What is Chocolate Bloom?
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Time to read 2 min
You’ve been saving that special chocolate bar for weeks. Finally, the moment arrives. You pour yourself a cup of tea, settle into your chair, and unwrap that beautifully designed chocolate bar. And what do you see?
A white, chalky coating covering the surface of your bar. Has the chocolate gone bad? Is it mold?
Fortunately, the answer is no. What you’re seeing is called chocolate “bloom.” It looks like a dusty, sometimes crackly film and may have a slightly crumbly texture, too. While it may not look as beautiful as it’s supposed to, bloomed chocolate is perfectly safe to eat.
Fat Bloom vs. Sugar Bloom: What’s the Difference?
Chocolate bloom happens when chocolate has been exposed to less-than-ideal conditions, and the ingredients aren’t able to be properly reintegrated afterwards.
Fat (cocoa butter) bloom: typically happens when chocolate gets too warm. The cocoa butter separates from the cocoa solids and migrates to the surface, where it hardens.
Sugar bloom: typically happens when chocolate is exposed to excess moisture. The sugar crystals are broken up and are not able to reform properly.
A chocolate bar with sugar and fat bloom
Why Does Chocolate Bloom?
Chocolate bloom can happen with any product. It doesn’t discriminate based on cocoa percentage, variety, origin, or age of the chocolate bar (assuming you have the willpower to keep it around long enough). Any chocolate can bloom any time after it is produced if it’s exposed to heat, humidity, or temperature shocks.
The best way to prevent chocolate bloom is to store your chocolate properly:
Keep it at room temperature if possible, and avoid sudden temperature changes.
Avoid humidity: do not store in your refrigerator (lots of moisture, plus, you don’t want your chocolate bar to absorb the odor of your leftovers, do you?) but if you must, put your chocolate in the freezer in an airtight bag.
What To Do With Bloomed Chocolate
Even though bloomed chocolate is entirely safe to eat, some people don’t love the texture, especially if it has undergone both fat and sugar bloom. At The Chocolate Dispensary, we never let good chocolate go to waste. Here’s what you can do instead:
Turn it into drinking chocolate or hot chocolate - take a peek at how we make it here!
Bake brownies, blondies, cookies, or make s’mores
Melt into a ganache, create a sauce or marinade, or get adventurous by incorporating it into other foods
Try your hand at chocolate-making by melting and retempering it to restore it
It may not win any beauty contests, but it'll still taste just as delicious!
