As we start to move into the warmer months, we thought perhaps it was a good idea to talk about proper chocolate care! Once in a blue moon, a customer will send us a picture of their chocolate, bought in one of our wonderful retail customer shops, and ask if it's 'gone off'. The chocolate has a white colour to it, and the texture has changed, but has it 'gone off'? No!
Simply put, your chocolate has bloomed. This means that the fatty cocoa butter has risen to the top of the chocolate. But why has this happened? More often then not, this was due to a temperature fluctuation. Most likely, the chocolate was not stored correctly which caused it to get too warm. This will have caused the ingredients within the chocolate to separate, causing the fat to rise to the surface, and present as a white film on the top.
The good news is, bloomed chocolate is completely safe to eat! It may have a slightly altered texture, and mouth-feel, but it's still very much the chocolate goodness we all love. The bad news is, once this process has occurred with Goupie, there isn't a way to reverse it. The best way to avoid bloomed chocolate is correct storage.
The key here is ensuring that your chocolate is kept out of direct sunlight, and temperatures over 25 oC. All of our retailers should be well versed in proper chocolate storage, but if you ever do find that your chocolate has melted, please do let the know so that they can amend their storage accordingly! Sometimes, this is just bad luck. We may have had a heat wave, and the farm shop's air conditioning may have broken, meaning that there was no way to escape the chocolate melt!
If your Goupie has bloomed, or perhaps formed one solid lump, there's absolutely no reason this can't still be enjoyed. Of course, we would rather this not be the case, but it is perfectly safe to eat, and it will still be delicious. If you really can't stand the idea of eating the pieces as is, we recommend trying one of our Goupie recipes! Our Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe uses blitzed Goupie as a base, and is an ideal way to use melted Goupie!
