Homemade chocolate
Raw materials: cocoa powder, cocoa butter, sugar and milk.
Tools: microwave oven, big bowl, mold cocoa powder, cocoa butter, (it is better to buy a piece, of course, if you buy powder. But if you buy cocoa powder, you have to buy butter. )
Exercise:
1. Find a steamer, drain the water and heat it. Then put the big bowl on the steamer.
2. Put the cocoa powder, cocoa butter and sugar into a bowl and keep stirring. Until the things in the bowl are mushy (sticky, dripping on the spoon, but not soon. It's a bit like pouring ketchup)
3. Add a little milk into the paste, then stir until it becomes sticky again, and naturally cool. Put the paste into the freezer and take it out after 5~ 10 minutes.
4. Heat again until it melts (remember to stir). At this time, you can also add some spices or sweeteners you like. Pour into the mold and cool naturally.
If you can't buy cocoa powder and cocoa butter, just buy chocolate balls that can be put in the oven. )
Shopping guide:
The most direct way to evaluate a kind of chocolate is sensory evaluation, that is, judging from color, brightness, crispness, sweetness and silky feeling. Really good chocolate, the sensory evaluation will not be bad. But the problem is that when we go to the supermarket to buy chocolate, we only see the packaging of chocolate, but we can't really eat chocolate in our mouth to taste it.
Storage conditions:
Chocolate is a very fragile and fragile product, and its storage conditions are very particular. In addition to avoiding sunlight and mildew, the storage place should not have peculiar smell, and the most important thing is to control the temperature and humidity.
The melting point of chocolate is about 36℃, which is a kind of food with strong heat sensitivity and difficult to preserve. The storage temperature should be controlled between 12- 18℃ and the relative humidity should not be higher than 65%. Improper storage will lead to softening and deformation, white surface, internal sand turning, odor or reduced aroma.
The unpacked or unused chocolate must be sealed with plastic wrap again and placed in a cool, dry, ventilated and constant temperature place. Chocolate sauce or stuffing must be kept in the fresh-keeping cabinet.
If you put chocolate in a place where the temperature is too high, large stripes or spots will appear on the surface. If placed in a humid and cold environment, a gray-white film may appear. These changes will not have much impact on the aroma and texture of chocolate, and it can still be used for cooking and baking.
If properly preserved, pure chocolate and bitter-sweet chocolate can be kept for more than one year, while milk chocolate and white chocolate should not be kept for more than six months. White chocolate may taste the same if left for too long, but it doesn't melt easily.
Generally speaking, the shelf life of chocolate will increase with different content. Especially chocolate products with fresh milk (or high milk content) and hazelnuts. Because the shelf life of milk and hazelnut is not long, the shelf life of chocolate is relatively short. Pay attention not only to the date of production when buying, but also to eat it as soon as possible when you go home to store it. If you have a cool room, chocolates don't need to be stored in the refrigerator. Although chocolate doesn't have to be kept in the refrigerator, it must be kept in a sealed container to prevent the growth of mold. In general, you should bring the package to room temperature before opening it.