How to avoid Chocolate Bloom
Chocolate 'Bloom' refers to an unattractive finish, sometimes found on the surface of home made chocolates & decorations.
There are two types of Chocolate Bloom - Sugar Bloom and Fat Bloom.
Sugar Bloom produces a rough, whitish surface on the chocolate, and a grainy texture. The two most probable causes are Temperature Shock or Humid Environment.
Temperature shock can happen when chocolate is moved from a hot/warm to cold place (including refrigeration). The sudden change causes condensation on the chocolate surface, which reacts with the sugar in the chocolate. If you're putting chocolate moulds straight into the fridge to cool & set for example.
If your chocolate has been stored in a humid place, moisture dissolves the sugar present in the chocolate, which then re-crystallises, resulting in the surface imperfections.
Fat Bloom is almost the opposite in so far that its a result of cocoa butter, present on the chocolate, melting, which when it re-crystallises forms a dull white finish which wipes off when touched.
It is usually caused by in-correct tempering (the process of creating an evenly sized, even distribution of cocoa butter crystals in chocolate during the melting process, which is essential to achieve that surface sheen and hard 'crack' when breaking - read Callebaut's guide to tempering chocolate here).
Fat Bloom can also be caused by being stored in too a high temperature, which allowed the cocoa butter in the chocolate to come to the surface.
Belgian chocolatiers - Callebaut - have a useful Chocolate Bloom section in their Chocolate Troubleshooting guide, which goes into more detail on the causes of 'Blooming and gives solutions and tips for storing and keeping your chocolate at home. You can read their full tutorial online by clicking here.
Don't forget to take a look at our Make, Bake & Decorate section right here, which offers a range of luxury cooking chocolates from the World's finest chocolate makers, including Callebaut, chocolate decorations and toppings and even pre-made chocolate truffle shells, to make your own tempting chocolates with.
