A Word About Cooking with Chocolate

The easiest way to melt chocolate is to use a microwave if you have one. ONLY melt the chocolate in 30-second bursts (on full power). Don’t think, oh I’ll do it for a minute because it’s quicker: the chocolate will seize up and be unusable. Good-quality chocolate is expensive, so you don’t want to waste it. If you don’t have a microwave, then you can melt chocolate in a bain-marie - a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. But, the bottom of the bowl must not touch the water underneath.