Homemade Chocolate Sauce Recipe - Savory Nothings (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep chocolate sauce from hardening? ›

Add Liquid

For a glossy sauce that won't harden, substances like water, cream, or milk can work. But beware, chocolate and water aren't the best of friends! Adding water directly to melted chocolate can make it seize, turning it into a grainy, stiff mess.

To thin melted chocolate, add a small amount of neutral oil, like vegetable oil or cocoa butter, stirring gently until it reaches the desired consistency. Melt slowly to avoid overheating, and keep water out to prevent the chocolate from seizing.

You don't add ingredients to chocolate to make it harden, you temper it by heating it to a specific temperature, cooling it to another temperature, then heating it again. This causes the chocolate to crystalize in a way that leaves it hard and shiny. The temperatures are different for different kinds of chocolate.

It will become lumpy and unmanageable. If you must add a liquid (such as heavy cream or milk), heat up the liquid first, then add the chocolate. The chocolate will melt more evenly and distribute into the liquid.

Chocolate seizes when it comes into contact with even a small amount of liquid or moisture during the melting process. This is because the water causes the sugar in the chocolate to dissolve and then form a syrup, which binds the cocoa particles together, creating a grainy, thick, and clumpy texture.

Adding a tablespoon of coconut oil or vegetable oil while microwaving helps the chocolate melt more smoothly and makes it the perfect consistency for dipping! The caveat here is that once cool, the chocolate won't set up quite as hard as it did to begin with due to the added fat content.

Adding butter to chocolate not only improves the taste, but also the texture. What is this? Butter is added to chocolate to provide extra fat and so that the chocolate mixes even better with any other additional ingredients. Furthermore, it can be used to release seized chocolate and thin out liquified chocolate.

Pour melted chocolate into a piping bag (optional).

For a more controlled drizzle, place the melted chocolate into a plastic bag and puncture a small hole in the corner. Working quickly to keep the hot chocolate from cooling, gently squeeze the bag to drizzle the chocolate over your desserts.

Add in butter for a richer melted chocolate.

Cut up the butter into the same size as the chips so it easily melts. Melt your chocolate on the stove, and when you are done, and while it is still hot, add in the butter and stir it in until it fully melts. Add in one tablespoon of butter for every cup of chocolate chips.

Chocolate being melted, simply can't tolerate small drops of water. In this case, the steam escaping from the bottom of the double boiler is sufficient to make chocolate seize. The same thing will happen if you cover the pan in which chocolate is melting.

Why is my melted chocolate hardening? ›

Seized chocolate occurs when the chocolate you're melting comes into contact with moisture. Chocolate itself doesn't contain any moisture, so adding a small amount of liquid can disrupt the melting process.

Vegetable oil is my lifesaver and I rarely melt chocolate without it! (Don't use this with candy melts or melting chocolate though, just regular chocolate.) As a fair warning, adding vegetable oil can make it so that the chocolate doesn't harden as quickly or as hard. It can make the chocolate a bit softer.

Once it hits 115°F, drop in chunks of un-melted fresh chocolate a few at a time, stirring vigorously after each addition until the chocolate drops back down to 81°F. Finally, reheat the chocolate to between 88 and 90°F, making sure that it never rises above 92°F.