Melting Chocolate 101

After years, literally, of watching him suffer over burnt chocolate, I finally piped up last night as I watched my husband scar another batch of his beloved all-purpose dessert topping in an innocent little pot on the open flame.

As cute as he is stirring away and mouthing off in his French Chef accent as the boiling charred bits fly onto his sleeves and he licks them off gleefully, I wanted to gently share a little technique in the hopes of broadening his horizons.

The key is using a double boiler. This doesn't mean some fancy new kitchen item has to be bought. Any heatproof bowl such as stainless steel or glass will do, just nestle it over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl.

To melt chocolate of any variety, chop it into small pieces, if it isn't already (as in chocolate chips), and place it in the bowl, stirring over the simmering water until almost entirely melted. Be sure not to let any water splash into the bowl, otherwise the chocolate will "seize" and your result will not be very nice.

As for my little French Chef, it was too late in last night's case, to rescue the chocolate sauce, but I'm hanging onto hope for next time. Given his sweet tooth, tonight could be my lucky night.

(photo: Maona.net)

Comments (10)

I have found the microwave to be far and away the easiest method to melt chocolate.

I have a recipe for really good chocolate sauce that starts out with baking chocolate and water, which avoids the whole burning thing.

...but you're right, Sara Kate--doing the double-boiler thing, or the pretend double-boiler thing, also avoids the whole burning thing.

I agree with Josh. The microwave is the best and easiet way to melt chocolate. There's no need to worry about water seizing the chocolate and there are no pots to wash when you're done.

Can someone share a recipe for Chocolate sauce that doesn't harden.. I'd like to serve it with Ice cream.

Thanks!

I'm in favor of the double-boiler method. Maybe it's because I didn't own a microwave until this past winter, but I like the control of the double-boiler. Plus, if you need to temper the chocolate, you can't do that in the nuker. Well, maybe you could, but it would be even harder ;)

Chocolate sauce for ice cream:

1/3 c. water
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate

Heat these in a small pan on low, stirring until the chocolate melts.

Add 1/2 c. sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

Add like a 1/4 tsp. of salt and about a tablespoon of butter, and stir until that all melts/dissolves.

Take it off the heat, and add a tsp. of vanilla.

Stir it again, and that's it.

Thanks Joan,

Vanilla ice cream with Hot Chocolate Sauce - is my dad's favorite dessert, so I may try the sauce this weekend for Father's day, though I'm unable to celebrate with him personally!

Perfect!

It's also especially good with coffee ice cream.

(I can't believe I had a salad and fruit for lunch. Why didn't I have ice cream with chocolate sauce?)

I wanted to make chocolate chip/chunk cookies so I bought Baker's Chocolate but now I'm worried:

http://www.lowfatlifestyle.com/cholesterol.htm

so ease up, everyone.