0

I tried to make rocky road and stuck exactly to the recipe which called for butter and syrup to be added to melted chocolate..but very single time I added the butter to the chocolate it just seized up? It's ended up as very expensive rocky road as I tried it several times all with same result. I ended up just using chocolate. What did I do wrong?

user22039
  • 11
  • 1
  • 1
  • 2
  • Did you control for temperature with a candy thermometer? If not, this is the most likely problem. If yes, what temperature did you use? If your recipe does not specify temperatures, it is no good, find another one. – rumtscho Dec 20 '13 at 13:30
  • 1
    Please see also: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/3012/solutions-for-when-heating-chocolate-and-butter-doesnt-mix-well?rq=1 Note the correctiosn and clarifications I have written to the accepted answer. chocolate siezing (if that is what is happening) is due to insufficient water being added. You either have to add no water, or enough to overcome the seizing and smooth it out again, and both butter and syrup contain water. – SAJ14SAJ Dec 20 '13 at 13:33
  • Thank you. No temp was specified. So I will look for a different recipe. It was in a children's book so I was hoping it would be simple as I was cooking with my daughter. The chocolate seizing answer was very helpful too. – user22039 Dec 20 '13 at 13:39

3 Answers3

1

Every recipe I looked up said pretty much the same thing. You have to make sure that the melted chocolate does not touch any water or steam, otherwise the chocolate will seize up.

Recipe: "Melt white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, in the microwave by heating on high for 1 minute, stir with a metal spoon then heat for bursts of 30 seconds stirring in between bursts until melted. Make sure that anything that touches the chocolate (bowl, spoon etc) is really dry otherwise the chocolate will seize up (so don't use a wooden spoon coz the wood may have moisture in it!)"

Recipe: "Melt the chocolate in a bowl placed over a pot of gently simmering water. Don’t let water or steam come into contact with the chocolate as the chocolate will seize. Stir until melted."

I found this recipe (with butter and syrup) and it uses chips instead of the normal chocolate: "Before you make your shopping list, please note that there are three measures of white chocolate - I used white chocolate melts for the top because they are whiter and easier to melt than normal white chocolate, which can seize up if you don't treat if very gently"

There are many more similar recipes and all of them mention the water not touching chocolate bit to avoid seizing.

Divi
  • 4,756
  • 23
  • 65
  • 95
  • 4
    In the recipe described by the OP, they are already adding butter and syrup to the chocolate, so the option to not add any water has already been lost, as both of those ingredients contain water. – SAJ14SAJ Dec 22 '13 at 13:02
0

Try making it with butter (or marge) syrup and cocoa (no chocolate). Much easier as no problems with chocolate congealing, and much tastier!

Elaine
  • 1
0

Maybe you melted the choc too quick (your microwave might be more powerful than the recipe writer's). I prefer to melt choc as slowly as possible so it stays runny. Have a saucepan of hot water on the stove on the lowest heat with a heatproof bowl sat on the pan, within which the choc can melt slowly along with the butter and syrup.

Abla
  • 1