Barmy Blue's Bland Blog

Mum doesn't see the point in trying to do anything for Valentine's Day when you don't have a partner. I disagree. Valentine's can be fun. This year I plan to have another go at making chocolates for fun, they make a great gift for friends.....assuming you have any that is .... or family, otherwise you can keep them all for yourself .

I've discovered a few things about chocolate since last year, for example if you melt chocolate then cool it down again then the texture is different. It's softer and somehow not as nice. Now I already knew this. It was quite disappointing last year. Also, I used baking chocolate which has a slightly different composition to other confectionary, that I also knew but I thought it would have a nicer texture than it did.

Now. I've discovered that this is all down to the alignment of fat molecules in the chocolate. When you buy a nice bar of Cadburys from the shelf the fat molecules are neatly stacked which gives it a firmer feel and makes that satisfying snap when you break it. When you melt it you displace the fat molecules and they don't line back up, so it becomes softer and doesn't make that lovely snap ever again.

To get around this problem you have to temper the chocolate. Basically you mustn't melt it too much. If you heat it little by little and stop just at the point it gets runny then the molecules should be sufficiently unaltered. Then you can mould or shape the chocolate as you desire and it should still be firm once cooled.

You can use a thermometer to measure the temperature and there's a certain temperature you mustn't go above but I don't have the tools to do that. So I opt for the microwave method.

You have to finely grate the chocolate. This will make it melt quicker. It's hard work but worth it if you stick at it. Then you microwave the chocolate for 10-20 second bursts, until it starts to get runny. I advise stirring it now and then. It is also wise to use a microwaveable plastic bowl because glass and ceramics hold onto the heat and will continue to melt the chocolate past the point of no return.

Also. Never use old chocolate because it's a disaster. To save time I grated a bar of chocolate a few days in advance for when I was in the mood to melt it. When I finally decided to melt it, it just wouldn't melt. It got kind of dry and crumbly.

I also plan to have a go at making the Valentine's Nama Chocolate shown in the Cooking With Dog video on YouTube. It looks pretty good.

Mum doesn't seem to understand my enthusiasm about this, I have to admit that once she got me thinking about putting too much effort into it and being alone on a couples day it rather depressed me but I got over it eventually. All I can say it that it's rather like Pancake Day (which is Tuesday 12 this year, it always seems to sneak up on people and they miss it). You can make pancakes any time of the year on any day if you want to. It's just that it's fun to make them on Pancake Day. That's all there is to it. And I feel the same way about making chocolates for Valentine's Day. It's just fun to do it. Also it gives me an excuse to make myself some chocolates.

Also. I made up all five vampires. I'm not sure they're perfect yet and may be subject to changes over time but they're pretty satisfactory at the moment. It was fun.

Bluebiird out.