Making chocolate at home is not a difficult task at all. A simple set of ingredients. 5 minutes of free time and a few hours in the freezer will allow you to create a delicious, natural and healthy dessert.
Homemade chocolate will delight children, allergy sufferers and all people who watch their diet. It contains no preservatives, dyes or thickeners, which are generously enriched in all modern sweets.
Below you will find simple recipes and several ideas on how to beautifully decorate the resulting delicacy.
The benefits of chocolate
Chocolate is rich in phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium. It has a beneficial effect on the heart and nervous systems. Increases brain activity, gives a boost of energy, improves memory and the ability to concentrate. Chocolate is often called an antidepressant. It is recommended for use in apathetic and depressive states, stress and anxiety. It has a calming effect on a person and helps normalize sleep.
But you must remember that chocolate is primarily a sweet product with a high calorie content. Consuming it in large portions can harm the body.
Milk chocolate benefits and harms
Those who happily consume milk chocolate in any form will be interested to know what the product’s effect on the body is, how it is useful and who should consume the delicacy with caution.
- The benefits of milk chocolate are primarily due to the components contained in grated cocoa beans. Natural antioxidants help reduce free radicals in the body, normalize blood flow, lower cholesterol levels and even have an antiviral effect.
- The most delicious milk chocolate stimulates the production of endorphins, improves brain activity and activity.
- However, despite all the usefulness of the product, excessive consumption of milk chocolate can contribute to excess weight gain. This fact does not apply to dark chocolate without added milk.
How to choose the right chocolate?
The first thing you need to pay attention to when choosing chocolate is its composition. Natural chocolate contains cocoa, sugar and cocoa butter. White chocolate does not contain cocoa powder. Milk chocolate includes milk powder.
If GOST is indicated on the chocolate packaging, then you can be confident in the veracity of the product’s composition.
High-quality chocolate has a solid structure and at the same time breaks easily. It should be dark in color; the presence of light shades in the product indicates that it contains soy. If chocolate doesn't crumble well and cracks perfectly, then it contains a lot of additives and thickeners.
If lecithin is found among the ingredients on a pack of chocolate, then there is nothing wrong with that. This component helps the chocolate mass become homogeneous.
Homemade milk chocolate made from cocoa beans
Ground cocoa beans are best for this recipe. If you can’t find any, you can grind the bean in a coffee grinder or blender. Use the oil in powder or stick form.
Required components:
- 100 grams of cocoa beans;
- 50 grams of cocoa butter;
- 2 tbsp. l. condensed milk;
- 1.5 tsp. powdered milk.
Milk chocolate recipe:
- Mix beans and butter in a bowl. Microwave for 2-3 minutes. The contents should melt and become liquid.
- Add condensed milk and dry milk. Mix.
- Beat with a blender until a thick, dough-like consistency.
- Place the prepared mixture into molds and allow to harden completely.
If you want to give the chocolate a more bitter and rich taste, add more cocoa butter.
How to make milk chocolate?
Unlike purchased products, homemade milk chocolate has an exclusively natural composition, excellent taste and relatively low cost. Raw materials for the implementation of the recipe should be chosen of high quality, from a trusted manufacturer. Cocoa butter should not be replaced with butter, but grated cocoa powder.
Ingredients:
- cocoa butter – 50 g;
- grated cocoa – 20 g;
- powdered sugar – 50 g;
- powdered milk – 1 tbsp. spoon;
- vanilla extract – 0.5 teaspoon;
- salt – 1 pinch.
Preparation
- Melt cocoa butter and cocoa mass in a water bath.
- Add the sifted dry mixture of milk, salt, powdered sugar, stirring.
- Stir in vanilla extract and pour the mixture into silicone molds.
- Complete the milk chocolate recipe at home by placing the container with the base in the refrigerator for 1-1.5 hours.
Chocolate made from cocoa powder
Cocoa powder, unlike beans, can be found in any grocery store. The taste from changing the ingredients will be slightly different from the first option, but this will not make the product worse.
To prepare you need to take:
- 2 cups cocoa powder;
- a glass of milk;
- 30 g flour;
- 160 g butter;
- half a glass of powdered sugar.
Milk chocolate with cocoa recipe:
- Grind cocoa with soft butter in a plate. You can use a blender. A well-beaten mass resembles a dense paste.
- Heat the chocolate mass in a water bath. Mix well.
- Add powder, flour and milk to it. Mix well.
- Once the consistency has become homogeneous, let it cool slightly and pour into molds.
The dish is ready to eat.
Milk chocolate recipe
Milk chocolate has a more delicate taste than classic chocolate.
The ingredient composition of this delicacy is practically no different from the classic recipe. Additionally, milk is added to the mixture, and certain proportions must be observed. To make milk chocolate, we need the following products:
- butter – 50 grams;
- milk – 2 tablespoons;
- cocoa powder – 100 grams;
- granulated sugar – 1 tablespoon.
First, you should heat the milk to a temperature of approximately 60-70 degrees, add the required amount of sugar to it and stir. Then melt the butter. You can do this on the stove or use a water bath. As soon as the butter has completely melted, add the sweetened milk and carefully add the cocoa, constantly stirring the mixture so that no lumps form. After thoroughly mixing all the ingredients, cook the mixture over low heat for several minutes. As practice shows, 2-3 minutes are enough. Then the finished product should be placed in the refrigerator, after cooling the mixture.
Now you know how to make milk chocolate and you can treat all your friends to this delicious dessert.
How to turn dark chocolate into milk chocolate?
If you happen to have dark chocolate on hand that you don’t like, but want something sweeter, then use this recipe. All the necessary components can be found at home or in the nearest store. And you will spend a little time on the preparation itself.
Required ingredients:
- dark dark chocolate bar;
- 100 ml milk;
- cream 33% fat;
- 50 grams of butter;
- 2 teaspoons white sugar.
Preparation:
- Melt the dark chocolate bar using a water bath.
- Add milk, butter, a couple of tablespoons of sugar.
- Cook the chocolate mixture for 5 minutes until thick.
After the chocolate has cooled, distribute it into molds and put it in the refrigerator. When the chocolate hardens, you can try it and treat it to your family and friends.
What is the difference between white chocolate and milk chocolate?
Milk chocolate occupies a leading position among the favorites of avid sweet tooths. White chocolate takes an honorable second place. White chocolate has a delicate, pleasant taste and a subtle vanilla aroma. Its main difference from its chocolate brothers is the absence of cocoa beans. This fact will pleasantly please opponents of caffeine. But it is precisely because of this difference that white chocolate should be consumed in smaller quantities. Caffeine in the product helps break down vegetable fats, and its absence means that fats in the body dissolve much more slowly. Also, the calorie content of white chocolate is higher than that of milk or dark chocolate. In addition to its delicate taste, its advantage is a small percentage of the likelihood of an allergic reaction. Like all sweets, white chocolate should be consumed in moderation.
White chocolate recipe
Making white chocolate is not much different from the classic milk chocolate recipe. No beans are used here, the entire emphasis is on the presence of cocoa butter and milk powder.
Required Products:
- 100 grams cocoa butter;
- 80 grams of finely ground powdered sugar;
- a teaspoon of vanillin;
- 90 grams of milk powder.
Making white milk chocolate
- Grate the cocoa butter using a coarse grater.
- Heat the oil in a water bath.
- Add vanilla and stir.
- After dissolving the ingredients, add powder and dry milk. Stir constantly so that the mixture does not burn.
Pour the finished milk chocolate into molds and place in the freezer. After complete hardening, it can be consumed.
Homemade vegan milk chocolate. Doesn't melt in your hands! 2 ways
Are you missing milk chocolate? So I was very bored, and even sometimes, no, no, I bought or treated myself whenever possible to something that was far from healthy, oversaturated with refined sugar, and even containing animal products in the delicacy, until I tried expensive cashew chocolate bars from healthy lifestyle stores , very reminiscent of classic milk chocolate.
And I wanted to experiment with chocolate so much that I soon came up with 2 of my own recipes that taste very much like milk chocolate! Now I only use these recipes; they are also suitable for glazing any desserts.
I'll show you 2 ways:
Method 1: “Milk chocolate” in a water bath (classic method)
Ingredients:
- 50 g cocoa butter;
- 20 g grated cocoa;
- 15 g cashew paste;
- 15 g coconut sugar (grind into powder).
Cooking method:
- Cut the cocoa butter and cocoa mass into shavings with a knife (this is necessary so that the ingredients melt as quickly as possible in a water bath, and the temperature does not rise above 45-46 degrees).
- I combine all the ingredients in a bowl. I heat the water in a separate pan in advance, without bringing it to a boil, remove it from the heat and place a bowl with the ingredients for chocolate on top of the pan. It is important that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water, and that the bowl itself is exactly the same size as the diameter of the pan with a water bath (so that steam does not get into the chocolate).
- I continuously stir with a spatula until all the components dissolve into a homogeneous chocolate mass, while constantly checking the temperature with a pyrometer (cooking thermometer), making sure that the mass does not overheat above 45-46 degrees. Periodically, you can remove the bowl from the water bath to do this.
- So, the chocolate mass has reached 45-46 degrees, now you need to temper the chocolate so that it does not melt in your hands even at room temperature. To do this, you need to lower the temperature to 26 degrees - continuously stirring the mass with a silicone spatula and spreading the chocolate over the walls of the bowl. It's best to do this in a cool room or near an open window so that the temperature drops as quickly as possible.
- When the temperature of the chocolate has dropped to 26 degrees (and this takes about 10-15 minutes), for successful tempering (so that the crystals we need form in the chocolate and it does not melt in our hands and turns out shiny), we need to raise the temperature again by another 1 degree - I quickly put it in a water bath and, stirring continuously, check the temperature - literally 15 seconds is enough. Everything, now that the temperature of the chocolate mass has been increased to 27 degrees, can be poured into molds.
Important: in order for the chocolate to shine, the molds must be wiped with alcohol (vodka) in advance.
6. If tempered successfully, the chocolate will set at room temperature in literally 20 minutes. You can leave the chocolate at room temperature for a day so that it “ripens” or after it has set at room temperature, place it in the refrigerator. Once removed from the refrigerator, it will no longer melt in your hands even at room temperature, since we tempered it :) feel free to give these chocolates to your loved ones and friends.
Method 2: Milk chocolate in a powerful blender
This method is good because you don’t need to buy expensive cashew paste, but you can simply throw all the ingredients into a powerful blender and it will grind all the ingredients into a homogeneous mass, and even heat it, thus bypassing the water bath.
Ingredients:
- 50 g cocoa butter;
- 10 g cashews;
- 10 coconut milk powder (or other plant-based milk powder or vegetable protein that tastes good);
- 20 g grated cocoa;
- 15 g coconut sugar.
Cooking method:
- As in the first option, cut cocoa butter and cocoa mass into shavings with a knife.
- I immerse all the ingredients in the blender bowl and beat at high speed, helping with the pusher. Periodically I turn off the blender, mix the mass with a spatula, check the temperature, just like in the first option, it is important that the mass does not overheat above 45-46 degrees. It is very important to seize the moment.
- When the chocolate mass becomes completely liquid, homogeneous and reaches a temperature of 45-46 degrees, we will proceed to temper it in the same way as in the first option - that is, now we lower the temperature to 26 degrees - continuously stirring the mass with a silicone spatula and spreading the chocolate over the walls of the bowl. It's best to do this in a cool room or near an open window so that the temperature drops as quickly as possible.
- When the temperature of the chocolate has dropped to 26 degrees, you need to raise the temperature again by 1 degree - quickly put it in a water bath, and continuously stirring with a spatula, check the temperature - literally 15 seconds is enough. Everything, now that the temperature of the chocolate mass has been increased to 27 degrees, can be poured into molds.
- Just like in the first option, if tempered successfully, the chocolate will set at room temperature in literally 20 minutes. You can leave the chocolate at room temperature for a day so that it “ripens” or after it has set at room temperature, place it in the refrigerator. Once removed from the refrigerator, it will no longer melt in your hands even at room temperature, since we tempered it :) feel free to give these chocolates to your loved ones and friends.
- Watch the detailed Master Class in the video:
Tips for making chocolate
When preparing chocolate, to prevent lumps from forming, use the finest cocoa powder. If this is not found, then sift the regular powder through a sieve.
Add nuts, raisins, spices or coconut to your chocolate mixture to create a new, personalized product. In this case, you will get milk chocolate that tastes original, and your guests’ reviews of it will be only positive. Add large ingredients, such as dried fruits, to ready-made chocolate before freezing it.
Instead of regular sugar, try adding honey, jam or another sweet substitute to the chocolate mixture. You should be aware that the density of the mass may change, so you will need more dry ingredients and less liquid (milk).
Store homemade chocolate in the refrigerator so it will retain all its flavor properties. Take out the treat only before serving.
