In article >, group wrote:

> I'm no expert when it comes to cooking with chocolate, just follow the
> directions and it works, mostly.
>
> Someone was telling me about a recipe she had that seized. It called
> for baking chocolate and margarine. One person advised her not to use
> margarine because it has water in it and that was why the chocolate
> seized.
>
> But I got to thinking, ganache uses cream and butter, both of which
> have some water content.
>
> Any help understanding the "chemistry" here would be appreciated.
>
> maxine in ri

Try sci.bio.food-science.
Al Sicherman wrote about this for the Star Tribune rag here many years
ago and it's one of those mystical things where a drop of water in
melted chocolate will cause it to seize, but lots of water will not.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

This recipe has a note that its chocolate is melted *with* water so as
not to seize when its cream is added to it.
http://www.joyofbaking.com/CranberryChristmasCake.html

Try sci.bio.food-science.
--
-Barb, <http://www.jamlady.eboard.com> 5/8/05.
"Are we going to measure, or are we going to cook?" -Food Critic Mimi Sheraton