Okay, let’s talk about tempering. Simply put, tempering is a process of heating, then cooling chocolate to achieve a beautiful, shiny chocolate that has a nice snap to it when you break it. The simplest method of tempering is known as “seeding.” Seeding is basically adding small chunks of unmelted chocolate to melted chocolate. We’ll go light on the science here, but not too light. Tempering, by definition, is the process that helps the cocoa butter in the chocolate to set up into a specific crystalline pattern. Think stacking bricks. If the bricks are well stacked, the structure stays solid. Same thing for chocolate. Get the crystals in the right pattern and the chocolate will achieve the desired results: glossy exterior, smooth mouthfeel, and a nice snap. Chocolate that isn’t tempered can encounter a host of problems: it may not ever set up at room temperature; it may become hard, but have a dull, mottled appearance, the mouthfeel may be crumbly or soggy instead of crisp. Sometimes a “bloom” will happen—this is when the fat solids come to the surface of the chocolate and make whitish splotches or streaks. Okay. Enough science. Feel free to put all of that information to the back of your mind. An easy thing to remember when tempering is the old rule, “oil and water don’t mix.” This is true on a couple of levels: chocolate loves a cool room with little or no humidity, but also, all utensils (and anything that comes in contact with the chocolate) should be completely dry. Water will cause your chocolate to seize during tempering. Seized chocolate will harden into a pasty clump that’s impossible to work with. There’s no cure for that, except to toss it and try again. Once you get the hang of it, you probably won’t require a thermometer. For novices, however, I highly recommend a chocolate thermometer or a chocolate spatula. Either or can be had for less than ten dollars and will make this process a lot less scary and essentially foolproof. Who doesn’t love not scary and foolproof? So that’s a wrap. You’ve got a little direction and a little science. Now you just need a few tools, tasty chocolate, and a bit of patience. Take a deep breath. This is very doable!