A Reader Asks, “I have been trying various methods to hand dip dried apricots in chocolate, but always get a “bloom” on the chocolate as it dries. The apricots are drained from a brandy concoction that I make, but I am careful to lay them out and let them dry before dipping them. I’ve melted down various kinds of chocolate (Ghirardelli, Valhrona, Guittard, Callebaut), but always get the same result. What am I missing?” The answer probably lies not with the chocolate you’re using but ..."

... Are you tempering the chocolate or just melting it?  (Your post implies that you’re just melting it.) If you’re just melting it, do you have the same problem with plain (non-soaked) apricots—or is it just with the soaked apricots? If the chocolate does not bloom using plain apricots then what’s probably happening is that the high moisture content of the soaked apricots (even though the surface may appear dry) is causing the non-tempered chocolate to bloom.

The next step will be to temper the chocolate and see if that solves the problem for you. There are many resources in books and on the Internet for learning to temper chocolate. I do enough of this kind of stuff that it made sense for me to buy a small tempering machine, a Revolation R2 from Chocovision. Depending on how much of this type of work you do it might make sense to buy a tempering machine yourself. However, avoid the temptation to purchase one on eBay without knowing what the retail cost is. When I was purchasing mine I joined an eBay auction until I noticed that the bid price on a refurbished machine was higher than the retail price of a brand new machine.

Previous Questions and Answers:

1. whats the ingrediants in chocolate? does it have water in it? if so how much?

   The most common ingredients in chocolate are cocoa liquor (sometimes called cocoa 
   mass) which is the ground up cocoa bean after it has been roasted, sugar, cocoa
   butter, lecithin (an emulsifier that is used to reduce the amount of cocoa butter
   needed and to improve viscosity and mouth feel), and vanilla.
   
   No other ingredients are needed and water is never added to chocolate, though
   water is a component of most centers (the water in the cream and butter in a
   ganache, for example). If you add even a small amount of water to liquid
   chocolate the water causes the molecular structure of the chocolate to 
   crystallize in a way that introduces lumps that can never be removed from the
   chocolate.
   
   :: Clay
   

   Posted by  on  03/19  at  02:34 PM
2. Patricia :: The primary ingredients in dark chocolate are cocoa liquor (or cocoa mass), sugar, and cocoa butter. Vanilla (real or artificial) is used as a flavoring, and lecithin, an emulsifier, is often used to improve the smoothness of the chocolate. Anything other than these ingredients is unnecessary and unwanted. With milk chocolate, the only other ingredient should be milk, usually in the form of powdered or condensed milk. There should be no water in chocolate and, in fact, that's one of the purposes of the final, conching, stage of chocolate manufacture, to drive out the last bits of moisture. :: Clay
   Posted by  on  03/21  at  08:40 AM
3. I would like to add natural vanilla to melted chocolate for my confections. Would I be able to add it in liquid form without seizing the chocolate or is granulated form better to use?? Also, would I be able to add consternates like Amaretto or raspberry to melted chocolate without seizing it?? I have read somewhere that oil based flavors are more friendly to melted chocolate whereas liquid concentrate forms are not. Thanks
   Posted by  on  05/04  at  01:12 AM
4. I have heard that some chocolates use clay in their recipes. Can you verify this? Thank you! Apollo, In the 1800s, chocolate was routinely adulterated with other substances including brick dust and lead. Lack of purity in the food supply in general led to the establishment of regulations that prescribe what can and can't be added to common foods, as well as how ingredients must be labeled. Since these regulations have been enacted, the incidence of adulteration has dropped to near zero -- at least in those countries that have adopted these rules. While it is impossible to rule out the possibility of some unscrupulous company adulterating their chocolate it is certainly illegal in most Western countries and I can't imagine it tasting good at all. :: Clay
   Posted by  on  05/05  at  07:46 AM
5. Dennis (re post 3) :: Any time you add small amounts of water to chocolate it will seize. This is true whether you are adding small amounts of an extract (which has water in addition to alcohol) or flavored liqueurs such as Amaretto or raspberry (what you call consternates) or liquid concentrates (extracts?). You could flavor using powders or granules but you run the risk of adding texture to the chocolate - which might or might not be acceptable depending on the flavoring. Dolfin makes an anise-flavored bar where the ground anise seed adds an interesting and not unwelcome texture. BruCo makes one using anise oil. There are different - one is not necessarily better than the other. You can use oils - and essential, natural oils are better than artificial ones, obviously. One other way would be to "infuse" cocoa butter with the flavors, strain, and add the flavored cocoa butter to the chocolate; you'd get subtle flavors this way. Hope this helps. :: Clay
   Posted by  on  05/10  at  07:54 PM
6. Apollo (re post 4) :: I have never heard this and I was unable to find out anything one way or the other in a quick search. If clay was an ingredient it would need to be on the label and I've never seen anything like that. You may be confusing this with something called "chocolate clay" - which is a non-technical term for what pastry chefs and chocolatiers would call "fondant." Fondant is a mixture of chocolate and corn syrup that can be worked just like modeling compound.
   Posted by  on  05/10  at  07:58 PM
7. Does Chocolate have caffiene ? Or any other drugs? :: Frank, This is a subject in debate right now. There are alkaloids (methylxanthines) in cacao. Whether or not caffeine is one of them is in dispute as several others are so close, chemically speaking, that getting a confirmed analysis is difficult. As to actual drugs, that depends on your definition. If you are asking "are there any stimulants (such as caffeine)?" the answer is yes. Are you asking, "are there any drugs (e.g., controlled substances)?" the answer is no. :Clay
   Posted by  on  06/22  at  06:17 PM
8. I have been trying to dip strawberries in chocolate and have not been very successful. I have been using clean strawberries which I have dried by using a paper towel. However when I leave the chocolate strawberries to dry there is always one side that is flat (the side that it has been left to dry). Please can you let me know if there is a way of getting an all-round even shape. Thanks Farheen
   Posted by  on  07/11  at  01:47 PM
9. how i should make chocolate hard, and please let me know the key ingredients? :: Happy Grower, Chocolate will harden (crystallize) all by itself when it cools down to normal room temperatue. To ensure that the hardened chocolate is stable requires that the chocolate be tempered. :: Clay
   Posted by  on  08/02  at  04:32 AM
10. i love chocolate
    Posted by  on  10/10  at  05:23 AM
11. my partner is out in iraq (british forces) could you recomend which chocolate is best to send that wont have melted before it gets to him. :: Claire; You'll have to be on the lookout for what is called "Tropical Chocolate." This is basically chocolate in which the cocoa butter has been replaced with fats with much higher melting points ... I am told up to about 130F. As to where you'll get that in the UK, I'd start looking at stores that outfit people for hiking and the like. :Clay
    Posted by  on  11/02  at  11:17 AM
12. I'm trying to make chocolate covered strawberries but when I do the make-shift double boiler then chocolate starts to melt but then in no time dries out into a clump never giving me a saucy cream in which to dip. I put 2 tblspn. butter in with the one back of semi-sweet morsels? Help??? :: Sandra: What's probably happening is that moisture from the steaming water in the double boiler is condensing into the chocolate causing it to seize. You need a tighter-fitting double-boiler setup and make sure to keep the water at a simmer, never a boil and make sure that the bottom of the top of the double boiler never comes in contact with the simmering water in the bottom of the double boiler. :: Clay
    Posted by  on  02/06  at  12:11 PM
13. Is it harmful to give a 110 lb lab a small bite of Kit Kat once a day. I've been doing this, with the dog showing no ill effects. However, I have recently been told that no amount of chocolate should be given to any dogs. Is this just the pure chocolate they are talking about or any type of chocolate. Thanks. :: Eldonna, There is not enough chocolate in a Kit Kat bar to do a dog that size any harm. However, there is a lot of fat and sugar in a Kit Kat bar that are not good for the overall health of your pet. In the long run I don't think it could cause a problem but it could make a problem worse than it otherwise might be. Another thing to consider is that you don't want to give your pet a taste for chocolate. Dogs are notorious for not being able to restrain themselves while eating, so if your pet has developed a taste for chocolate and runs into a stash of some high cocoa-content chocolate, they could eat enough to do harm. Best rule is: if it's not a part of their natural diet it's best not to feed it to them. Chocolate is not a part of a dog's normal diet. :: Clay
    Posted by  on  03/30  at  01:02 PM
14. Has anyone had a problem with the Revolation chocolate tempering machine? When it finishes the tempering process and I remove the unmelted seed chocolate, the machine stalls. I have contacted the company, and they are not aware of the problem. They even sent me a replacement machine, but the second machine does the same thing. Even on the few occasions, when the machine does not stall, the finished product is not completely satisfactory. The candies do not have that nice shiny look. There is some slight blooming on the surface. :: Roz I have two Rev2s and have never had the problem you described. One is nearly three years old. What kind of chocolate are you using? :: Clay
    Posted by  on  04/13  at  01:33 PM
15. Clay: Re Post 14 Thanks for your reply. I have been using Callebaut bittersweet chocolate. I sent an email to the help desk at Chocovision, and the person that answered said that it is probably an electrostatic type problem. He said sometimes it happens with their machine if there is too much static electricity around. I have been removing the seed chocolate with my fingers. He suggested that I use plastic tongs to do this. I have had the machine for about 2 years, but I primarily use it around this time of year to dip coconut cream Easter eggs, so I don't have a lot of practice with it. the last time I used it, the machine did not stall, and I was able to dip the eggs. However, the surface wasn't as nice as I would like. There was some slight blooming. Sorry for the long message, but this has me baffled. Thanks, Roz
    Posted by  on  04/18  at  03:16 PM
16. i am experimenting with fresh fruit juices such as lemon and key lime in my withe chocolate ganache.The problem I'm having is after the ganache sets it gets gainy. I have looked at some imulsifiers such as lecithin, but don't know anything about them can you tell me what I might try to keep my ganache smooth. I have tried the flavored oils and they just taste artificial to me. thank you.
    Posted by  on  04/25  at  07:07 AM
17. i have been making truffles or confections for some time now am i am starting to add alcohol to some of my ganaches. some turn out creamy and smooth but others like scotch,rum,and brandy are becoming grainy after they have been dipped and sit for a day or 2 what could be the problem?

    To answer the above two questions, there are many reasons why a 
    ganache might turn grainy or break (separate). The first thing I would
    try is to add the liquor to the hot cream before pouring it over the
    chopped chocolate. While this might slightly reduce the amount of
    residual alcohol in the chocolate it also makes sure that the alcohol
    is at the same temperature as the cream.
    
    The other thing I would do is use an immersion (stick) blender to
    ensure that you the emulsion (the suspension of the cocoa particles
    in the water/fat matrix) is completely smooth and even. After the 
    ganache comes together (make it in a tall cylindrical container)
    insert the immersion blender below the surface, angling it sideways
    as you lower it to ensure that no air is trapped in the blade guard.
    Start blending, making sure not to break the surface of the ganache
    which will incorporate air into it, which is a bad thing. You will be able
    to tell when the emulsion really takes hold because of a change in
    the look of the surface of the ganache and a change in the sound that
    the immersion blender makes.
    
    These two things should solve your graininess problem.
    
    However, if you are adding a highly acidic fruit juice to milk you run 
    the risk of curdling it, especially if the milk is hot. In which case I 
    might add it to the container, pour the chopped chocolate on top and
    then pour the hot cream on top of that.
    
    Hope this helps,
    :: Clay
    
    

    Posted by marknel  on  09/23  at  09:41 PM