5 things to watch out for when baking with chocolate

Baking with chocolate: if you do it right (and it really doesn’t have to be that difficult), it can produce incredibly delicious things. Cookies, cakes, brownies: without chocolate, you’d really have to miss entire categories of these, and that would make life just a little less fun. But baking with chocolate can go seriously wrong, so make sure you don’t make certain mistakes.

Fortunately, even as a novice baker, you can try your hand at chocolatey treats, especially when you get advice from chefs. Particularly when they’re pastry chefs! Here are some of their tips:

The microwave can be your best friend

…But also your biggest enemy when you want to melt chocolate. A microwave can do this much faster than a bain-marie, but that doesn’t mean you can turn on the boost button and let it rip. Lower the power, do it in increments of no more than thirty seconds, and stir well in between so that the heat is distributed as evenly as possible.

Hands off the wallet

Budget baking sounds attractive, of course, but frugality and chocolate don’t really go well together. Especially when it comes to chocolate, you should be prepared to spend a little more, chefs say. It may be just one of a few ingredients, but it should take center stage. So choose quality.

Taste-testing (no problem at all)

One chocolate with 70% cocoa content is not the same as another. They can be very different! Some have fruity undertones, while others taste more like vanilla or caramel. Keep trying different varieties and taste a piece before baking with it; that way, you’ll learn to recognize different flavor profiles.

Look after your own tin first

Chocolate can absorb the aromas—and therefore the flavors—of other foods. So store it separately or in an airtight container, so that your brownie batter doesn’t end up smelling like onions or, for example, blue cheese.

The right powder

Whereas in other (chocolate-free) situations you might use flour or powdered sugar to dust a baking tin and prevent dough or batter from sticking, with chocolate bakes you can use cocoa powder. Completely on theme!

Read also:

• How to make the most delicious chocolate rolls yourself (and it’s easy)
• This monster brownie taught me a lesson
• Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies from the Air Fryer ?

Source: Food and Wine