Melted chocolate... Warm, sweet and simply delightful!
Most of us have had the pleasure of dunking fluffy marshmallows, succulent fruits and more delicious treats in a chocolate fountain at a party and will know just how unbelievably delicious it is!
But, whether you’re looking to create a chocolatey dip at home or need melted chocolate for tasty recipe, you may be left thinking “what is the best way to melt chocolate?”
It can be intimidating and you may have experienced some troubles in the past with crumbly, burnt results.
Worry not! This quick guide will take you through our favourite methods to create the perfect bowl of melted chocolate and suggest some of our chocolatey treats to use for making the best tasting melted chocolate in just a few simple steps.
So without further ado, let's take a look at the best ways to melt chocolate.
Step 1: Prepare the chocolate
For your chocolate to melt more quickly and evenly and to avoid burning, we recommend that you break your chocolate bars into small chunks. Using the lines on our large 100g handcrafted chocolate bars to break them up into small bite-size chunks is perfect. You don’t need to be too accurate with this. For this reason, our handcrafted chocolate buttons also make the perfect melting chocolate as they come as small bite-sized discs of delightfully delicious handcrafted chocolate!
You can melt both our dark chocolate and milk chocolate. However, due to the higher sugar content in the milk chocolate bars, you’ll just need to stir a little more regularly whilst melting it to avoid burning it.
Step 2: Choose one of two methods to melt your chocolate
With both methods, remain vigilant with the cooking equipment, water and chocolate getting hot in the process.
Method 1 (recommended) - How to melt chocolate on stove.
- Fill a mid-sized saucepan with approximately a quarter full of water and bring to a gentle simmer. Make sure that you keep the water at a gentle simmer throughout to avoid it being too hot and burning your chocolate.
- Place the broken up chocolate chunks or chocolate buttons into a heat-safe bowl and place on top of the saucepan ensuring that it fits snuggly and doesn’t touch the water in the saucepan.
- Stir the melting chocolate regularly ensuring that it doesn’t burn or come into contact with any water. You’ll be looking for a smooth, glossy finish.
- Once melted, carefully remove the bowl from the top of the pan and allow the melted chocolate to cool a little before using it for your recipe (if you can resist!) or for use as a deliciously sweet dip!
Method 2 - How to melt chocolate in microwave.
Whilst we find that the hob method generally produces good, consistent results, you can also melt chocolate in the microwave. Be particularly careful using this method to ensure the chocolate doesn’t burn.
- Place the chocolate chunks or chocolate buttons into a microwave-safe bowl.
- Place the bowl into the microwave and microwave for 20 to 30 seconds. After this, carefully remove the bowl, stir with a wooden spoon or spatula and if needed return to the microwave for short periods of up to 10 seconds, repeating the process until the chocolate is fully melted and has a silky smooth texture.
Now that you’ve learned how to melt chocolate, here are some of our favourite ways to enjoy it!
How to keep chocolate melted?
Once you’ve melted you’re chocolate, if you’re using it as a dip and don’t want it to harden straight away, keep it in a heatproof bowl over a warm bowl or pan of water and stir regularly.
You can also turn it into a delicious chocolate sauce by heating some cream, butter and sugar in a pan and mixing it with the melted chocolate. Find our recommended recipe here.
With our large and unique range of delicious handcrafted chocolate flavours, you’re spoilt with choice with delicious flavour combinations that you can create!
Our top flavours to make the perfect melted chocolate dip.
- Caramel Chocolate Buttons - These caramelly discs of chomplified caramel milk chocolate are perfect for melting with a gentle caramel flavour giving new levels of yumminess!
- 70% Dark Chocolate - Our handcrafted 70% deeply decadent dark chocolate is perfect for making a glossy melted chocolate dip and works particularly well with fruit!
- Crunchy Peanut Butter - If you’re a peanut butter fan, and would like a chocolate dip with a little crunch then our Crunchy Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Bar is a match made in heaven!
Of course, you may be melting chocolate for a delicious recipe... One of our favourite summertime snacks is to simply dip some strawberries in the melted chocolate then place them on a sheet of parchment paper to allow the chocolate to dry. An indulgent treat perfect for picnics, a BBQ dessert or as a snack with your favourite film!
