4

My recipe calls for 1/2 square of baking chocolate per cookie. But trying to cut thru the bar into the indicated squares just crumble and are not neat or exact. Is there a method of somehow either warming the chocolate or softening it, so that it will cut easily/nicely from the solid bar?

Julia
  • 43
  • 1
  • 1
  • 3
  • 1
    The recipe calls for an intact half-square of baking chocolate per cookie? I'd hate to bite into that... – SourDoh Dec 20 '14 at 16:41
  • @sourd'oh Baking squares come in sweetened too. – Jolenealaska Dec 21 '14 at 01:31
  • Why don't you just make an even number of cookies...? – starsplusplus Dec 21 '14 at 03:41
  • @sourd'oh) The recipe calls for semi-sweet baking chocolate, not unsweetened. – Julia Dec 21 '14 at 05:56
  • @starsplusplus) The square of chocolate hides underneath half of a large marshmallow so using an entire rectangle would be far too large. Not to mention awfully expensive cookies as you would be doubling the amount of baking chocolate which currently is two bars. – Julia Dec 21 '14 at 06:00
  • Oh, I see. I thought you just meant the total quantity needed was half a square per cookie. – starsplusplus Dec 21 '14 at 13:57

2 Answers2

4

You can score and snap. You make a shallow score in the chocolate using a knife or other sharp object (gentle!). Then you snap it. It works better on harder chocolates. Since all I have around the house this instant is a leftover halloween candy, I'll show the sequence here, but with this soft chocolate it would be easier to actually cut it through...

1) Score.

Done with a steak knife.

2) Pinch it. Here I pinched it between a plate and a cutting board. You may be better off using a cutting board and your fingers -- so long as your hold it down stiffly with your fingers.

It just needs to be held firmly.

3) Strike it with a blunt object. Or depending on the chocolate you can often just bend it with your fingers until it breaks.

enter image description here

(This basic approach is used in industry to make straight cuts in glass, tile, and silicon chips! The harder the object, the better it works. You can also try this on brittle candy, etc.)

Community
  • 1
ZSG
  • 156
  • 2
  • This is, of course, brilliant. Especially since it makes perfect sense! No more brittle squares! – Julia Dec 21 '14 at 05:54
1

Although the other answer is pretty genius (pretty much how you would cut bathroom tiles) it does seem a little labour intensive or over the top for the sake of cutting chocolate.

How I would personally do it at work is.

  1. Heat large knife, either over stovetop or using a blowtorch.

  2. Cut chocolate...

  3. Repeat as necessary when knife gets cold, giving the knife a wipe beforehand so as not to have burnt chocolate stuck to your knife.

The above method also works great for cutting jelly and cheesecake when you want a nice smooth cut.

Doug
  • 4,324
  • 1
  • 17
  • 28
  • Yes, I have often used it for cutting cheese cakes and/or ice cream or frozen pie(s) as well. But normally heating up the knife with hot water so as to not melt the product in the process. – Julia Dec 21 '14 at 16:47
  • To be honest I also tend to use boiling water for softer things just as it's easier to wash the knife after each slice. The reason I suggested this for chocolate is obviously it's going to take more heat to slice through in one go. Personally the slight melt caused I think of as a perk as it has a cleaner presentation which is important when working at 2 rosette standard :-) – Doug Dec 21 '14 at 16:52