Make Your Melted Chocolate Smooth And Rich With Just One Common Ingredient
Melted chocolate is the decadent ingredient that transforms the everyday into a bit of a special occasion. Drizzled over popcorn, you become the star of movie night. Dip some pitted cherries in it, and it's like Valentine's Day any old time. Pipe whatever variety you've got kicking around the cabinet over some pretzels or potato chips and you're a sweet-salty genius of snack-tacularity. But, for a preparation where the primary ingredient is simply heat, it sure is easy to mess up. A bit of butter is your antidote to any potential melted chocolate maladies.
Melted chocolate's greatest vulnerability is too much of the heat that gives it its form. Anyone who's overdone it knows that telltale fragrance of ruination — sweet cocoa notes frizzling into a perfume of charred sugar. Chocolate has a low melting point, meaning that it's easy to burn. You can usually avoid this outcome by melting it low and slow. But, the moment it gets those telltale signs of distress, introduce the butter pat by pat to smooth things over. The butter's fat helps loosen up any coagulating bits before it's too late.
Buttering up your chocolate for melty success
When you find your chocolate has split or lost its ideal texture, you've probably inadvertently adulterated the solid chocolate with a liquid like water. This causes the chocolate to seize by mingling with the it and creating an unwelcome pilling effect. Besides regulating the temperature, not mixing chocolate with water is probably the most important thing you can do when trying to get a good melt. But, when accidents happen, it's butter time.
This is most effective at the first sign of distress. Stir the butter in quickly ½–1 tablespoon at a time until incorporated. Room temperature butter works better than the cold stuff in this case, as it mixes in easier, but if all you've got is in the refrigerator, you'll probably be okay. Unsalted butter is a less-detectable melted chocolate savior, but even a seasoned stick will perform the same way; it just might take on a teensy bit more of that mineral flavor.