One thing most people don’t know is that in chocolate there is a small amount of starch, which when even a drop of water is added to it will become thick and paste-like. It is for this reason that when working with chocolate in a liquid form to make sure that absolutely no water comes into contact with it.
This is especially problematic when melting chocolate in a bowl over hot water. The steam from the water hits the cooler base of the bowl, condenses and becomes water drops, which can work their way into the chocolate bowl at a later stage. It’s best to wipe the base of the bowl onto a towel right after you remove it from the melter.
The starch in chocolate can be used to your advantage sometimes. When writing with chocolate, you can add a drop of water (literally 1 drop, to up to 1cup of melted chocolate), this will make the chocolate run out of the piping bag more slowly and form a more stable strand, enabling more control of your chocolate writing.
