It always surprises me when people assume chocolate always needs to be in temper. And I answer them, “Absolutely not!”

Tempering is the term used when liquid melted chocolate is cooled down in a specific way to help crystalize the fat into the appropriate form. That appropriate form is a beautiful, shine, dark chocolate with a firm hard yet smooth texture.

You may have seen untempered chocolate if you had some chocolate bar or chips melt on you, and then solidify on their own. They have they have a whitish/light brown mottled appearance. The texture may be come chalky and crumbly. If it was sealed, and only contains cacao beans and sugar (dark chocolate) then it is likely still perfectly fine! It may just not be as pleasing to snack on. Can you still use it? Of course!

Untempered chocolate under a electron microscope.

List of when you don’t need Chocolate To Be tempered:

If you ever have chocolate that is out of temper and no fun to eat, here are many ways in which you can still utilize it. Anytime the chocolate is to be melted and mixed with other ingredients, or cooked, it does not need to be tempered.

For Baking

If you are using your chocolate to chop up and melt into a brownie recipe, use it as chocolate chips/chunks in a cookie, fold melted chocolate it into a cake recipe, then you do not need it to be tempered. The chocolate will heat up anyway and cook, or be melted down. If you’re going to melt chocolate, it does not need to be tempered.

For Ganache’s

Use your out of temper chocolate to melt into rich delicious ganaches. It is also helpful to know that if you accidently allowed water to mix into your chocolate (perhaps when you were melting it on a bain-marie) you can melt it down and use it in a ganache. The ganache will contain a great amount of water in form the cream, fruit juice, or whatever else you are using to make your ganache.

For Sauces/Creams/frostings

Obviously, for all of these, the chocolate needs to be melted. Therefore, it does not matter at all if the chocolate was in temper or not before you need to melt it down. You’re melting out all the crystals anyway, good and bad, so it doesn’t matter the tempering state the chocolate was in beforehand.

For Making Hot Chocolate/Drinks

This is great too if you have a fine craft chocolate bar that went out of temper during shipping, or perhaps you kept it somewhere where it got too warm and bloomed. I love using these for hot chocolate drinks. Due to the simplicity of the drink (only hot milk and chocolate) you can often still retain the interesting and beautiful aromas from the chocolate bar in your drink. Just be sure to foam it up! Blend it, or use a frother. Hot chocolates are best enjoyed with a froth.

For Adding To Ice Cream

If you are making a chocolate ice cream base, the chocolate will need to be melted anyway, and using your out of temper chocolate is prefect for this. Just be sure to pour it in while the melted chocolate is very warm, or it may clump when you add in your cold cream or ingredients. Also be sure to hand blend it on high speed as you add the colder ingredients to the hot melted chocolate. Your recipe should indicate how to go about doing this.

For cake and dessert Décor (sometimes)

For some cake décor, you actually don’t need or want tempered chocolate. Some décor is created by pouring melted chocolate onto a very cold (often frozen) slab of granite. This shocks the chocolate, and makes it stiff yet pliable to form into whatever you need it to be. If you create this type of décor, using your out of temper chocolate may work for this.

When you don’t need a perfect/spotless temper:

rolling truffles

Truffles are a type of confections where a ganache is rolled in chocolate, and then in a coating. Or well premade shells are filled with a ganache, capped, and then rolled in chocolate and a coating. The chocolate should definitely be in temper, but it doesn’t have to be a great temper.

When you have a tempering machine, the chocolate at the start of when the temper is ready is perfect and beautiful for casting, enrobing, and piping fine details. However, as the chocolate progresses, it will begin to thicken, and set in a way that is more matt, and not as pretty. However, there are many good uses for this! Truffles is one of them.

Because the truffles will most often be rolled in cocoa powder, ground nuts, sugar, or some other covering, the temper itself doesn’t need to be perfect! It still needs to solidify well, and not be too thick, but it’s a great way to use up chocolate that is still in temper, but not a great temper.

Often times if you are using your chocolate for many jobs, it’s best to save the truffle rolling for the end, after you cast.

When do you need tempered chocolate?

Not as many tasks as you may think!

For Casting into bar or other Molds like bonbons/novelties

Anytime you are using molds to cast shells, figurines, bars, etc. your chocolate needs to be in temper! And a good temper will mean your chocolate releases from the mold cleanly, looks uniform, and with a nice shiny finish. Well tempered bars, shells, and figurines are also less susceptible to fingerprints, smudges, and scratches due to the more solid hard surface of tempered chocolate. You’ll find poorly tempered chocolate may melt in your hand more easily (but don’t get this confused with tempered chocolate which is being handled with very warm hands or in a very warm room).

For figurine and sculpture design

If you are building a chocolate showpiece, it is often important for the main structure of the chocolate to be in temper. If it is not, the showpiece may be more susceptible to breakage, since out of temper chocolate is not as strong and does not hold together as well as tempered chocolate. There may be areas when you require out of temper chocolate on your showpiece, but most likely the main structural part should be made up of tempered chocolate. This does not apply to molding chocolate, which isn’t really chocolate, but more like a confection plasticine or fondant-like type product.

For cake décor (sometimes)

As mentioned above, some décor is created with out of temper chocolate. However, depending on your goals and the finish you want, much of the décor on cakes and pastries will need to be made with tempered chocolate. This is especially true for plaques and other pieces that you want to be very shiny/gloss.

Does chocolate always need to be tempered?