How to quickly and correctly melt a chocolate bar at home to decorate confectionery products

This delicacy comes in all kinds and shapes, colors and textures, and is used for various purposes. Lovers can enjoy a rich variety of toppings that combine perfectly to taste - raisins or nuts, or dried orange zest, salted caramel and liquid toppings. Whether it's a treat for tea or a topping for another dessert, chocolate has many uses. To help you implement them, just read 10 recipes on how to melt chocolate without leaving home!

Of course, the immediate preparation steps vary depending on the method chosen, but there are basic recommendations, for example, the chocolate should not burn. This means the primary answer to the question of how to properly melt absolutely any chocolate at home: stir, regularly, and all because this product tends to melt unevenly.

It is also worth considering that white tiles are more sensitive to heat than milky and bitter ones. For it, you should choose a lower temperature and not leave it to simmer for too long. In turn, the dairy product becomes more viscous after heating, avoiding the consistency of excessive liquid.

So how do you melt chocolate so that it ends up liquid? To put it bluntly, there are a number of ways. On the stove, in the microwave, using butter, cream, milk. Leaving room for choice, and not putting yourself in a narrow framework, it’s worth considering 10 of them.

The best way to melt chocolate to decorate a cake in the microwave (with video)

For those who have acquired not the latest, but extremely convenient miracle of technology, we can advise you on how to quickly and easily melt solid chocolate. For this you will need a microwave.

There are two ways: microwave or defrost mode. The first option is convenient for those who do not like to wait, the second - who likes reliability. To choose the best way to melt chocolate in your microwave, you need to consider: the defrost mode will melt the product for 3-5 minutes, slowly and evenly. The microwave will be controlled in 30 seconds, but there is no need to abuse the power setting: depending on the individual characteristics of the device, it is better to choose average values (from 250 to 400 W). The first time you can set the number lower, and then as it will be more convenient.

Having decided on the indicators, you need to figure out how to melt a bar of any store-bought chocolate:

divide into small pieces (break by hand or cut with a knife). Such simple preparation will at the same time speed up the process and carry it out more evenly;
Place the resulting slide in a bowl, ceramic or glass;
set the power and the appropriate time. On fast mode, remember to stir every 15 seconds. In defrost mode, you can do this less often, depending on need. The main thing is to make sure that the chocolate does not burn or melt in one place;
After removing from the microwave, stir: this will allow the unmelted pieces to melt into the hot mass.

If, after deciding how to properly melt chocolate in the microwave, the product is used for a cake, you should take into account that the grounds, which are hot at first, thicken quite quickly. Therefore, if you want to cover baked goods with it, it is best to act quickly.

For clarity, you can watch a video on how to properly melt chocolate in the microwave:

How to properly melt milk chocolate for a cake on the stove using a water bath

The most classic option for melting any chocolate on a home stove is to use a water bath. This method will provide maximum control over the situation, since the cocoa mass will be monitored every second, making it easier to notice if the product starts to burn. To avoid this, you already know what to do: arm yourself with a spoon or spatula (dry, water can ruin the glaze) and do not let the thickener stick to the walls of the dish.

If you want to know how to properly melt store-bought chocolate for a prepared cake using a water bath, this recipe will explain the task step by step:

Prepare two pans, aluminum or iron. One of the containers can be an ordinary glass bowl, the main thing is that the dishes match in size: the bowl in which the cocoa bar will be heated should completely cover the pan in which the water will be boiled. In this case, the bowl should not touch the water, but should be heated exclusively by steam;
Divide the tiles into pieces, place everything in a clean bowl, previously dried. Pour water into a saucepan and boil the liquid on the stove. On average, the approximate temperature sufficient to understand how to melt milk and any other chocolate is 50-80 C;
place the dish with the slices on top so that it can be heated by steam. Monitor the consistency, stirring regularly, as well as the temperature to avoid burning;
As soon as the mass becomes liquid, remove it from the stove.

After cooling slightly, use the mixture as soon as possible before it hardens back. This method will become the main method for several others due to its versatility.

How to melt chocolate in the oven until it becomes liquid

This is an alternative path in case the previous two are not suitable for some reason. Also, if desired, it can be combined with a steam bath. The general procedure is:

preheat the oven to 65 C;
Place the crushed chocolate in an iron bowl with thick thick walls and place it on the highest shelf in the oven, as far away from direct heat as possible;
Heat until smooth, continuously stirring the liquid.

It is recommended to use a wooden spoon; if you don’t have it, you can use a spatula. The main thing is to dry the device first.

How to properly melt chocolate for frosting using milk

There are at least three options for how to properly and easily melt chocolate for icing, using products that you almost always have on hand. If it is necessary to coat a culinary product with cocoa glaze, this should be taken into account in advance so that the glaze can be given the required viscosity in time and prevent too rapid hardening. You can also use confectionery chocolate here, it will be thicker.

To solve a sweet problem, you should choose the procedure with the most suitable product from the ones listed below.

The first preparation method involves the same step as melting chocolate using milk. This recipe can use any of the melting methods described above. Whether it's a microwave or using an oven. However, the most convenient method in this case is a steam bath, so it is easy to observe when it is time to mix the products. However, any method can be suitable for these purposes, once you get used to it.

In general, the scheme is simple: repeating the steps of the main process, improve it in accordance with the following points:

melt the pieces to the consistency of a liquid mass;
add milk to the resulting mixture without removing from heat: 3 tbsp. l. there will be enough milk for 100 g;
stir until smooth, remove from heat.

Once it cools slightly, the milk frosting becomes thick. It is advisable to cover baked goods with it in the near future, until it hardens.

Useful recommendations from confectioners

Impeccable chocolate glaze looks very impressive even without additional decor: smooth, shiny, silky, eye-catching. It gives the surface of cakes and other baked goods perfect smoothness. This consistency can be achieved if a number of conditions are met.

Cream and butter must be added if your goal is a glossy shine to the glaze.
During the preparation process, the glaze should not be covered with a lid: droplets of condensation falling from the lid will disrupt the chocolate idyll.
Do not overheat the chocolate, otherwise the icing will be dull, dry, crumbly or lumpy. When melting the tiles, it is better to remove the mass from the heat a little earlier rather than later, even if there are small unmelted pieces in it - they will quickly dissolve with further stirring.
High-quality white chocolate can also be melted and used for enrobing purposes. But you should remember that it is more capricious than usual, so in this case it is better to abandon the stove and use a water bath. It must be remembered that white chocolate glaze hardens very quickly and forms a fragile surface, but the important advantage of this product is its mild taste and the ability to be painted in any color.
If you add pre-soaked gelatin (10 g per 100 g of mass) to a freshly brewed glaze that has not yet cooled down and mix thoroughly, you will get an incomparably shiny, mirror-like coating. Ideally, it should be applied to a frozen surface.

How to melt chocolate with butter

It is worth considering how to melt chocolate with the addition of butter. All steps are identical to the previous ones, except for one thing:

add 50 g of butter (for 100 g of chocolate) to the liquefied heated mass, keeping the mixture on fire;
mix until smooth, remove from the burner.

The glaze is ready to use and can be used to drizzle the cake.

How to melt chocolate with heavy cream at home

And finally: if you are wondering how to melt solid chocolate with heavy cream, the procedure is as follows:

add 5 tbsp to the melted product (100g). l. 33% cream. It is advisable not to use cream with a fat content of less than 20%; the glaze will turn out less rich and more liquid, which is best avoided;
Bring to a single mixture.

Thick, sweet cream can always be put to good use. Desserts acquire a pleasant characteristic taste.

How to melt natural dark chocolate to decorate a cake

For true culinary connoisseurs, making your own glaze may not be enough. Indeed, why deliberately limit the possibilities if all kinds of decorations will give the baked goods not only an attractive look, but also a truly individual twist. Various inscriptions and original patterns are best obtained from real dark chocolate. It’s a good idea to replenish your supplies and find out how easier it is to melt natural dark chocolate. The procedure is not too different, but there are some aspects to consider.

When looking at the nearest supermarket, it is better not to skimp on products and buy only high-quality products. The content of real cocoa butter will result in an appropriate structure, quite viscous and moderately liquid, a beautiful shine to the prepared glaze and, most importantly, a rich taste.

So how to melt the chosen chocolate for all kinds of cake decoration? The recipe is simple:

It is advisable to immediately remove the microwave. A double boiler is most suitable, as it provides the greatest control over the process. What is required for this can be seen above;
So, steam the tile slices. Stir regularly. Allow the mass to become viscous;
Remove from heat and let cool slightly and thicken. Next, for better effect, beat with a mixer. If you want the chocolate to eventually harden, add a little butter;
tuck in the pastry sleeve and give free rein to your imagination.

So, how to properly melt purchased chocolate to decorate a baked cake is a simple question. A little skill and everything will work out.

What kind of chocolate is best to use?

Chocolate bars
Remember the most important thing: if you heat a cheap bar, you will not get a beautiful chocolate glaze. Therefore, choose high-quality tiles with a high cocoa content and without foreign additives. Please note: good chocolate should not contain soy lecithin, but real cocoa butter.

Do not buy chocolate bars that are porous or filled with nuts, raisins, or other additives. The air layer in porous chocolate prevents uniform heating, so you can get burnt pieces on the bottom, while the top ones won’t have time to melt yet. And chocolates with fillings will melt into an incomprehensible substance that can hardly be called melted chocolate.

When choosing a chocolate bar, pay attention to the wrapper. O or “table” chocolate is distinguished by a high-quality product. In addition, this type of chocolate is the easiest to work with.

For glaze, the best choice is couverture - natural chocolate with a high content of cocoa beans and fine grinding, which can be found in stores specializing in confectionery. And if you want to decorate the cake with a message, dessert milk chocolate is perfect.

Any type of chocolate is suitable for melting.

How to melt porous dark and white chocolate

The “trick” of this type of product is its deceptive lightness - bubbles that melt on the tongue. But how to efficiently melt porous dark chocolate? Achieving the right consistency with aerated chocolate is not that easy. If possible, it is recommended to use classic tiles, without additives or uneven density. If there is still no other option, then do this:

grind the tiles. Each cell can also be cut across the bubbles. It's okay if the chocolate starts to crumble. You can use a fine grater;
Place the mixture in a glass bowl and place in the microwave for 45 seconds on microwave mode;
check every 15 seconds, scraping the walls;
remove when the main part becomes liquid.

This task can turn into quite a big problem, but if you don’t have another product at hand, you can resort to this route.

If you combine the general recommendations from this and the following recipe, you will learn how to melt aerated white chocolate.

How to choose a tile

To melt chocolate without spoiling it, you need to familiarize yourself with the rules for choosing it. The fact is that not all chocolate can be tempered, and the resulting product will only bring disappointment.

To get a high-quality product, you need to melt a chocolate bar containing at least 50% cocoa (it can be either bitter or milky).
You can melt dessert chocolate, but there is no point in doing this, since it is a finished product with additional additives, while table chocolate is an excellent raw material, so it is optimal for heat treatment.
Porous chocolate is also not suitable for tempering. It is produced in an original way, radically different from the classical one. This “volumetric pillow” contains a lot of air, so the melted tiles will not have the desired consistency.
Forget about fillings like raisins, nuts, marmalade, etc. When choosing raw materials, it is necessary to give preference to confectionery products without additional additives.
It is strictly not recommended to use cheap sweet tiles. It is absolutely pointless to drown them, since they contain a set of ingredients that does not correspond to the classic one.

How to melt fluffy white chocolate at home

The idea of how to melt airy white chocolate at home may not be as difficult as with porous chocolate, but it is somewhat more complicated than with bitter or milk chocolate. This chocolate has a lower melting threshold. As in other cases where the greatest control is required, use a double boiler.

crush the tiles as much as possible. In this case, a grater is most suitable;
As soon as the water in the pan has reached a boil, place a bowl with a chocolate slide on top. It is advisable to pour the product directly from the board into the container to avoid contact with your fingers, otherwise the rubbed plates threaten to stick back together;
Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring patiently. It will take some time;
remove from heat as soon as the bulk becomes liquid. The remaining lumps will melt in the hot liquid.

Cool slightly and everything is ready to use. The task is definitely worth it if you use the white look as a base with the addition of dyes to achieve the spectrum of other colors.

Sweet good

Chocolate is not only tasty - scientists claim that regular consumption of it in moderate quantities (no more than 1 bar per week) has a beneficial effect on the circulatory system, prevents the development of malignant tumors, and helps eliminate cholesterol deposits. This delicacy is also considered an excellent antidepressant, since it contains theobromine and phenylethylamine - substances that elevate mood and improve brain activity.

It is eaten not only in solid form, but also in melted form, and is also used to make icing for decoration - many confectionery recipes involve the use of the aromatic delicacy.

But despite its apparent simplicity, this dessert is a rather capricious product - an improperly melted tile can simply turn into a too viscous or dry heterogeneous mass.

In order for your little culinary miracle to turn out not only tasty, but also beautiful, you need to know what chocolate to choose and how to melt it correctly for a cake, pastry, eclairs or pancakes.

How to make frosting from cocoa powder

Taking and melting a ready-made bar may not be so interesting, and good chocolate is expensive, and you don’t always have it on hand. If you have cocoa powder at home, you can use this alternative technique:

take 50 g of butter and melt in the already known steam bath;
add 4 tbsp. l. cocoa powder and 4 tbsp. l. powdered sugar. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. If desired, the quantity of products can be varied;
Cool slightly and pour over the cake.

Please note that the mixture will not be too thick. But it spreads very picturesquely and consists exclusively of selected products.

If you have read this article to the end, then your stock of recipes has been replenished with as many as 10 techniques on how to melt any chocolate! By combining some techniques, you can achieve the desired results. But one thing will unite absolutely all methods: a tasty and aromatic result, ready to decorate any culinary work and bring it to perfection.

Secrets and tips of confectioners

When using glaze, it is recommended to consider the following tips from confectioners:

Before decorating, the cake is placed on a wire rack and a dish is placed underneath to collect excess chocolate. Then the baked goods are poured in a circular motion.
You can decorate the cake with 2 layers of glaze; the first coating must first harden.
The cake or other dessert is chilled in the freezer before frosting.
The cake can be placed on a plate covered with parchment paper. Then the dessert is poured with the composition, after drying the parchment is removed.
When melting fondue products, you can use a microwave or steam bath. To give chocolate a delicate taste, high-fat cream is added to the composition in a ratio of 1:1 or butter with milk in the proportions of 50 g to 150 g. You can add orange syrup or liqueur to the finished composition.
To prepare a mirror-like glaze, the composition includes gelatin in the form of powder or granules, and glucose syrup. The mixture is whipped at +30°C, and the solution is poured over the cake, chilled in the freezer.
To prepare figurines and artistic inscriptions that must retain their shape, chocolate products are tempered. First, the composition is melted, then placed in the refrigerator, then heated a little. During the tempering process, temperature conditions must be observed.
The tempering process is simpler when using heat-stable chocolate, which is produced in the form of callets (drops), discs, pieces, etc.
For the fountain, confectionery chocolate is used in the form of biscuits, which, after melting, is diluted with cocoa or odorless sunflower butter. The products are offered by manufacturers in packages of 1-2.5 kg. According to standards, oils are added to the glaze in an amount of about 10% of the total volume.
Experts recommend purchasing chocolate from the brands Callebaut, Unifine, Puratos or Sicao for the fountain. The line of these manufacturers includes products with different concentrations of cocoa butter and cocoa mass.

When purchasing specialized chocolate mass, confectioners recommend taking into account the tightness of the packaging, composition, absence of artificial additives and shelf life.