"Adam Schwartz" > wrote in message
news:YoUMb.45410$xy6.115590@attbi_s02...
> I'm planning on making some cherry cordials today, but I only have
> unsweetened chocolate. I will sweeten the chocolate with sugar, but this
> will thicken it considerably, so it will not be pourable even when fully
> melted. What can I use to thin it so that it will still harden for use as
> coating chocolate; shortening, butter, something else? I know it would be
> easier to buy semisweet chocolate, but I'm trying to use what I already
> have.
>
> -Adam


Good golly, Adam! Run, do not walk, to your nearest chocolate source and buy
the right chocolate for the job. I'm pretty darn sure you will be
disappointed with the results if you attempt to make cherry cordials with
unsweetened chocolate that you've added sugar to yourself.
First, sugar doesn't dissolve in melted chocolate....in order to get the
sugar to dissolve you'd have to raise the temp of the chocolate past what I
would consider burning, or at the very least, scorching the chocolate.
Second, if you melted the sugar first, the sugar would most likely
crystallize- at least in part- when you add it back to the chocolate because
of the difference in temperature. Third, unless you're going to conch the
chocolate yourself, which is very time consuming, you won't likely be very
happy with the gritty grainy results.
Get a good couverture chocolate, and you don't need to thin it. When
tempered it will be the right consistency for dipping. In my experience, the
darker the chocolate, the thinner the chocolate when melted. If you ever do
want to thin chocolate, use a small amount of cocoa butter. Too much, and
your chocolate will not set up hard.
Get the real thing, and save the unsweetened for a buttercream or a
flourless chocolate cake or some brownies.

kimberly