5 Ways to Sous Vide Chocolate | Sous Vide Tools

There is nothing more satisfying than cracking open an Easter egg and indulging in the delicious taste of chocolate and all the other goodies inside.

But eating the same old treat can sometimes get boring. This is why we’ve brought together our favourite sous vide techniques for leftover chocolate.

Sous Vide Chocolate

Chocolate is an extremely versatile ingredient and can be used to enhance a range of dishes, from a delicious and moreish mousse to an irresistible cheesecake.

Although great in taste, cooking chocolate using traditional methods can be tricky and require all of your attention to avoid burning or curdling. However, sous vide machines and cooking methods mean you can rely on perfect results each and every time.

Here are five tricks to help you transform your leftover chocolate this Easter:

1. Tempting Tempering

Whether you want to cover biscuits and fruit, or give some chocolate bark a glossy finish, tempering is a great technique for enhancing taste, appearance and texture.

Although not a difficult technique, tempering requires precision and an almost scientific approach – both of which can be delivered via sous vide cooking methods.

Simply place the chocolate in a metal bowl and float it in a water bath at 46°C whilst stirring sporadically. For the full technique, read our recipe for tempered chocolate.

If you have plenty of leftovers, why not give your friends and family tempered chocolate as an Easter gift? We’re sure they’d love a goodie bag with chocolate covered strawberries, bonbons and biscuits.

2. Chocoholic Cheesecakes

Sous vide cheesecakes have a wonderful custardy texture, as there is no loss of moisture during the preparation process, making them extremely moreish!

To prepare, elevate the bottom perforated rack in your water oven to provide your ramekins with a surface to rest on.

We recommend preheating your water oven to 80°C and cooking the cheesecakes for around 90 minutes – make sure the ramekins are securely covered in cling film and the water only goes half way up their sides.

For an extra sous vide twist, drizzle with a fresh and fruity strawberry and blueberry coulis.

3. Feel Good Fondue

There is nothing as show stopping as a chocolate fountain, but if you don’t have a fountain, a great alternative which provides the ideal centrepiece for a party or celebratory meal is chocolate fondue.

If you have 15 minutes to spare, we recommend trying out this tasty and mess-free sous vide fondue recipe by Sous Vide Guys:

• You will need a 1:5 ratio of milk to chocolate. To work this out, weigh out your leftover chocolate and calculate 20% of this number – this is how much milk you require
• Preheat your water bath to 49°C
• Break your chocolate up into small pieces – try not to eat it all! – and vacuum seal in a pouch along with the milk
• Drop the bag into the water oven for around 12 minutes
• At 12 minutes, remove the bag and gently massage the contents to ensure the milk and chocolate are properly combined. If there are any lumps, gently rub these to assist the melting process
• Return the bag to the bath for a further 3 minutes, before removing and serving – we recommend spooning it into individual ramekins and serving with marshmallows, strawberries, bananas and any other treats you fancy

We love Sous Vide Guys’ top tip for all you peanut butter lovers out there: If you love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, add a tablespoon of peanut butter into the vacuum bag before sealing for a delicious twist!

4. Caramelised White Chocolate

With subtle nutty flavours and hints of caramel and white chocolate, there is nothing to dislike about caramelised white chocolate; and it is a really simple way of transforming your leftovers into a delicious treat.

Whether you want to serve it as a sweet and sticky glaze, turn it into a cheesecake or use in a parfait, it is a flexible technique and easy to accomplish using sous vide cooking methods:

• Preheat your water bath to 90°C
• Break the white chocolate into small pieces and place in a vacuum sealer bag
• Once vacuum sealed, drop the chocolate into the bath and leave for up to 6 hours

Remove the chocolate from the bath once it reaches your desired colour.

Whilst your machine delivers consistently accurate caramelised chocolate, you can focus on preparing the other elements of the dish.

We love the idea of incorporating this sauce into ice-cream; simply stir it into the rest of the ingredients, prepare it as normal and serve with a rich and creamy Crème Brûlée.

5. Palette Pleasing Pudding

Chocolate pudding is a family favourite and a fun alternative to your standard chocolate egg.

With traditional cooking techniques there is always a risk of curdling the mixture, but this is eliminated when using sous vide techniques – as is the amount of your time required:

• Blend all the ingredients of your favourite pudding recipe – i.e. whole milk, sugar, chocolate, cocoa powder, heavy cream, and eggs – and add to a vacuum pouch
• Once sealed, place in a water oven which has been preheated to 82°C for around 45 minutes
• Remove from the oven and blend the mixture again
• Spoon into ramekins or glasses, and refrigerate

Forget about splitting the mixture and instead focus on enjoying the end result!

So there you have it, five easy sous vide techniques for transforming your Easter leftovers. We’d love to hear how you recycled your chocolate, let us know by tweeting us @sousvidetools.

For more sous vide inspiration, check out our recipe collection.