Delaminated Toffee Bars

Cynthia is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.

added almost 2 years ago

Hmmm. This is a good one. I'm wondering if perhaps you're trying to make them better than they ever wanted to be. The gulf between chocolate chips and your fine chocolate is wide, and I'm thinking that that's the cause of the separation of your good chocolate from the cookie base. Chocolate chips are made with inferior fats and more of them. That's why they can melt, but still hold their shape. I think the consistency of chocolate chips is what holds them in place better. Does that sound reasonable to you?

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Yes, it does and again, thank you. Maybe a compromise is in order - a mix of chips and good chocolate.

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Cynthia is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.

added almost 2 years ago

Sounds like a plan. It's all a science experiment!

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Chef Michael Kiss is the Cooking Coach at Whole Foods Market in Rockville, Md.

added almost 2 years ago

I am thinking it comes down to lecithin. most comercial chocolates have it in there to help maintain the emusification of the chocolate to help home cooks without formal chocolate experience. maybe your good chocolates have less or none of this ingredient.

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Andrew is an artisan chocolatier and the owner of Garrison Confections Gourmet Chocolate Shop.

added almost 2 years ago

Hi, Chef Michael is onto something here. The chocolate chips have a lot of sugar in them, which makes chocolate 'soft' as well as lecithin (an emulsifier) and palm kernel oil, which melts at 108f, imagine that inside your body! So, with all that said, it is going to spread evenly, not separate and not give you any troubles. Better quality chocolate has cocoa butter as it's only fat. The little amount of lecithin and sugar in better quality chocolate makes it easy for the cocoa butter to migrate up and down. When this happens it creates a fat barrier that 'snaps' when you try to cut the bars. Try adding a teaspoon of corn syrup to your melted chocolate and then spread it on the bars. I hope this helps.
Andrew

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Not sure if this will help anyone now, a year later, but in case it does....I have had this problem happen to me just yesterday with some coffee bars I am making. I used Tollhouse semi-sweet chocolate chips and it still separated :/ Today I am going to try Andrew's suggestion of melting the chocolate chips and adding a teaspoon of corn syrup to it before spreading. I will get back with the results...

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