Succeed with your Christmas pralines

Chocolate consists of particles (sugar, cocoa and milk powder) in a continuous fat phase. The fat phase consists of liquid and crystallised cocoa butter which gives the chocolate its unique properties – solid in room temperature but melting in the mouth.

Tempering keeps the crystals in check

Cocoa butter is a polymorph fat that can crystallise into six crystal forms (I-VI) with different melting points between 17-36 degrees Celsius. To get that really beautiful chocolate we need to temper the chocolate so that the cocoa butter crystallises in crystal form V. The other crystals are unstable and can lead to an unappealing gray-white surface (fat bloom).

How to temper chocolate:

1. Heat and stir the chocolate to 50°C, in a water bath. This in order to melt all the existing fat crystals.
2. Pour 2/3 of the chocolate on a smooth table (preferably a marble table) and work the chocolate by using spatulas, until it reaches 28°C. Now we have created several different crystal forms in the chocolate.
3. Add this chocolate to the 1/3 that was left of the heated chocolate and heat this in a water bath to 31-32°C. Now the unstable crystals have melted, but we still have crystal form V left.

This description is for dark chocolate. If using milk chocolate the temperatures should be a few degrees lower.

Seeding – an easier way to temper chocolate

Another way to get the chocolate in the right crystal form (form V) is to seed the chocolate with crystals of form V.

1. Heat two thirds of a fresh piece of chocolate in a water bath to 50 degrees Celsius.
2. Cool the chocolate under stirring until it reaches 34 degrees.
3. Add the remaining third of the solid chocolate in small pieces and stir until everything has melted.

How to make the praline shells

1. Fill the mould with tempered chocolate and scrape off the overload.
2. Vibrate the mould to remove air bubbles.
3. Wait a couple of minutes, then turn the mould upside down and pour out the overload. Now we have a thin layer of chocolate left that creates the shell.
4. Put the mould in the fridge for 15 minutes.
5. Add your praline filling in the mould and leave a space of 2-3 mm.
6. Close the pralines by adding tempered chocolate and scrape off the overload.
7. Put the mould in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.
8. Turn the mould upside down. If you have succeeded with the tempering the pralines will detach easily from the moulds. This is due to the contraction of the chocolate when crystallising in form V.

Important things to think about when making chocolate pralines:

• Make sure that no water enters the chocolate.
• The mould and filling should not have a higher temperature than the chocolate.
• Use gloves when handling the pralines, so that the chocolate doesn’t melt in contact with the fingers.
• Store the pralines in a non humid place at or below 20°C, to prevent fat bloom formation.