What Kind Of Chocolate Is Best For Melting And Molding?

Chocolate is fun to eat but not so fun to clean up. At best, you're left with a decadent treat and a little residue, but at worst, melting chocolate can leave a burnt, gooey mess that doesn't seem worth the effort. To avoid a dessert disaster and get it right the first time, Chowhound found an expert who can tell you what you need to know when baking with chocolate.

Professional baker Laura Kasavan is the founder and writer behind the all-things-sweet recipe blog, Tutti Dolci. When asked what kind of chocolate works best for melting and molding, she told us that, "Baking bars or baking wafers melt the best because they don't contain added stabilizers like chocolate chips do."

Chocolate wafers are small, circular discs that are easy to scoop and measure like you would with chocolate chips. The difference is that wafers are designed for melting, typically having a higher cocoa butter content than chips, whereas the stabilizers in many chocolate chips are there to basically prevent melting. You'll want to pick up wafers for dipping chocolate-covered strawberries or mixing up a killer silky ganache.

Wafer or not, some types of chocolate tend to burn quicker than others. Laura Kasavan highlights white chocolate in particular, which is known to be notoriously tricky because it has a significant amount of cocoa butter. Its fat and sugar content account for its lower melting point, making it particularly susceptible to browning. As such, you'll want to treat it gently and avoid extreme heat.

Whichever kind you're working with, Kasavan's go-to tools for melting chocolate are a double boiler or heat-proof bowl over gently simmering water, both of which will heat the wafers indirectly. She favors these methods because "This gradual method of melting the chocolate prevents it from scorching or seizing and ensures that the chocolate melts smoothly." In addition to following Kasavan's advice, try grating the chocolate bar into finer pieces first for an even easier melt.