Kitchen rescueChocolate and sugarPartly saveable

How to fix seized chocolate

Stir in a little boiling water or warm cream until smooth. It won't set or temper like plain chocolate again, but it's fine for sauces, ganache and baking.

How you can tell

  • Melting chocolate suddenly turns thick, dull and grainy.
  • It clumps into a stiff paste instead of flowing.

Why it happens

Chocolate is mostly fine sugar and cocoa particles suspended in cocoa butter. A small splash of water or steam makes the sugar turn sticky and clump together, so the chocolate seizes. Overheating can cause the same thick, grainy texture.

How to fix it

Option 1Turn it into a sauce or ganache

  1. Take the bowl off the heat.
  2. Stir in a spoonful of boiling water, or warm double cream, and keep stirring until smooth.
  3. Add a little more if it is still thick. Use it for sauces, drizzling, ganache or baking.

Option 2Use it in baking

  1. If you only need melted chocolate for a cake or brownie batter, stir the seized chocolate into the warm melted butter from the recipe until it loosens.

Next time

  • Make sure the bowl, spoon and spatula are completely dry.
  • Melt chocolate gently in a bowl over barely simmering water, without letting the bowl touch the water, or in short bursts in the microwave.
  • Keep steam away from the bowl, and don't cover it with a lid while it melts.

Terms on this page

General kitchen guidance, not food-safety advice. If food may be unsafe, for example undercooked meat or anything left out too long, follow the Food Standards Agency and throw it away if in doubt.