Chocolates and Confections, 2e

4
Fundamental Technique

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 Tempering Chocolate
Theory

• Chocolate must be tempered in order to set with the

desired snap and shine.
• The reason chocolate must be tempered is due to the
polymorphism of cocoa butter.
– Polymorphic: Occurring in many forms
– Cocoa butter can crystallize in stable or unstable
forms.

Copyright © 2013 The Culinary Institute of America. All rights reserved.

 Tempering Chocolate
Theory

• Unstable crystals
– Unstable crystals form and melt at lower temperatures.
– Unstable crystals do not pack tightly together.
• Resulting in a diminished shine
• Resulting in inferior hardness and snap
– Unstable crystals transform during storage.
• Resulting in the formation of bloom.

Copyright © 2013 The Culinary Institute of America. All rights reserved.

 Tempering Chocolate
Theory

• The object of tempering is to promote the formation of

stable form V cocoa butter crystals.
• This is accomplished by pre-crystallizing a small amount
of cocoa butter in the melted chocolate with these
crystals.

Copyright © 2013 The Culinary Institute of America. All rights reserved.

 Tempering Chocolate
Theory
• There are three basic requirements for tempering:
– Temperature: Stable cocoa butter crystals only form at
certain temperatures. Too warm, and the cocoa butter
crystals will melt. Too cool a temperature will result in the
formation of unstable crystals
– Agitation: Agitation promotes crystallization, and
agitation of cocoa butter is vital to form the requisite cocoa
butter crystals.
– Time: Cocoa butter requires time to crystallize, so it is
necessary to hold the chocolate at the given temperature for
some time to allow the cocoa butter crystals to form.

Copyright © 2013 The Culinary Institute of America. All rights reserved.

 Tempering Chocolate
Theory
• Seeding: Chocolate must be precrystallized with not
only the right form of crystal, but the proper amount of
crystals.
– Underseeded chocolate will bloom when it sets, have
poor gloss, and snap
– Overseeded chocolate will be overly viscous, not
contract well, and trap air bubbles.

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 Tempering Chocolate
Technique
• General Technique
– Melt out all existing fat crystals.
– Cool and agitate the chocolate to form cocoa butter
crystals.
– Warm the chocolate to melt out any unstable crystals.
– Maintain the chocolate at the proper temperature
during use.

Copyright © 2013 The Culinary Institute of America. All rights reserved.

 Tempering Chocolate
Technique
• Tabling
– Effective for relatively small amounts of chocolate
– Table less chocolate and for less time with each
successive tabling to avoid lumps
• Seeding
– Clean efficient method for tempering small or large
quantities of chocolate
– Introduces only stable crystals when tempered
chocolate is used as the seed

Copyright © 2013 The Culinary Institute of America. All rights reserved.

 Tempering Chocolate
Technique
• Incomplete melting
– The same as the seeding method
– It is necessary to begin with unmelted, tempered
chocolate in order to seed the chocolate properly.

Copyright © 2013 The Culinary Institute of America. All rights reserved.

 Tempering Chocolate
Technique
• Waterbath
– Can be effective, but the water must not be cold
– Cold water or ice will cause the formation of unstable
cocoa butter crystals.
– Chocolate must be re-warmed to proper temperature to
melt out any unstable crystals.
• Tempering Machines
– Many sizes and varieties available to fit any operation

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 Thinning Chocolate
Overview
• The viscosity of chocolate can be reduced by adding
cocoa butter.
• Chocolate should never be thinned to make up for
overseeding.
• Add untempered melted cocoa butter to untempered
melted chocolate until the desired viscosity is achieved.
• Temper as usual.
• Store thinned chocolate separately from unthinned
chocolate so as not to alter its characteristics.

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 Thinning Chocolate
Technique
• Slabbing: The process of spreading a fluid center into a frame
to create a uniform layer for cutting after it sets
• Precoating (bottoming)
– Has two primary purposes
• Facilitate handling
– Prevents centers from sticking to equipment and
forks
• Prolongs shelf life
– Prevents moisture migration
– Prevents exposure to oxygen
– Slabs are pre-coated with a layer of chocolate on the bottom.
– Truffles are precoated with a thin layer of chocolate all
around theCopyright
entire center.
© 2013 The Culinary Institute of America. All rights reserved.
 Thinning Chocolate
Technique
• Hand Dipping Centers
– Efficient hand dipping of centers requires proper station
set up
• Work flows from left to right for a right handed
worker.
• Centers must be placed so as not to drip on already
dipped pieces.
• Dipped chocolates should not be handled for 24
hours after dipping to avoid fingerprints.

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 Thinning Chocolate
Technique
• Pannning
– Panning may be hard panning, soft panning or
chocolate panning. Only chocolate panning is discussed
here.
– Panning requires a panning machine, a rotating drum.
– Centers are usually roasted nuts or dried fruit
– Techniques
• Centers are pre-coated with a mixture of cocoa
powder and/or confectioners sugar to reduce fat
migration and improve adhesion.
• Centers are engrossed by adding small increments at
a time,Copyright
allowing each addition to set before adding
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 Thinning Chocolate
Technique
• Pannning
– Techniques (cont’d)
• Centers are allowed to harden overnight before
glazing and polishing.
• Polish gives shine.
• Glaze preserves shine.

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 Thinning Chocolate
Technique
• Shell Molding
– Types of molds
• Metal: Expensive, heavy, not commonly made or
used anymore
• Plastic: Polycarbonate, strong, good quality molds
– Other plastics available for molds that are not
used often

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 Thinning Chocolate
Technique
• Shell Molding
– Technique
• Polish molds.
• Use properly tempered chocolate.
• Create thin shells.
• Do not overfill the lined molds.
• Cap the molds.

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 Thinning Chocolate
Technique
• Shell Molding
– Technique (cont’d)
• Refrigerate to allow heat to escape
– Latent heat of crystallization
» Occurs when substances including cocoa
butter crystallize
» Can cause chocolate to bloom if it is not
released from molded chocolate
– Release chocolates from molds.

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 Thinning Chocolate
Technique
• Shell Molding
– A variety of decorative techniques may be employed
• Airbrushing colors
• Swabbing or brushing colors
• Using dry luster colors
– Applying contrasting color chocolate

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 Thinning Chocolate
Technique
• Shell Molding
– Used in manufacturing to make many candies including
gummies, jelly bean centers, candy corn, etc.
– Artisans use starch molding for liquor cordials, jellies
and fondants.
– Starch must be will dried.
– Starch is flammable, and care must be exercised not to
allow excessive starch become airborne.

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