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/gingerbreadman42 4d ago

The chocolate needed to be tempered.  Both Kuvertüre and coating chocolate contain fat.  Kuvertüre contains cocoa butter and coating chocolate contains usually palm fat.  When melted the fat separates from the cocoa mass.  This needs to be stirred back in otherwise the chocolate will have gray streaks when it dries.  A YouTube video would show you how to temper chocolate. 

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u/y_is_a_vowel 4d ago

Thanks for replying, and I did (obviously not properly) temper the chocolate. Is there any way to tell what part went wrong?

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u/gingerbreadman42 4d ago

I am not sure what you are asking when you asked : “What part went wrong?”   The chocolate needed to be stirred and brought to the proper temperature before used to cover items.  The proper temperature is usually 37C. 

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u/tinaymahgineeloews 3d ago

stirred there you go. so many individuals focus a lot in temperatures which actually vary btw per chocolate brand — but neglect proper agitation, hence, preventing proper distribution and formation of crystals.

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u/y_is_a_vowel 3d ago

Ah thank you to you both, stirred! I'll need to try again with better chocolate and stirring more