should never substitute chocolate chips for chocolate in a recipe, but I'm new to the game and don't really know what the deal with these callets is. Are they essentially the same as chocolate chips, or can I buy a massive bag of them and use interchangeable with chocolate chips as well as bar chocolate?

Sorry if this is a rookie question.

Asked by StevieP

Answer

Low quality chocolate chips often have additives in them that help them keep shape and shelf life, that's why they're not recommended. Callebaut callets are pure 100% chocolate according to Callebaut. I'd use them anywhere for bar or chips with great results. They might not come out of the oven looking exactly like a traditional chocolate chip cookie (for example) but they should taste fantastic!

Answered by rfusca

Check more discussion of this question.

Cocoa nibs used for cooking or baking?

Question

From my understanding, a cocoa nib is unprocessed cocoa (correct me if i'm wrong please).

Are cocoa nibs ever used for cooking or baking? My assumption is that they need to be processed in order to be utilized.

Asked by chrisjlee

Answer

Cocoa nibs are the result of fermenting the seeds from the cocoa fruit (the size of a large grapefruit), and then roasting the whole cocoa beans, and then de-shelling them

The de-shelling process tends to gently crack the contents into large pieces. Unlike other seeds and nuts this is acceptable as the product is going to be finely ground anyway

You can also buy "raw cocoa nibs", which are fermented, de-shelled, but not roasted. These have a different taste, and do not make good chocolate

Roasted or not they taste interesting and are useful as a whole flavour item in salads, baking, drinks etc. They are very high in fat so use with caution. The fat also has a very low melting point, so will make any warm liquid dish look oily

They are not to everyone's taste, unlike chocolate compound :-)

In both these case the beans have been fermented on the ground for a few weeks. Non-fermented cocoa beans are not very nice (I haven't ever had any though). From what I understand they compare to fermented beans like non-pickled olives are too pickled olives :-/

Roasted cocoa bean nibs, and roasted cocoa beans

Non-roasted cocoa bean nibs

Answered by TFD

Check more discussion of this question.

What is the difference between good quality chocolate and cheap chocolate?

Question

There are many types of chocolate out there, some higher quality than others. What are the main differences between good quality chocolate and cheap chocolate? And in practical applications in baking and confections, what "benefits" do higher quality chocolate offer?

Asked by Jay

Answer

Good quality chocolate has a number of distinguishing features:

1. High cocoa solids content: less than 50% will have little real chocolate taste and one with more than 70% will have a much more complex and fine chocolate taste.
2. Actual cocoa butter as opposed to vegetable oils which are cheaper than cocoa butter (prices have increased in recent years due to demand in the cosmetics industry).
3. Smooth texture, this is from a longer conching period (in which the chocolate is crushed in a concher).

Poor quality chocolate will have a low cocoa solids percentage and vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter.

In baking milk chocolate and othe low cocoa solid chocolates are not appropriate as they have a weak chocolate flavor which dissipates during baking do a finer chocolate is necessary.

Milk chocolate may go rancid and taste of 'bad olive oil' as note here due to the fats in the milk going rancid.

In this image the cocoa solids go up from 0% in white chocolate to a maximum of 100% in the highest of quality chocolates. In white chocolate look for no vegetable oils and vanilla extract.

Answered by Sebiddychef

Check more discussion of this question.

How to prevent “sweating” chocolate covered strawberries?

Question

Last year for Valentines day, I decided I was going to be romantic and make some chocolate covered strawberries for someone special. I melted and tempered some milk chocolate. Then dipped the washed and thoroughly dried strawberries into the chocolate and put it on a plate in the refrigerator to quickly "set" the chocolate.

Later that night as my special someone and I was eating the chocolate covered strawberries, we noticed that there were condensation both on the outside and in between the chocolate and strawberry. It was delicious nonetheless but I was curious why it was "sweating" and if there is anything I can do to prevent this if I decide I wanted to be romantic again.

Asked by Jay

Answer

Very simple: don't store your chocolate in the fridge. The ideal temperature for setting chocolate is 20°C. You can store it at less or more than that, but not too much. Setting in the fridge results in bad chocolate. Remember, when you work with chocolate, exact temperatures are extremely important.

Here a loose translation from a good article on chocolate/couverture coating:

This is the usual case. You only want a temperature difference of 12° to 13° between the chocolate and its environment as well as between the chocolate and the confect interior.

If the interior is colder than the room, the setting will happen "inside out". The cocoa butter film which gives a confect its shine will build on the inside, leaving the outside looking dull.

This is a really good case for some types of confect, but you can't do it with most types of filling (definitely not with strawberries). Cooling from the outside gives you a beautiful shine.

If you want to achieve a good shine, it is possible to put the confects in the fridge for a short time, but only after they have cooled to 20°C at room temperature. Don't let them fall to fridge temperature, take them out at 15°C. The continued cooling from the outside is beneficial.

This shouldn't happen. The temperature difference is too small, and the confect doesn't set quick enough. In this case, cocoa butter pools on the surface and creates a yellowish layer after it hardens.

When you make your confect, you should time the first piece. The setting should need 10 minutes. If it is less, you don't get all the possible shine. If it needs more, it will get grey or whitish yellow.

Answered by rumtscho

Check more discussion of this question.

How to thin chocolate for dipping

Question

How do you make chocolate thin enough to dip strawberries?
If I make it thin enough to dip (with butter) will that affect allowing it to set-up and harden?
I saw another question about the thickness but nothing about hardening.

Asked by Brad Nesom

Answer

How do you make chocolate thin enough to dip strawberries?

Melt it. I'm not trying to be funny here -- you should have no problem dipping strawberries or pretty much anything else (that's solid) in melted chocolate. When candy makers coat things in chocolate, that's all they're using -- they don't add anything to make the chocolate thinner. If you're really having trouble in this respect, then perhaps your chocolate isn't fully melted, or perhaps it's something other than real chocolate.

If you want the chocolate to be "tempered" when it hardens/dries/crystalizes, you're going to have to read up on tempering and be pretty careful with the temperature (but you'll end up with a superior product if you do).

If I make it thin enough to dip (with butter) will that affect allowing it to set-up and harden?

Yes, that will definitely affect the way the chocolate sets up. When chocolate hardens, the cocoa butter contained in the chocolate forms crystals. The crystals can actually take several different forms, and only one of those forms makes for the best appearance and hardness. That's why you temper chocolate, btw. Adding other substances, particularly another fat, will affect or prevent that crystallization process.

Answered by Caleb

Check more discussion of this question.

How to make homemade ice cream with a chocolate swirl

Question

My favorite ice cream flavor has swirls of gooey chocolate running through vanilla ice cream.

What do I have to do to reproduce this effect with homemade ice cream?

I tried adding chocolate sauce near the end of churning but it was too thoroughly churned in. I have tried swirling the chocolate sauce in manually with a spoon after the churn but before freezing but the syrup mostly just floated on top.

I am using a simple syrup based chocolate sauce. What technique should I use to produce my chocolate swirls? Does the consistency of the syrup play a role? Would some other chocolate sauce work better- such as hot fudge?

Asked by Sobachatina

Answer

When I've done this in the past, I did two things differently.

1. I used more of a fudge sauce that would thicken and get somewhat firmer when cold. Like a fudge sauce or such. Syrup just mixes too easy.

2. Mixing a swirl into a deeper container like the churning tub proved somewhat diffcult. As I tried to swirl, it would mix instead. Instead, I spread the ice cream in a large cake pan, poured the fudge over, swirled in a bit with the knife and then set it in the freezer for about 1 hour. Then when everything was pretty firm, I scooped it up into the final container in as large of sections as possible. It worked great.

Answered by rfusca

Check more discussion of this question.

Thick Chocolate Sauce

Question

Is it possible to do something with chocolate so that it does not get hard anymore so that its consistency gets something like the caramel in a mars/snickers bar? What precisley would I have to do to achieve that?

Asked by Flo

Answer

Perhaps a thick ganache might meet your demands. It wouldn't be as sticky as caramel though. But take a look at this question. It mentions adding some honey and butter to the standard ingredients, cream and chocolate.

If you have questions on how to make ganache, watch this video or one of the many others available on the internet. Simply said, heat up heavy cream and pour it over chopped bittersweet chocolate. Stir till all the chocolate is melted and you have a nice, smooth consistency. For your purpose, use at maximum the same amount of cream as chocolate. Add some more chocolate if it's too runny. But know that the ganache will become harder/thicker when cooled.

Answered by Mien

Check more discussion of this question.

Is there a way to keep chocolate chips from melting in chocolate-chip waffles?

Question

My memory might be playing tricks on me, but I swear I've had chocolate chip waffles (or maybe pancakes) where the chocolate chips were still somewhat hard - in other words, not completely melted. Every time I try, even if waiting for the batter to start cooking before adding the chips, they always seem to melt completely. Waiting for the chips to harden would also mean the waffles get cold. Any solution?

Asked by eterps

Answer

Although I can't fathom why you would want unmelted chocolate chips in your waffle or pancakes, some things you can try is:

• Using darker chocolate. Dark chocolate will has a slightly higher melting point than milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate. And since pancakes and waffles are usually eaten with syrup and other sweet toppings, it shouldn't be a problem that the chocolate is less sweet.
• Use cold chocolate chips. Leave the chocolate chips in the refrigerator prior to making the pancake/waffles.

Answered by Jay

Check more discussion of this question.