Yuk! My Chocolate’s Gone Off!
How To Store Your Chocolate
“Hang on minute! Storing chocolate? You mean NOT eating it all straight away? Why? Why, Truffle Witch - WHY?” I know - storing something so delicious seems counter intuitive to me, too. I’ve never understood people who can take one bite of a chocolate bar and then put the rest away for tomorrow. Nevertheless, there are circumstances in which you may want to store your chocolate purchases for a few weeks. Maybe you’ve splashed out on a really posh box of chocs as a treat for yourself or you’ve bought something special as a birthday or Christmas gift. The last thing you want is to find your truffles have melted or your 95% single origin chocolate bar looks all white and manky. In this blog we’re going to tell you why correct storage is so important and give you some tips to help keep your chocolate in the best possible condition until it’s time to scoff it.
Storing Tempered Chocolate
What Is Tempered Chocolate?
Very simply, tempering is the process that gives a chocolate bar it’s snap. Chocolate contains cocoa butter which forms crystals as the liquid chocolate solidifies. The trick is to ensure that it crystallises in the right way so that it’s firm and glossy, melts at around body temperature and has a smooth mouth feel. If chocolate is not properly tempered it may look streaky, be crumbly or soft and melt too easily. Tempered chocolate is used for making solid bars, moulded chocolates and figures (like our chocolate shoes) and enrobing (posh dipping!).
Keep your Temper!
So far, so good. Every bar or box of chocolates you open will be perfect because, of course, it’s been properly tempered, yes? Well, not necessarily. Many years ago, I received a box of chocolates from a very well known company that offers regular subscriptions to a chocolate ‘club’. Every chocolate in the box was covered in white streaks. Does that mean it wasn’t properly tempered? It’s highly unlikely that their tempering machines went wrong so why were the chocolates white? If you’ve ever experienced this, your first thought might well have been that the chocolate had gone off or was mouldy. The good news is that it’s neither and your chocolate is perfectly safe to eat. Something has caused the chocolate to go out of temper and the resulting white and streaky effect is called ‘bloom’. Preventing bloom is why correctly storing chocolate is so important.
Blooming ‘Eck!
If chocolate has bloomed it’s most likely that it’s occurred at some point after the chocolate has been made, during transit or storage. The most likely explanation for my streaky posh chocs is that were in a hot delivery van for hours before they reached me. There are two types of chocolate bloom. Here’s how it happens -
Fat Bloom
Fat bloom happens when the cocoa butter separates from the cocoa solids, usually when there are drastic changes in temperature. For example, if your chocolate bar has started to melt and you put it in the fridge to ‘set’. If it’s a bad case of blooming, the chocolate may not taste as good as usual and it will be more brittle. If it’s just a little surface bloom, you probably won’t notice much difference in taste.
To avoid fat bloom, keep your chocolate in a cool place away from direct heat and sunlight.
Sugar Bloom
Sugar bloom occurs when chocolate comes in contact with moisture. This time it’s not the fat crystals that separate, it’s the sugar. The chocolate may look ‘sweaty’ and be a bit sticky to the touch. If the sugar crystals that have risen to the surface have dried, the chocolate may look white and powdery - similar to fat bloom. Although it doesn’t look very appetising, sugar bloom has no effect on the flavour of the chocolate.
To avoid sugar bloom, keep your chocolate dry.
If you’d prefer not to eat the chocolate in its bloomed state, the good news is that fat and sugar bloom can both be ‘repaired’ by melting the chocolate. The separated fat or sugar crystals will be reincorporated and your chocolate will taste delicious again. Pour it over a cake or ice cream or have a chocolate fondue. Yum!
Step Away From The Fridge!
So, what’s the best way to store tempered chocolate? You might think the best place to keep chocolate cool and dark is the fridge but, don’t forget we need to keep it dry, too. Domestic fridges are far too humid and you’ll get sugar bloom.
Chocolate easily absorbs odours from whatever is near it so, unless you really want your chocolate to taste of last night’s left over curry or that lump of Stilton, that’s another reason not to store it in the fridge!
Cool Tasting
Scientific studies have been conducted on how temperature affects the taste of food. Cold temperatures reduce perception so bitterness and sweetness are reduced. For example, beer tastes less bitter when chilled and ice cream tastes much sweeter when it has melted.
Some people prefer the taste of chocolate when it’s cold. That may make very dark chocolate taste less bitter but it will deaden the sweet creaminess of milk chocolate. I prefer my chocolate at room temperature to get the full flavour.
Keeping It Real
Keeping chocolate cool in Summer without using the fridge is a challenge. Air conditioning isn’t a standard feature in most UK homes. Being realistic, there may be times when you just have to resort to the fridge. If you do, make sure you wrap the chocolate well to keep it dry and place it in an airtight container. Use cling film or a beeswax wrap if you’re plastic free. When you take the chocolate out of the fridge, leave it sealed in the container to come to room temperature. Unwrap it too soon and you’ll get condensation on the chocolate.
While we’re on the subject of fridges, do you remember a TV advert run by Mars that promoted eating their chocolate bars ‘straight from the fridge’? I remember it quite well and was horrified to discover it was back in the 1980s! If you want to have a look, here’s a link.
Should you need to keep chocolate for months rather than weeks, you can freeze it but, only if you really must. Wrap it carefully, put it in an airtight container and put it in the fridge for 24 hours before putting it in the freezer. When you take it out, reverse the process. Put the container in the fridge to defrost for 24 hours then take it out and allow it come to room temperature while still wrapped. This will help avoid temperature shock and preserve the texture of the chocolate.
Storing Chocolate Truffles
If you’ve tried making fresh cream truffles at home, the recipes you’ve used have probably said that the truffles should be eaten within a few days. I’m guessing they were eaten pretty quickly anyway!
Obviously, truffles you buy in a shop or online have to have a longer shelf-life than home made versions. If you check the labels on big brands like Thorntons and Lily O’Brien’s you’ll see that they contain vegetable oils, stabilisers and other processed ingredients. These help prolong the shelf-life. (If you’d like to find out more about what goes into the chocolate we use compared to everyday brands like Cadbury and Galaxy, we’ll be blogging about this soon.)
At Truffle Witch, we don’t use any artificial preservatives but, if our truffles only lasted a couple of days they’d be off before the Postman delivered them!
Certain ingredients in the chocolate we use and, some of those in our truffle recipes, are natural preservatives - for instance sugar, alcohol and honey. However, the main reason our truffles last longer than homemade ones is the technique we use when preparing our ganaches that stabilises the cream. This gives the truffles a shelf-life of at least four weeks if properly stored. We usually add a ‘best before’ date to our truffles of four weeks from the date they were made to ensure that you enjoy them at their absolute best. In fact, they will often last much longer and I’ve personally eaten truffles that were over six months old. The coatings had dried out and gone patchy and the flavours had faded but, they were still completely safe to eat.
Follow The Rules
To keep your truffles in perfect condition, follow the same basic rules for storing tempered chocolate. Truffles that have been dipped in chocolate are susceptible to fat and sugar bloom. Nut coatings may go soft and sugar coatings will begin to dissolve and go sticky if moisture gets to them. Some truffles are finished in a traditional French style and just rolled in powdered cocoa. They will often have quite a thick layer of cocoa as, over time, it gets absorbed into the truffles, especially if they get too warm and/or moist. This can leave them looking a little patchy or even naked - ooh la la!
Keep truffles in a cool, dark place and keep them dry. Because truffles are generally a much softer consistency than tempered chocolate, it’s more likely that you will need to put them in the fridge in warm weather. As with tempered chocolate, make sure the truffles are well wrapped and in an airtight container. Allow them to come to room temperature before unwrapping. To freeze, follow the process described for tempered chocolate.
If you are making truffles at home and you want to make them ahead of time, you can freeze the ganache at the setting stage. Pour the ganache into a bowl with an airtight lid. Allow it fully cool in the fridge. If condensation collects on the inside of the lid, dry it off and replace the lid before freezing. Defrost slowly in the fridge then take the ganache out and allow it to soften at room temperature before rolling and finishing the truffles.
As with all rules, there are exceptions. Truffles are generally best eaten at room temperature but, our Diablo chilli and tequila truffles are delicious frozen!
Box Clever
A brief word about packaging. If you’ve bought a posh box of chocolates or truffles and you need to store them in the fridge do be mindful of potential moisture damage to the packaging. If necessary, remove the chocolates or truffles in their vacuum tray from the box before wrapping and refrigerating. No-one wants a soggy box!
The Dos And Don’ts Recapped
It’s all pretty simple, really -
DO keep your chocolate cool and avoid temperature ‘shocks’
DO keep it dark - especially keep it away from direct sunlight
DO keep the chocolate dry
DO keep it airtight to prevent the chocolate picking up odours. This also prevents oxidisation and that ‘stale’ taste.
DON’T put the chocolate in the fridge or freezer unless you absolutely have to and it’s properly wrapped
DON’T leave it anywhere too warm or humid. (We know our chocolate shoes are pretty but, if you leave them on the windowsill or mantelpiece for weeks to admire them, they will melt. Yes, it’s happened!)
Follow the guidance above and you should be able to keep your fresh cream truffles and tempered chocolates in perfect condition. If you haven’t eaten them by the best before date, congratulations on your superhuman willpower! If there’s anything you’d like to know that’s not covered here, just pop your question in the comments section below.
Deliciousness, Guaranteed
All our chocolates and truffles are in perfect condition when they leave us. Should anything untoward happen to your order between us and you resulting in damage of any kind, the Truffle Witch Promise applies. We want you to enjoy our products at their best so just send us an email including a photograph of the item and we’ll be happy to send you a replacement or give you a full refund.
We know you’ll want to practice your newly acquired chocolate storing skills and what better way than to try some of ours? We have lots to tempt you with in our shop so why not take a peek?