Tempered Dark Chocolate by Seeding

Ingredients

• 350 g dark couverture, 64 to 70 percent cocoa solids, in callets or finely chopped
• 150 g of the same couverture, held back as seed, 30 percent of the total
• 20 g cocoa butter, optional, for thinning a stiff mass

Equipment

Bain-marie

The skills inside

Tempering chocolate

Allergen screen

None found among the 14 screened.

Screened for: gluten, dairy, egg, nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, molluscs, soy, sesame, celery, mustard, lupin, alcohol. Not screened: sulphites.

Screened by keyword from the ingredient list, not reviewed by a person; check every label for what the list cannot show.

Method

1. Melt the 350 g over a bain marie or in short bursts to 50C (122F), stirring, keeping every drop of water and every wisp of steam off the bowl.
2. Off the heat, add the seed in three lots and stir steadily down to 28C (82F); let the seed dissolve rather than forcing the temperature with cold.
3. Warm back to 31C (88F) for dark chocolate and no higher, then lift out any seed still unmelted.
4. Test on the tip of a palette knife: at 20C (68F) it should set glossy and firm within 3 to 5 minutes, snapping cleanly with no grey streaks. 5 min
5. Work between 31 and 32C (88 and 90F); if it thickens, thin it with a little melted cocoa butter, never with heat.
6. Milk chocolate runs the same three points at 45C (113F), 27C (81F) and 29C (84F); white runs 45C (113F), 26C (79F) and 28C (82F).