How to Temper Chocolate Recipe

How to Temper Chocolate is your go to guide for melting chocolate for candy making. Just in time for the holidays!

Hello again Food Fanatic fans. I'm happy to be back again this month with another chocolate recipe for you. I just happen to be the resident Chocolate Fanatic here.

I've always been a huge fan of chocolate. Since I was a wee little whippersnapper I've been chowing down on chocolate and loving every single bite.

I'll admit I'm a milk chocolate fan first and foremost. That being said I've never turn my back on any other kind of chocolate. I love them all. I've never met a piece of chocolate I didn't like.

One of my favourite things to do with chocolate is to dip fruit in it. Nothing looks prettier than strawberries dipped in chocolate. Or candies made with beautiful tempered chocolate.

I learned how to temper chocolate from a friend many moons ago. I used to babysit for her, and we became fast friends. She became like a big sister to me, mentoring me in so many ways.

She taught me how to make ice cream from scratch, how to can fresh fruit and also how to temper chocolate like a boss. We loved making our own candies, especially around holiday time.

You can temper chocolate multiple ways. Personally I'm a bit old school and prefer using the double boiler method. It's my absolute favourite way to temper chocolate.

I'm not a huge fan of doing it in the microwave, only because everyone's microwaves are vastly differently. So I worry people would ruin the chocolate too easily.

You can use a thermometer for tempering, and I highly recommend doing so. Particularly for beginners. Using a candy thermometer is going to ensure your chocolate stays smooth and glossy, which is always the goal with tempering chocolate.

For those of you who don't have a thermometer there's a great tutorial for tempering chocolate without a thermometer on The Kitchn. I use this method more often than not because I tend to break candy thermometers often.

Not even kidding. I seem to have a gift for breaking and losing candy thermometers. They never last long in my house. Either myself or my hubby seem to smash them to smithereens. 

I highly recommend chopping your chocolate up roughly before starting. Especially for the portion referred to as seed chocolate. It makes the melting process easier. Definitely worth the effort. 

I wanted to do step-by-step photos but the day I tempered this batch it was a dark day in Ontario. My kitchen is old and dark, with horrible natural lighting. So process shots were impossible. 

I'm going to be visiting a friend who lives on the waterfront; she has beautiful natural light flowing into her kitchen. I asked her if I could shoot a video at her place on how to temper chocolate. 

Would a video on tempering chocolate make it easier for everyone to understand the process better? I know it can be confusing with seeding and whatnot. So I think a video would be super useful.

Until then here's a guide to how to temper chocolate using the double boiler method and a thermometer. Hope it helps. Make sure you save this so you have it handy for holiday baking.

Are you tired of the dinner routine?

Stuck in a rut or looking for fun new recipes to try?

Our Facebook Group is growing every day! If you haven’t joined yet, we invite you to come check it out and join the fun.

You can ask for recipe ideas, talk about cooking techniques, or get help figuring out the right new pan set for you. If you’ve already joined, invite a friend along!