Seasoned Advice Asked by Omnomnious on March 14, 2021
I want to use a specific brand of chocolate to make chocolatines/pain au chocolat. This chocolate is a stone ground dark chocolate that has been tempered. I attempted to use them to make chocolatines once but after baking I realized that the chocolate hadn’t melted.
So I want to know what I can do to lower the melting point of the chocolate, just enough so it melts in the oven but not too much that it’s liquid at room temperature. I read that you can ruin a chocolates temper by melting it again and waiting for it to solidify but I couldn’t find much more information on "untempering" chocolate or reducing the melting point. I was also thinking I could try to melt the chocolate, mix in a small amount of butter, then wait for it to solidify again. Not sure this would work though or if it would ruin the chocolates flavor.
I don’t want to use a different type of chocolate so I’m hoping people can provide suggestions.
EDIT 1:
The recipe I used the first time I tried this called for the oven to be heated at 400°F. Since they’re basically croissants they only need to go in for 15 minutes, that could be the issue. The chocolate wasn’t cold before use it was just room temperature. I’m now using a different recipe but it calls for the same amount of time and temperature.
EDIT 2:
I’m still wondering if there’s any way to lower the melting point of the chocolate a little. I don’t want to sacrifice the taste of the chocolate too much but I still want it to be a little softer at room temperature and melt more readily during the quick bake.
I don't think you can lower the melting point without melting the chocolate first.
Butter is very soft at room temperature and adds it's own typical butter flavor. A better alternative is hard coconut fat.
I always use this trick when I cover a cake with a simple chocolate glaze. If you simply melt the chocolate and slather it on top of the cake, it becomes so hard that it's hard to cut cleanly and (depending on the thickness) hard to bite. Of course that has to do with the ruined tempering.
Adding coconut fat to the molten chocolate makes it softer without turning it into a ganache or mouse. For a cake glaze I usually add half the weight of chocolate in coconut fat. The result is very shiny, still has a bite and unchanged chocolate flavor, but melts within seconds in your hand and wouldn't be able to hold its shape without the support of the cake. You'll probably want to add significantly less fat.
To the question of tempering: If you manage to melt the chocolate while baking, the end result won't be tempered anyways. Indeed, untempering can lower the melting point of chocolate without adding any oil or fat. Here's a very detailed blog post about tempering chocolate that explains the different crystal types cocoa butter can form and what their properties are. Tempered chocolate has only one type of crystal that is very stable. If you don't temper chocolate at all you'll end up with a mix of different crystals that might make the texture more gritty, but also lower the melting point.
Unfortunately I cannot offer any more detailled instructions, you'll have to experiment to find the best solution for you.
Correct answer by Elmy on March 14, 2021
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