When it comes to making homemade chocolates everyone has their own preferred methods that they use and really the only way to learn the best way to make homemade chocolate is to make some. But, here are some quick tips that you can use to make your homemade chocolate better that have been gathered over the years by expert chocolate makers and home chocolate makers alike. These tips can make your homemade chocolate creations even better:
- When you buy chips or wafers of chocolate that you’re going to melt as a chocolate base for your candy don’t take them out of the plastic bags that they come in. Microwave them until they are melted or use a double boiler to melt them and then just cut a small hole in the corner of the bag and use the bag like a pastry bag to pour the chocolate into molds.
- When you microwave chocolate to melt it start with just 1 minute and then keep microwaving it in 1 minute increments until it’s melted. Every microwave is different and each type of chocolate has a different melting point so the time needed to melt the chocolate will be different on every microwave. Melting the chocolate in one minute increments means that you won’t accidentally burn the chocolate.
- Don’t freeze your chocolate concoctions. Freezing will start to make the chocolate break down and you’ll lose the delicious flavor of homemade chocolate. Instead of freezing the chocolate store it in an airtight container at room temperature.
- Dark chocolate that is properly wrapped and stored will stay good for about a year, but milk chocolate will only stay good for about six months. If it’s been longer than six months look for white spots on the chocolate. If the chocolate has white spots, called bloom, it means the chocolate is starting to separate and you should eat immediately or throw it out.
- To cut calories and make your homemade chocolate last longer take the homemade candy or chocolate bars that you made and cut them into a bunch of small pieces. Wrap the pieces and put them in the refrigerator. When you or the kids want a cold, sweet treat on a hot summer day take out a piece of the cold homemade chocolate. It will have fewer calories and fat than ice cream or a full candy bar and will taste delicious.
- If you’re really in a jam and you need some chocolate to finish making a batch of homemade chocolate and you’re out of chocolate, you can get by with some melted chocolate chips. It’s not a great solution, but it’s a solution when you need some emergency chocolate for a recipe.
- If your chocolate does develop bloom and you are not going to eat it right away but don’t want to throw it out you can melt the chocolate down, add some new ingredients, put it in new molds, and then wrap it and put it away.
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