Information on Adding Maple Syrup to Melting Chocolate

Chocolate and maple syrup go well together.

Chocolate is a delicate substance to work with and it will "seize" and be rendered useless if it is simply mixed with non-fats like maple syrup. To get the chocolate to accept maple syrup, you need to mix the maple first with some other fat, most usually cream, and then add that to the chocolate. The fat in the cream acts as a kind of binder, allowing the maple syrup to combine with the chocolate.

The Unforgiving Nature of Chocolate

Chocolate is difficult to get right.

Chocolate is a wonderful but surprisingly unforgiving substance. If the results of getting it right weren't so deliciously worthwhile, the amount of science and skill involved in working with it would probably have seen it relegated to the world of expensive, exclusive desserts long ago. Even the most accomplished chefs today approach chocolate work with a sense of trepidation and the skills of the chocolatier are respected and revered. Part of this is attributable to the fact that working with chocolate involves a crystalline restructuring of chocolate's chemistry and, if you get that wrong, you end with ruined chocolate.

Seizing Up

Melting chocolate with other flavors is a tricky business.

Chocolate's unforgiving nature is due to its fat content. It's a truism that oil and water don't mix and, if you add just a few drops of water to melted chocolate, you get a "seizing" reaction, akin to a split mayonnaise, and your chocolate is ruined. Something similar happens if you try and add too much of anything that isn't "recognized" as a fat into chocolate. Try adding maple syrup directly to melting chocolate and what you end up with is a quickly crystallized chunk of maple syrup and a puddle of oddly adulterated, wasted chocolate.

A Chemical Diplomat

Maple syrup is a breakfast favorite.

What you need, if you're going to add maple syrup to chocolate, is a kind of chemical diplomat, a relatively flavor-neutral fat that can absorb the syrup into itself and then persuade the chocolate to play nicely and mix together, rather than seizing up and rejecting the addition of the syrup. In other words, as confectioners have known for centuries, you need cream.

Maple Cream

Cream has a more forgiving chemistry than chocolate.

While heating your chocolate in a bain marie (a bowl over a pan of hot water), on another burner, warm your cream. Under no circumstances are you trying to boil the cream--you're just aiming to warm it. As the cream is warming, add your maple syrup to the cream and keep stirring or gently whisking. Cream has a more forgiving chemistry than chocolate and the application of warmth and stirring will allow the maple syrup to amalgamate with the cream--the sugar and fat combining harmoniously, without the histrionics associated with chocolate.

Chocolate Maple Ganache

Chocolate maple truffles are worth making.

Once your chocolate is fully melted and you have added enough maple syrup to the cream for your taste, pour the maple cream into the chocolate and continue stirring. Now, the fat in the cream amalgamates with the fat in the chocolate and the maple flavor and sugars come along for the ride. What you then have is maple syrup-flavored chocolate cream (or ganache, as it's also known). The liquid ganache can be used at this stage to cover cakes or donuts. Alternatively, if you harden the ganache by refrigeration, it can then be rolled into chocolate maple truffles and finished with a dusting of cocoa powder.

References

• Home Made Chocolate Gifts: What Is A Chocolate Infusion?
• Famous French Desserts: Chocolate Truffle Recipes