Chocolate and “fat bloom” … it’s not what you think

When you hear these two things together — “chocolate” and “fat bloom” — you’re thinking … oh I see, I eat chocolate and then my fat blooms.

Actually, fat bloom is like sugar bloom in your chocolate. All it means is that either the fat or the sugar crystallizes together and forms something you can visually see.  

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Your chocolate SHOULD be shiny, and have a snap to it when you break it. 

However, if you have Bloom, it will have a whitish sheen or coating or spottiness to it. It’s okay and it doesn’t necessarily mean the chocolate has gone bad, although fat bloom is worst than sugar bloom. 

Sugar bloom is the crystallization of the sugar crystals and occurs when moisture hits your chocolate. Very common. Very normal. Fat Bloom happens when the chocolate hasn’t been made well (tempered correctly by the manufacturer). 

How can you tell the difference? With a simple test (from the Amano chocolate website, great summary article here)

One way you can easily check to see if a piece of chocolate has undergone sugar bloom or fat bloom is to lick your finger and touch it to the chocolate. If the dusty appearance disappears, then it is sugar bloom. (The moisture on your finger dissolved the sugar crystals on the chocolate.) If the bloom remains, then it is fat bloom.
And, of course, if you don’t want to work up your own personal “fat bloom”, the bottom line (pun, totally intended) is to eat really good chocolate but eat it in control. 


For more information: Click here to visit Will Clower’s website.

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One Comment on “Chocolate and “fat bloom” … it’s not what you think”

  1. So here's a question on Chocolate I've been wanting to ask….when does dark chocolate just become candy?

    I know that the higher the Cocoa content, the better, but I just don't enjoy REALLY dark chocolate (70% or higher). I can 'make' myself eat it, but the kids and wife aren't interested at all.

    On the other hand, ALL of us LOVE a number of different varieties of Dark chocolate that hover in the 45-55% range. Hershey's special dark (I 'think' something like 25-30%) is even better tasting….but…

    …at what point is the dark chocolate label just a mask to basically eat something really sweet? Is something like Hershey's special dark (again, assuming moderation) actually beneficial, or is it just an act of fake out?

    And my 7 year old daughter wants to know why milk chocolate isn't good for you too. 🙂

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