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flavoring chocolate question

post #1 of 7
6/27/11 at 9:17am
Thread Starter 
I was just wondering if you have to use candy flavoring for chocolate or can you use extracts. I use high quality chocolate and want to experiment with different flavors buy wasn't sure what I could use. Thanks in advance.
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post #2 of 7
6/28/11 at 7:28am
You want to use oil based flavors, not water based. Water based will cause your chocolate to seize up.
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post #3 of 7
6/28/11 at 10:48am
Thread Starter 
I was kinda thinking that. What about alcohol, can you those?
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post #4 of 7
6/28/11 at 1:02pm
http://candy.about.com/od/workingwithchocolate/a/chocflavors.htm

According to this you can?

I'd be careful about the extracts, and would check to see if they have any water in them. But your alcohols for drinking should be fine. I'd test a small amount before doing a whole batch.
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post #5 of 7
6/28/11 at 11:14pm
That article stated that you cannot. I add many spirits and liqueurs, homemade vanilla extract, and vanilla bean paste to my ganache, but real chocolate alone can't handle the liquid.
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post #6 of 7
6/29/11 at 12:17pm
Per article:

"Chocolate can be flavored with alcohol-based extracts, liqueurs, or flavored oils. Alcohol-based extracts are commonly found in the baking aisle of grocery stores and include flavors like vanilla, almond, hazelnut, coconut, and lemon. Liqueurs and spirits that pair well with chocolate include amaretto, brandy, rum, Cointreau, Grand Marnier, and Kahlua. The important thing to remember about adding alcohol extracts and liqueurs is that these liquids need to be added to chocolatemixtures, not pure melted chocolate, otherwise the alcohol will cause the chocolate to seize and form a lumpy mass. These flavorings are well-suited for ganache mixtures or other candies that involve mixing melted chocolate with cream, milk, or other substances."

I did miss the bottom part about chocolate mixtures.
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post #7 of 7
6/29/11 at 1:07pm
"The important thing to remember about adding alcohol extracts and liqueurs is that these liquids need to be added to chocolatemixtures"

Exactly what I said... you can't add liquid to chocolates, but you can to mixtures such as ganache. Ganache is not chocolate. Ganache, custards, etc... whatever you want to add to chocolate has a high enough ratio of liquid to chocolate to keep it from seizing. A small amount of liquid will cause it to seize.

If you want to add extracts, etc, go the ganache route. The formula can be manipulated to make just about any intensity and texture. It will not go back to a hard form, but it will hold a shape.

I did not look this up, but use google to see if there are flavored oils or cocoa butters specifically designed to add to fine chocolate.
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