Chocolate Covered Caramels

I have decided to offer some chocolate covered selections in my etsy shop, once the weather is cool enough to no longer worry about melting in transit. When I was in culinary school I worked with chocolate frequently, but haven't much since then. Now that it's been 8 years since I've tempered and used couveture the task seems a bit daunting. So I've been practicing and documenting my progress to share with you!

Tempering is essential when melting chocolate to use in coatings and decorations. The process involves heating and cooling the chocolate to exact temperatures, to allow the fats and sugars to crystallize properly. If you don't do it, you end up with streaky, grey, grainy and otherwise unsightly results. Tempered chocolate will set more quickly and have an even glossy appearance.

The method I use is called the "Vaccination" method. I start by slowly heating a large amount of chopped chocolate (or sometimes I use chocolate disks called "pistoles") in a bowl set over boiling water. Be careful to keep the heat from the burner under the pot, if it comes up and hits the sides of the bowl, it will burn the chocolate.

Remove the chocolate from the heat when it reaches 113 degrees. It will not be completely melted. If it is completely melted and smooth the chocolate is too hot. I used a digital thermometer to make sure that the chocolate didn't overheat.

Slowly cool the chocolate by gradually adding chopped chocolate while stirring constantly. Cool the chocolate to 90 degrees for dark, 88 for milk, or 86 for white chocolate.

When the chocolate is ready I set the bowl at an angle, propped up by a folded kitchen towel, so that there is a nice deep spot for dipping.

From here it's just a matter of dropping the caramels in. Fishing them out with a fork, and sliding them onto a sheet of wax paper to cool.

Once cool I trim off any excess chocolate around the bottom for a more finished look.