How To: Temper chocolate

Take your dessert from bland and boring to something special for your next dinner party with help from this video! In this cooking tutorial, learn from Sue McMahon, cookery editor at Woman's Weekly, how to temper chocolate. To complete this recipe you will need the following:

Chocolate, dark, milk or white
Marble slab, optional
Palette knife
Paint scraper
Chocolate thermometer

Instructions:

1. Melt the chocolate to the temperature given in the chart above, depending on what type of chocolate you're using.

2. Pour about 2/3rds chocolate out onto a worksurface to cool it down so the right sort of crystals start to form. The easiest way to spread it out is to use a palette knife and to use a paint scraper to scoop the chocolate back up to the centre of the board before spreading it out again. Repeat this spreading until the chocolate starts to thicken slightly. The chocolate on the table should then be at the 2nd temperature given in the chart above.

3. Scrape the chocolate on the table into the bowl with the reserved chocolate and mix. The chocolate should then be at the 3rd temperature in the chart. If it's too warm then "table" some of it again to cool it. If it's too cool, then warm it gently. It's a good idea to dip a knife into the tempered chocolate and lift it out to see how quickly the chocolate sets, this will give an indication to whether it's been tempered properly.