Tempered Chocolate

By Jessica Rudolph

Published on December 21, 2022

Time

10 minutes

Yield

Makes 1½ cups

Ingredients

1 pound (454 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine, divided

Before You Begin

You can use this chocolate to dip (very dry) fruits, cookies, and candies or to make chocolate bark.

Instructions

Microwave 12 ounces (340 grams) chocolate in medium bowl at 50 percent power, stirring often with rubber spatula, until about two-thirds melted, 1½ to 2½ minutes (chocolate should be fluid but still lumpy). Remove bowl from microwave and add remaining 4 ounces (113 grams) chocolate. Stir and mash until chocolate is just melted and smooth, about 3 minutes. (If lumps remain, return chocolate to microwave at 50 percent power for no more than 5 seconds at a time, stirring at each interval, until fully melted.)

Photography by Steve Klise. Styling by Steve Klise.

Tempered Chocolate

Name: Tempered Chocolate
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 pound (454 grams) bittersweet chocolate , chopped fine, divided

Time

10 minutes

Yield

Makes 1½ cups

Ingredients

1 pound (454 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine, divided

Ingredients

1 pound (454 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine, divided

Ingredients

1 pound (454 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine, divided

Why This Recipe Works

Chocolate must be properly tempered in order for it to have its characteristic snap, shine, and smooth mouthfeel. Tempering is a process of very precise heating, cooling, and reheating chocolate (typically over a hot water bath) in such a way that breaks down and realigns its crystalline structure. Our easier method used a microwave and the “seeding” technique, in which small bits of solid tempered chocolate were stirred into melted chocolate, providing a map for the crystalline structure to reform.