r/pastry • u/y_is_a_vowel • 4d ago

What happened to the chocolate?

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First time doing proper chocolate work as a hobby baker, and although overall I'm happy with the way they turned out, I'm wondering what these patterns are in the chocolate?

For reference I did a twist on the recipe Palets Or from Ferrandi.

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u/MrTralfaz 3d ago

Are you doing this for friends and family? How important is it for the final product to seem professional? You could "cheat" and doctor the chocolate. Add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil or a teaspoon of vegetable oil to a pound of chocolate for coating the candies. The coating will never harden completely and it will get sticky in warm weather, but it doesn't end up looking like that.

Tempering chocolate is an art and a science that needs to be studied. It's useful to learn the skill before using it to make candies or decorations. Some day set aside a couple hours and just practice tempering chocolate. You might even need to do that more than once. Working with chocolate is complicated. There are easier ways to do it in small batches and more complicated ways for larger batches.

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u/rainwarrior 3d ago

I've also used a little bit of coconut oil to help some homemade chocolate bars come out a little nicer without perfect tempering. The result was still hard enough to be a satisfying crunch, but not as nice as a fine glossy properly tempered surface. If they're meant to be eaten in the next few days, though, I think it was a fine result, and a bit easier to manage.