How to melt chocolate

When making sweet treats at home, adding a dash of melted chocolate is a guaranteed way to take your desserts from good to great - and it's much easier to pull off than you think!

Whether you’re using chocolate in a recipe for homemade cupcakes for your little ones, or creating a rich chocolate sauce to trickle over an equally delicious cake, knowing how to properly melt chocolate is one skill everyone can master.

We’ll take you through our two favourite ways to easily take your chocolate from sweet and solid to decadently oozy.

Bain-Marie (water bath)

A bain-marie is a French term for a style of cooking where a bowl containing food is placed over a saucepan of gently simmering water. This cooks, or melts, the food more slowly.

The important thing to remember when melting your chocolate on a bain-marie is that no moisture or steam should come into contact with the chocolate. Moisture can actually “seize” the chocolate and make it clumpy.

To do it yourself at home, you’ll need a medium-size saucepan and a heatproof bowl that fits snugly into the rim of the saucepan.

Then, place approximately five centimetres of water in the saucepan and bring it to a gentle simmer, ensuring there is limited steam. Put the chopped chocolate into the bowl and place it on the saucepan ensuring the bottom of the bowl does not touch the surface of the water. Stir the chocolate frequently until it is molten.

Watch Lindt’s Master Chocolatier take you through using a bain-marie.

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Microwave

We understand that it’s not always convenient to whip out a saucepan and get the water boiling, but if you’re going to use a microwave to melt, make sure you follow these handy tips to prevent a dry, grainy consistency.

If using a microwave, stick to smaller quantities of chocolate (rather than the whole block at once). You’ll need to finely chop your chocolate before you start.

Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave the chocolate in short intervals (approximately 10-15 seconds each time) on 75 per cent power.

Make sure you keep stirring between each interval.

Then, you’re free to use your decadent melted chocolate in your cakes, cupcakes, fondants or drizzled over your favourite ice-cream.

Brought to you by Lindt