How to make chocolate at home. a la milk chocolate

It's impossible not to love chocolate! This deliciously delicious dessert won the hearts of not only the little sweet tooth. Even people who have taken place in this life cannot deny themselves this small weakness. The technology for making chocolate is quite complicated, but this is not a hindrance for home cooks who are eager to make chocolate with their own hands in their own kitchen. Cooking this delicacy in the home kitchen allows you to experiment with the filling, the firmness of the dessert, the shape and even the taste. But first things first.

How to make chocolate from cocoa?

Culinary experts have created a huge number of recipes for making homemade sweets. Here is one of them. The main ingredients for making this delicious treat are:

• cocoa powder;
• butter;
• sugar.

Making chocolate with your own hands according to this recipe is quite simple. There is no specific weight for each component. The laying of products is carried out by eye, but it should be remembered that the consistency of still liquid chocolate should resemble thick sour cream. The hardness of the product, as well as its sweetness, depends on the amount of cocoa powder added: the more cocoa is added, the more hard and bitter the finished dessert will be.

Most often, when making chocolate with your own hands, they use classic butter, and sometimes a spread. Ideally, you should purchase cocoa butter, which can be found on the shelves of large supermarkets. If this is not possible, then it is best to use butter, as the spread gives an unpleasant aftertaste to the finished treat.

do-it-yourself: cooking process

The basis of homemade delicacy is the greater its initial weight, the more tasty mass will be obtained at the output. The butter should be chopped into small pieces, and then melted in a saucepan. When it boils, sugar and cocoa powder should be added to it. Having obtained the desired consistency, let the chocolate mixture boil a little (2-3 minutes is enough). Then remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool slightly. After cooling, it is placed in the refrigerator for several hours, where it will solidify completely.

How to make chocolate from cocoa, we figured it out. But not everyone likes the bitter taste of this delicacy, so let's try to cook a milk dessert.

milk chocolate recipe

It has a more delicate taste than the classic. The ingredient composition of this delicacy practically does not differ from the classic recipe. Additionally, milk is introduced into the composition of the mixture, and certain proportions must be observed.

To make milk chocolate, we need the following products:

• butter - 50 grams;
• milk - 2 tablespoons;
• cocoa powder - 100 grams;
• granulated sugar - 1 tablespoon.

First, you should heat the milk to a temperature of approximately 60-70 degrees, add the prescribed amount of sugar to it and stir. Then melt the butter. You can do this on the stove or use a water bath. As soon as the butter has completely melted, add the sweetened milk and carefully pour in the cocoa, stirring the mixture constantly so that no lumps form. Thoroughly mix all the ingredients, cook the mixture over low heat for several minutes. As practice shows, 2-3 minutes are enough. Then the finished product should be removed in the refrigerator, after cooling the mixture.

Now you know how to make it and you can treat all your friends to this delicious dessert.

To make the delicacy more tasty, it is worth adopting a few useful tips:

1. The finished chocolate mixture can be cooled not only in the freezer, but simply on the top shelf of the refrigerator. In this case, the finished delicacy will be softer in texture.

2. To diversify the taste of homemade chocolate, you can add vanilla to it.

3. To make the product more useful, sometimes sugar is replaced with honey. But since honey cannot be heated too much, otherwise it loses its beneficial properties, it is introduced into the mixture after the boiling process. Once the chocolate mixture has cooled sufficiently, you can add honey and mix the resulting mass thoroughly.

4. To make the mixture more homogeneous, it is best to use a blender to mix the products.

Form and filling

Even if you make chocolate with your own hands, this does not mean at all that your delicacy will be a ridiculous flat pancake or just a nondescript lump. Do not give up the beautiful design of your culinary delights. You can use regular ice cube trays.

Now on the shelves of supermarkets there are many different molds that allow you to cook

The filling for homemade treats is completely up to your imagination. If you rely on standard fillers, then these are, of course, nuts. You can use classic almonds or hazelnuts, cashews or peanuts. Lots of options. Nuts can be laid whole, or they can be crushed.

If you plan to serve a treat in the form of bricks, then such a candy can be filled with coconut or waffle chips. An unusual option for filling homemade chocolate will be the use of dried fruits. Chopped prunes or dried apricots help neutralize the overly sweet taste of the dessert, and also make it healthier.

Not only tasty, but also healthy

Now that you know how to make chocolate out of cocoa, you don’t have to run to the store to buy a bar of your favorite treat. In addition, the home version of this sweet tooth dream is more useful than the store counterpart. Why? All the ingredients used in the preparation of the dessert are natural, there are no various stabilizers and flavor enhancers.

Experiment, surprise your friends and loved ones with unusual tastes of homemade chocolate. Bon appetit!

In the minds of most people, chocolate is bars wrapped in foil and colorful labels on store shelves. But chocolate is not so difficult to make yourself. In addition to the fact that this is a fascinating process (every housewife is curious to try herself as a confectioner-chocolatier), you will be absolutely sure of your chocolate, its composition and ingredients that do not contain preservatives, thickeners, hardeners and other chemicals.

To the question: “How are you at home? "- there is a simple answer:" Elementary! » Ten to fifteen minutes for preparation and for the entire production process - and you are the proud owner of a plate of hot chocolate. We form it and put it in the freezer - further your participation is not required. After a couple of hours, you are not afraid of suddenly arriving guests - at any moment you are ready to treat them to tea with homemade chocolate.

The basis of the foundations of any real chocolate

Responsible and scrupulous housewives often face a difficult choice for them. How to make homemade chocolate - from cocoa powder or ready-made cocoa mixtures, or is it better to look for cocoa beans? If you take the finished mixture as a basis, you need to be firmly confident in its high quality.

In other cases, as they say, if in doubt - do not take it. Grinding cocoa beans like the ancient Mayans is, of course, original, but very laborious. And the process should be fun. Time-tested cocoa powder without unnecessary additives is all that is needed to solve the question of how to make chocolate with your own hands.

Step by step instruction

Gathering the Ingredients

What should a beginner (and an experienced one too) have a chocolatier at hand? The three main ingredients are cocoa powder, butter (cocoa butter is ideal) and sugar. All other additives are already variations on the chocolate theme.

The process itself - how to make homemade chocolate - recipe

The essence of all chocolate recipes comes down to one thing. By experimenting, you will find your ideal proportions.

Recipe one

How to make homemade chocolate - dark chocolate recipe. Melt the butter in a suitable container. When it boils, add sugar (can be replaced with honey) and cocoa to taste. Approximately measure out the amount of cocoa powder until you are satisfied with the density and consistency of your chocolate. An extreme option is the consistency of thick sour cream. This is the limit - a more viscous structure will only harm your chocolate.

Consider the fact that the more cocoa, the harder and bitterer the dark chocolate. Pour into molds (you can not bother and pour into a regular deep plate), let cool and hide in the freezer. A couple of hours - and you can evaluate the result.

Recipe two

This recipe answers the question of how to make homemade milk chocolate. You will need:

• cocoa powder;
• sugar;
• milk;
• Butter.

The proportions will be as follows - respectively - 4 tablespoons, 1 teaspoon, 2 tablespoons. Oils - 50 g. Then boldly proceed according to the standard scheme described above.

Little chocolate tricks

• In the freezer, the chocolate is harder, but in the refrigerator, the opposite is true.
• Instead of milk, water will do.
• If you put honey in chocolate instead of sugar, then try not to heat it above 40 degrees, which will preserve all the beneficial properties of honey. Honey can be added after the chocolate has cooled down a bit.
• For variety, add toppings - dried fruits, nuts, wafer crumbs, vanilla for flavor - everything will go into business when making homemade chocolate.

Making chocolate at home is easy. Don't be afraid to experiment and add your own flavor to standard recipes!

WITH chocolate forgotten on the shelf of the refrigerator can work wonders ... And if you lack imagination, use the following tips and you will have everything “chocolate”. For starters, there are three categories of chocolate: dark, milk, and white. Black (bitter) chocolate must contain at least 35% cocoa, milk must contain 25%, and white consists solely of cocoa butter, which must be at least 20%. IN chocolate they also add pieces of various fruits, nuts, cereals, caramel... You can not only enjoy a bar of chocolate, but also make something out of it. Well, let's get started?

Chocolate inside and out

Of course, you can add chocolate to baked goods, such as a pie or cupcake, but first you need to melt it properly. The first way is a water bath. To do this, cut the chocolate into thin pieces and place in a small bowl, which is then placed in another, larger container with water heated to 40 degrees. If you decide to melt dark chocolate, start stirring it as soon as it starts to melt, and stir constantly from the very beginning for milk and white chocolate.

You can melt chocolate in another way - using a microwave. Set it to low mode (even the “defrost” position will be enough) and heat from one to four minutes. From time to time, take out a bowl and stir the chocolate, especially white or milk chocolate: they should not be left unattended for more than a minute and a half. And finally, do not exceed the temperature of 50 degrees, so that any ingredient that you decide to add afterwards does not dissolve in the boiling chocolate mass.

Once the chocolate is melted, pour it over the finished bun or add it to the dough of your pastries. In fact, you can use pieces of unmelted chocolate for both dough and drizzle. For example, you can put chocolate on top of a bun, then put it in the oven, and then the sweet slices will melt, and the chocolate will take on bizarre shapes. For baking, you can use any chocolate, not necessarily the same that was added to the dough. For example, for the test, you can take dark chocolate, and put a piece of white on top of the bun. If you are using white chocolate, remember that it is quite fatty on its own, so try not to put too many fatty ingredients into the batter.

Chocolate is especially good for dessert.

Ice cream, poured with hot chocolate, sprinkled with nuts or cereal and laid out in beautiful vases, will decorate any afternoon snack. Try also mixing dark and white chocolate and adding it to the Italian dessert panna cotta: no one can resist this! By the way, mixed chocolate mousses will be especially excellent if you add candied fruits to them.

An original and at first glance shocking find - capsicum in chocolate. Add red Espelette pepper to the ganache cream, then leave the dish to cool. After a while, take it out of the refrigerator, roll it into balls, sprinkle them with bitter cocoa, and now, the spicy truffles are ready.

Delicious dessert - chocolate fondue. Dip pieces of fruit or sweets into melted chocolate, in which, if desired, you can add spices (cinnamon, pepper ... vanilla is especially suitable for fondue). It's so delicious! To prepare fondue, you can use an ordinary saucepan in which chocolate will be heated. There are also sets of dishes specially designed for fondue, consisting of a fondue bowl, bowls, plates and forks.

Chocolate is also suitable for decorating cakes.

You don't hesitate to use chocolate as a frosting. To do this, it is necessary, gently stirring, to melt about 200 grams of dark chocolate and 100 grams of butter, and then distribute the resulting icing with a spatula. You can also mix chocolate with sour cream, and some add a little sugar.

To decorate an afternoon snack, cut a cupcake into equal pieces and dip each piece in the icing; then put on a plate and sprinkle with grated walnuts: it's simple but elegant. Place the cupcakes in a cool place so that the chocolate can harden. And finally, profiteroles can be decorated with chocolate. Real jam!

A chocolate bar forgotten in the refrigerator can also be used to decorate dishes. Rub the chocolate on a grater to get shavings. You can also melt the chocolate, carefully pour it on the board, and then cut off large chips with a knife. There is another decoration: melt the chocolate, and then carefully pour it on parchment paper, creating bizarre shapes, such as a spiral. Just make sure that the layer of chocolate is not too thick. Then place your artwork in the freezer: the chocolate will harden and make a beautiful cake topper.

Hot chocolate

In conclusion, it is worth talking about the most delicious hot chocolate, the memory of which makes you salivate. It is very easy to prepare at home, this hot drink, which is slowly warmed up, sitting on a sofa in a warm room and looking at the frost and cold outside the window.

All you need to make hot chocolate is a chocolate bar of your choice. It can be prepared in a hurry: just melt the chocolate and heat it over low heat. To decorate the drink, you can dilute the chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkle cinnamon on top; it will look impressive and most importantly, delicious.

Not everyone knows how to melt chocolate. But this ingredient is used in many desserts. We will talk about the popular methods of this culinary process in today's article.

What kind of chocolate is better to choose for melting

In order for chocolate to melt well, you need to pay attention to its composition. It is desirable that the tiles have as few additional components as possible.

Ideally, the base should be cocoa beans. For kindling, white, dark and milk chocolate are suitable.

• Porous tiles should not be used. It is quite difficult to predict in advance what substance will turn out after melting. Chocolate with fillers, nuts, raisins is also not suitable for these purposes.
• For mirror glaze, only couverture is suitable. This is a special kind of cocoa powder, quite expensive. But only thanks to him you can achieve a delicious crispy crust. The product is sold only in specialized stores.
• If your task is to make an inscription on the cake, then feel free to buy milk chocolate. Its consistency is thick and quite viscous.
• When purchasing chocolate, carefully look at its labeling. Ideally, it should be marked "confectionery" or "canteen".
• If you notice lecithin in the composition, it is better to look at another brand of chocolate. Manufacturers have long been replacing it with cocoa butter.

If you care about your health, try to buy chocolate without harmful components (flavors, emulsifiers, etc.).

How to melt chocolate in a water bath

Melting chocolate in water is quite simple, you just need to know the technology for making the glaze:

1. You will need 2 bowls of different sizes. It is desirable that the smaller one be with a non-stick coating.
2. Fill one pot with water, place on the stove and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat, the temperature should be maintained in the region of 75 - 85 degrees.
4. Break the chocolate bar, place it in a saucepan with a smaller diameter. Make sure there is no water in the container. Otherwise, the chocolate will burn, change its texture and taste.
5. Place the smaller pot in the larger one.
6. Start stirring the chocolate.
7. Add a little butter to the icing (can be replaced with cream). This will make your chocolate mass more viscous.
8. After the chocolate has melted, remove the bowl and cover it with foil, after making holes in it. In this form, the mass should cool.

Microwave heating method

There are 2 ways to melt chocolate in the microwave. Each of them has advantages:

• glaze does not burn;
• no lumps;
• the maximum cooking time is 3 minutes.

Both methods are so simple that even an amateur can handle them:

1. Break the chocolate into small pieces, put in a glass bowl. Put it in the microwave for 1 minute, while the power of the oven should be maximum. Take out the frosting and stir. Put it back in the microwave for 30 seconds. Repeat the process 3 times.
2. If your microwave has a defrost setting, you can use it. Send the crushed chocolate bar to the oven for 2 minutes. If lumps remain, add 1 more minute.

Such chocolate is not very suitable for icing the surface of the cake. There is a high probability that the mass will crack. But figures made from such chocolate turn out to be excellent, it perfectly keeps a head start.

On an open fire

You can also melt chocolate on the stovetop.

An important point: the bowl in which the cooking process will take place must be with a double bottom.

The cooking process is as follows:

1. Break the chocolate bar.
2. Put the bowl on the minimum heat, stir constantly so that the product does not burn.
3. As soon as the chocolate starts to melt, add a piece of butter.
4. To make the product liquid, pour in milk or cream. It is very important that the ingredients are warm, otherwise the mass will delaminate.

Once the icing is ready, pour it into another bowl, otherwise it is likely that it will burn.

Do not allow the mass to boil, the chocolate will lose its properties, it will exfoliate and crack.

How to melt chocolate for cake decoration

Melted chocolate is good for decorating the cake. It is prepared only in a water bath.

In the recipe, the proportions of the ingredients are important:

• black chocolate bar - 300 g;
• heavy cream - 300 ml.

Cooking process:

1. Prepare a water bath.
2. Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in the top bowl.
3. As soon as the mass begins to melt, add warm cream.
4. Melt the chocolate until the icing becomes viscous.

Secret from confectioners! In order for your chocolate to turn out with a crispy crust and not crack on the surface of the cake, you need to cool the mass well and beat with a mixer or blender.

For making glaze

Real frosting should be shiny. You can achieve this effect with the help of honey.

The recipe is the following:

• dark chocolate bar - 150 g;
• homemade fat milk - 90 g;
• natural honey - 30 g;
• oil - 80 g;
• powdered sugar - 80g.

Making liquid chocolate for fondue

Fondue or chocolate fountains can decorate any celebration. Dessert turns out delicious, quite unusual. Making liquid chocolate is easy.

Ingredients needed:

• chocolate (it is better to choose milk) - 300 g;
• cinnamon - 10 g;
• cream or fat milk - 60 g;
• strong brewed coffee - 25 g.

Cooking:

1. Prepare a water bath.
2. Send chocolate to melt.
3. As soon as the mass begins to melt, add the remaining ingredients.
4. At the last moment, sprinkle the chocolate with cinnamon, bring to a homogeneous mass, remove from heat.

Chefs often add whiskey or strong brandy to fondue chocolate. These drinks give the mass not only interesting taste notes, but also a special aroma.

There are many ways to melt chocolate. We have presented the most popular and proven recipes. Use our tips, and the chocolate desserts you have prepared will turn out delicious and beautiful.

Sometimes you need to melt chocolate: to decorate a cake, to make chocolate sauce, or just to pour over ice cream. In order not to spoil the chocolate, but to get a plastic and homogeneous mass, you need to know some tricks.

You can heat any chocolate: black, milk or white. The main rule for all types is not to overheat it. At too high a temperature, any chocolate becomes very thick and lumps form in it. It is better to melt chocolate in a water bath. The second thing you should never do is add water to melted chocolate. The water or steam from the lid that is sometimes placed on the chocolate will change the consistency of the chocolate to a more runny one, and it will not be tender and gooey. To dilute it a little, it is better to add cream or butter to a container with chocolate.

The third rule for proper melting of chocolate is to constantly stir it. If this is not done, then the chocolate will melt unevenly, and with further cooling, solid inclusions will form in it.

Melt the chocolate in a water bath as follows:

1. Pour water into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil.
2. Break the chocolate bar into pieces and place in a bowl.
3. Place the bowl on top of the saucepan so that the bottom does not touch the boiling water.
4. Add 20-30 grams of butter or a couple of tablespoons of fresh heavy cream to the chocolate.
5. Constantly stir the chocolate, preferably with a silicone spatula.

You can melt chocolate in the microwave, but this is a more labor-intensive method. In this case, the oven door will have to be constantly opened to stir the chocolate. So:

1. Break the chocolate bar into pieces and place them in a ceramic bowl.
2. Heat chocolate at maximum power for one minute.
3. Stir the chocolate every 30 seconds until it is completely melted.

In this case, add butter or cream at the very end and mix the resulting chocolate mass well.

If you follow the melting process very carefully, then chocolate can be melted simply over an open fire:

1. Turn on the gas or electric stove at the lowest power.
2. Place the chocolate pieces in a small saucepan with a double bottom.
3. Add cream or butter if desired.
4. Put the saucepan on the fire and constantly stir the chocolate until it is completely melted.

With this method of melting, the chocolate can be removed from the stove before it is all melted. Some of the smallest pieces will “get” to the right condition due to the heat that the double bottom of the pan provides. But you need to stir the chocolate even after removing it from the heat.

Following our advice, you will melt chocolate quickly and efficiently. And then decorate them with a cake, ice cream or fruit dessert. Keep in mind that if you do not add butter or cream to the chocolate, it will begin to solidify again, and quite quickly. So melted chocolate should be used immediately for its intended purpose.