Chocolate Letters for Cakes: Mould, Cut or Pipe
Make chocolate letters and numbers with moulds, cutters or piping. Learn preparation, tempering, release and simple ways to avoid broken decorations.
Chocolate guides
Understand chocolate, build better fillings, and recognise what the texture is telling you.
How to Temper Chocolate: Seeding, Tabling and Cocoa Butter
Learn how to temper chocolate by seeding, tabling or cocoa-butter powder. Understand temperature curves, a temper test and common causes of streaks.
Dark, Milk and White Chocolate Ganache: What Changes?
Read the ingredients and intended application before carrying one ganache ratio across three chocolates.
How to Recognise Seized Chocolate
Identify what happened before trying to heat, thin or temper a rough bowl of chocolate.
Why Is My Ganache Too Firm?
Work out whether your filling needs a different temperature, a different formula or an emulsion check.
Why Is My Ganache Too Runny?
A decision sequence for a ganache that pours when you need it to hold its shape.
Why Did My Ganache Split?
Recognise a broken emulsion, check your batch and get a personal next-step plan.
White Film on Chocolate: Fat Bloom or Sugar Bloom?
A white film on chocolate can be fat bloom or sugar bloom. Learn the clues, what storage history can tell you, and when appearance is not enough.
Chocolate Stuck in the Mould: What to Check
Chocolate will not leave the mould? Check whether it has set, whether temper was established and whether the cavity or filling is preventing release.
How to Colour Chocolate Without Making It Seize
Choose colour made for chocolate, plan whether you are colouring the mass or the mould, and avoid the moisture mistakes that cause a thick seized paste.
How to Melt White Chocolate Without Scorching It
Melt white chocolate gently in a microwave or over warm water. Learn when to stop heating, how to avoid moisture and why melting is not tempering.
Why Is My Chocolate Not Shiny?
Dull moulded chocolate? Check temper, mould condition, flow and cooling, then use a small test to find the cause of a disappointing finish.