Short answer: Specifically for chocolate, it’s the coco butter. The warm cocoa butter in the chips creates a smooth surface allowing light to reflect.
Longer answer: Your chips were warmed to a temperature high enough to melt the cocoa butter (about 90F/32.2C) but not high enough to make the chocolate lose the drop shape (for milk chocolate, about 104F/40C). As the chocolate cools, the surface ‘clumps’ (or crystalizes if the temper is really off) meaning the light no longer has a smooth surface to reflect off of.
Latest Answers