February is a month so star-crossed with chocolatein part because it bears a holiday devoted to love and chocolate-laden valentines. But while its definitely easy to buy some of your favorite store-bought or artisanal chocolates to show your love or appreciation to friends or family, making your own batch from scratch can leave be all the more memorable. In two posts, well outline how to pull it all off.
Refining the Cocoa
Once the nibs have been separated, youll want to grind up the result of the previous step as much as you possibly can. In lieu of other expensive processing equipment, a coffee or spice grinder will do just fine. Measure out the sweetener you want. For example, about 40 G of your sugar and 60 G of nibs will work out to be a sixty-percent dark blend.
Add the sweetener first and start grinding it down, and then add the nibs once the sweetener is superfine. Make sure to grind up the mass for about five minutes. Stop in one minute intervals to let your grinder cool and to mix in the parts of the mass that are sticking to the bottom and sides.
Conching the Chocolate
Once youve mixed up the chocolate, youll want to melt it down in your mortar and pestle. Wed recommend putting the mortar and pestle into the oven at a lower temperature for a few minutes, or using a hairdryer to warm them up enough to melt and mellow the chocolate out. Mix it up until it melts, and, more importantly, until the chocolate gets the taste you want.
Normally, this step takes hours. But mixing that long by hand is impractical. Even devoting ten or fifteen minutes will improve the overall taste of the finished product. Stop every five minutes or so to taste to see if you need to keep conching or not. Once it tastes the way you want, you can pour it into molds or onto parchment paper to harden and use or give out later. Making Chocolate from Scratch Part II
February is a month so star-crossed with chocolatein part because it bears a holiday devoted to love and chocolate-laden valentines. But while its definitely easy to buy some of your favorite store-bought or artisanal chocolates to show your love or appreciation to friends or family, making your own batch from scratch can leave be all the more memorable. In two posts, well outline how to pull it all off.
Refining the Cocoa
Once the nibs have been separated, youll want to grind up the result of the previous step as much as you possibly can. In lieu of other expensive processing equipment, a coffee or spice grinder will do just fine. Measure out the sweetener you want. For example, about 40 G of your sugar and 60 G of nibs will work out to be a sixty-percent dark blend.
Add the sweetener first and start grinding it down, and then add the nibs once the sweetener is superfine. Make sure to grind up the mass for about five minutes. Stop in one minute intervals to let your grinder cool and to mix in the parts of the mass that are sticking to the bottom and sides.
Conching the Chocolate
Once youve mixed up the chocolate, youll want to melt it down in your mortar and pestle. Wed recommend putting the mortar and pestle into the oven at a lower temperature for a few minutes, or using a hairdryer to warm them up enough to melt and mellow the chocolate out. Mix it up until it melts, and, more importantly, until the chocolate gets the taste you want.
Normally, this step takes hours. But mixing that long by hand is impractical. Even devoting ten or fifteen minutes will improve the overall taste of the finished product. Stop every five minutes or so to taste to see if you need to keep conching or not. Once it tastes the way you want, you can pour it into molds or onto parchment paper to harden and use or give out later.