Antonia’s hot tips: 

1. Chocolate tempering is all about controlling crystals. The fat molecules inside chocolate (cocoa butter) have the ability to stack into six different configurations. When tempering chocolate, we want a stable, shiny snap that doesn’t melt quickly in the hands. Only one of these configurations (form 5) will result with our chocolate “in temper” — smooth, shiny and delicious. If we do not achieve this, our chocolate will not set easily and will result in a dull matte or grey finish.
2. Movement is very important when tempering chocolate. The stirring process encourages the correct configuration of chocolate crystals and ensures the chocolate pieces are melting and cooling at an even rate.
3. Controlling the temperature of your chocolate is also important as the fat molecules are very sensitive. Once melted and well-stirred, if your chocolate is above the final working temperatures listed above, you will need to keep stirring until your chocolate is at the correct temperature to work with.
4. A plastic bowl is always best. If you use a glass or ceramic, they tend to retain quite a lot of heat and it makes the microwave method a little bit more tricky.
5. Couverture chocolate contains cocoa butter which is why it must be tempered. Compound chocolate is chocolate that has had the cocoa butter removed and replaced with vegetable fat. Compound chocolate can simply be melted without tempering and it will set, but it doesn’t taste as delicious as couverture chocolate!