"maxine in ri" > wrote in message
...
> 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

In a nutshell, a small amount of water will cause seizing, but a larger
amount will not. Generally, the fat in margarine should prevent seizing
(thought I would never use margarine with chocolate anyway, but that's just
me :-) ). However, it could be that it was burned or moisture contaminated
it from another source as well.
What happens essentially is that the dry cocoa particles, or crystals, are
pretty evenly suspended in fat; introduce a small amount of liquid and those
particles get wet and clump together, creating a different kind of
crystalline structure. With larger amounts, the crystals are evenly
distributed, creating an emulsion (kind of like mayonnaise, fat suspended in
water).
Basically seizing comes from one of 3 things: First, melting at too high
heat, thereby burning the chocolate. Adding cold liquid to warm chocolate is
second (just think about what happens of you put melted chocolate in the
freezer). This one is easier to fix. Third is a small amount of liquid got
in there and rearranged everything!

Hope this helps..

kimberly