Chocolate bloom art
Usually, you want to temper chocolate. Tempering is the process of creating a stable crystal structure in chocolate that results in a smooth, shiny, melt-in-your mouth bar. The tight crystal structure keeps fat, sugar, and cocoa molecules in formation. But when fat separates from solid cocoa the results can be stunning. Tempered chocolate is what you want to eat, but untempered chocolate is cooler to look at—it can even resemble cratered extraterrestrial landscapes!
I'm experimenting with applying different temperature gradients, humidity levels, and movement as molten chocolate cools to get varying results:
A series of bloom experiments
I'm also interested in how bloom forms over time. I made a 6-week timelapse to get a better sense of this slow and continuous process:
Various blooms
Here's a collection of chocolate blooms. I'll add more over time.
Update: February 25, 2023
After creating bloom, I wanted to re-melt the chocolate hoping to create an entirely new pattern. I used a hair dryer to liquify the chocolate before allowing it to re-solidify. This is the result:
Clearly, to disrupt the crystal structure and cause a new one to form, more heat is needed.
Links
The Beauty of Bloom (from Dandelion Chocolate)