Tempering chocolate stabilises the fat crystals in the cocoa butter, giving it a glossy shine and preventing it melting in your hand. Tempering properly can be tricky, if you aren’t successful on your first attempt, try, try again!
Step 1: Preparation
Place 75% of your chocolate buttons into a glass bowl (the rest will be added later). Carefully chop the remaining 25% finely.
Step 2: Microwave Method
Place the glass bowl in the microwave and heat in 60 second intervals at 50% power. Gently stir the chocolate between each interval. As soon as the chocolate has reached 45oC-50oC, remove from the microwave and stir. Set aside for at least 10 minutes.
Step 3: Seeding
Slowly add the finely chopped chocolate, gently incorporate it each time by stirring the melted chocolate is completely smooth. Continue until the chocolate drops to 27oC.
Step 4: Reheating
Reheat the chocolate in very short 1-5 second blasts in the microwave until it reaches 30oC.
Step 5: Testing
Pour a little chocolate onto some baking parchment. If properly tempered, the chocolate should set in less that 5 minutes with a glossy finish. A larger amount should smudge cleanly
Dark and white chocolate is tempered in the same way, but the temperatures need to be adjusted to suit them.
