Get Rid Of White Spots On Chocolate

by JJ
(Frederick)

Is there any way to get rid of white spots on chocolate so you can give them as gifts?

After making turtles, I put my candies in a box to store and when I got ready to wrap them for gifts, they were covered with those white spots.

I know they will taste OK, since I ate one! But they don't look nice to give as gifts!!! Would warming them help?

Thanks, JJ

Hi JJ,

How to get rid of white spots on chocolate is the million dollar question - particularly at this time of year when everyone is in a candy making frenzy for the Christmas holidays. :)

I wish I had a full proof answer for you, but I don't. Of course you probably know that the white spots come from either sugar bloom or fat bloom. In your case, probably fat bloom.

The cocoa butter in the chocolate separates and rises to the surface because of changes in temperature.

You mentioned that you stored your chocolate turtles in a box to store. I don't know where you kept the box, but I suspect the temperature must have gotten too warm (over 75°) causing the bloom.

I don't think warming them would help. Because of the type of candy turtles are, you can't really re-melt and start from scratch. :)

The only thing I can think of to try is to try rubbing them with a little vegetable oil. I don't know if/why it would work, but it's what I think I'd try myself, just to see what happens.

Let me know if it works or if you find another solution.

As you say, they still taste great. If worse comes to worse, you can still give them as is and just say, "Oh no - it looks like the weather got to them!" :) I'm sure no one will really mind because they taste so scrumptious! I wouldn't!

Blessings,
Angie

Comments for Get Rid Of White Spots On Chocolate

Click here to add your own comments

Dec 14, 2021

Vegetable oil for removing white spots from chocolate covered cookies NEW
by: Mandy

I tried this suggested and so far so good it worked - hopefully the taste won’t be impacted and it will Last until The cookies are gifted! Thankyou for the suggestion

Dec 21, 2019

Chocolate NEW
by: Michelle Carpenter

I used the hair dryer advice and it worked perfectly! White spots gone!

Dec 21, 2019

Chocolate NEW
by: Michelle Carpenter

I used the hair dryer advice and it worked perfectly! White spots gone!

Dec 18, 2018

Removing white spots on peanut clusters. NEW
by: Arlene

My microwave has a "melt Chocolate" setting. I put my clusters on wax paper and push that setting once. I leave them in the microwave after it has stopped for another 10 minutes. Then take them out and cool on the counter. White is totally gone and once again they are perfect. (No, the microwave doesn't melt them down).

Dec 23, 2017

Steam NEW
by: Dee

I think I fixed my bloomed Christmas Crack Saltine toffees by putting them in a cold oven with a Cake pan of boiling water for about 5 mins.

Everything was beautifully restored. I quickly added some sprinkles as the chocolate was again a tad soft and I’m hoping for the best.

I’m not sure exactly how to store it now though. Fridge. Airtight container. Freezer.

Nov 01, 2017

Getting rid of chocolate bloom NEW
by:

I used a damp paper towel (almost dry) and heated the paper towel in the microwave for 10-15 SECONDS and then quickly rubbed over the chocolate. Worked nicely!

Nov 17, 2016

Bloom on chocolates NEW
by:

I used a hair dryerand it worked!

Feb 16, 2016

White Spot Elimination NEW
by: Steph

I have been making roses with leaves for my neighbors. I can't dip again because of the color combinations. The leaves were first.I was in a hurry and my last batch developed white spots on a few. I was able to spray a paper towel corner with liquid canola oil, transfer that oil to another paper towel to reduce the grease and gently wipe the spots away. "Out, damn'd spot", as William Shakespeare said in Macbeth. I kept one. The spots never came back.

Dec 24, 2015

Steaming the Bloom Off of Chocolate Candy NEW
by:

I know this topic is very old, but I had to add this comment. I followed the advice below and held my chocolate marshmallow reindeer closely over my humidifier. AMAZING. In about 1 second per side, they were perfect again. Careful, you could end up with chocolate in your humidifier. :) Oh, they were made with melted chocolate bars.

Now all I have to do is unwrap and steam all 40 of them, rewrap them and give them as gifts before they bloom again. Hopefully, everyone will eat them before that might happen.

Sep 01, 2015

tips NEW
by: Dan

-Echoing the previous post(s), tempering is the best way to prevent bloom. Notice that I said 'best' way; that is because the bloom can (and does) occur even in "perfect" conditions.

-Yes, even a double boiler will overheat chocolate; the melting temp. of cocoa butter can be as low as 93 degrees(F)

-Working in a candy shop (many years ago) we used a "special" machine that tempered chocolate for dipping. Very expensive! Google: Chocolate Tempering Machine to see what I mean. $300 and up for a home version and over $1000 for the cheapest and smallest commercial unit! (We used the Hilliard) Want to know how this magical machine melted the chocolate without buring it? It used a 60 watt lightbulb as the heating element! LOL! That's right, the thousand+ dollar machine used the exact same advanced technology as my sisters EZ Bake oven... (I'm in the wrong business!)

-I found an excellent explanation about why and how chocolate is tempered. http://www.ecolechocolat.com/en/chocolate-tempering.html

Apr 11, 2015

What works & what doesn't NEW
by: Jennifer

In order to avoid the white spots, you need to temper your chocolate - you can find instructions online on how to do it, but basically it's bringing your chocolate up to a certain temperature, bringing down to a temp, then back up to a "working" temp. This will make sure all the molecules are connected properly - if they are not, the cocoa butter separates and you get white spots. When I started working with chocolate I had the white spots appear, and I saw this post and tried the "steaming" suggestion - it didn't work. What I've found to be best is to use a dipping chocolate that is specially formulated to avoid the spotting. Lots of them, though, taste waxy. The best candy melts that I have found are by the company "Chocoley". The dark melts are delicious without the waxy taste and you don't have to worry about the spots - dip with confidence! I am not affiliated with chocoley - just a small home-based business that searched for the best melts and that's where I found them. Hopefully this will help anyone else looking for some good melts!

Apr 11, 2015

Turn up the heat NEW
by: Shae

We took a low powered blow torch to our white spotted peanut clusters and they look great again... Not kidding... We just won't be able to put them in the fridge with out getting spots again and you have to be very quick so that you don't cook the chocolate...

Sep 22, 2012

White Spots on Chocolate Pretzels NEW
by: Angie from chocolate-candy-mall.com

Hi Jen,

I know it's terribly disappointing to not have your chocolate pretzels turn out as anticipated. :( I hope the steamer idea helps.

If not, here's another suggestion. Get some contrasting chocolate (white or dark), melt it and drizzle it over the affected pretzels and it should hide the discoloration or make it barely noticeable.

Even if the water wasn't boiling, the chocolate could still have gotten too hot when melting. You really have to monitor it and remove the top bowl from the heat from time to time so that the chocolate doesn't get too hot.

Let me know if that helps and how the rest of the chocolate pretzels turn out. :)

P.S. You probably don't need as much shortening as you are using. Maybe half that.

Sep 22, 2012

White Spots NEW
by: Jen

I have to make 320 chocolate dipped pretzels. I made 140 of them and almost 1/2 of them have white spots on them. I melted 1 bag of nestle milk choc chips at a time with 1 tablespoon of shortening/cup of chips in a double boiler. I only had the stove at medium heat so the water was never boiling. Any ideas as to what I did wrong? I'm going to borrow a steamer to try the steaming idea and see if breathes new life into the sore-to-the-eyes spotted ones.

Sep 15, 2012

Steaming works! NEW
by: Hanna

I know this is an old post, but I had the same results using chocolate cigarillo tubes. There were white spots and lines everywhere. I just pulled out my fabric steamer and lightly steamed them and it worked! Just a suggestion :)

Dec 22, 2011

Get Rid Of White Spots On Chocolate NEW
by: Angie

Hi Beth,

I'm guessing that you may be overheating the chocolate in the microwave. Try using the double boiler method instead and see if you get a better result.

If you don't have a double boiler, you can place a bowl over a smaller pot with some hot water (just simmering) and melt the chocolate that way.

If you really do want to use the microwave, try heating the chocolate for less time and stirring more often.

You don't have to heat the chocolate until all of it is melted. Once some of the chocolate is melted, the residual heat in the chocolate will melt the rest if you just keep stirring it.

I doubt anyone will really mind the "look" of your discolored chocolate, but I understand your disappointment. You could always try what Jacque suggested above and lightly brush the discolored chocolates with hot water to see if you can "repair" them. :)

Let me know if you have similar success.

Dec 22, 2011

Why are there white spots on my chocolate? NEW
by: Beth

This is my first attempt at making candy. My 10 year old son and I are giving it as gifts and it doesn't look very nice. It has white spots and dark spots.

I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips, melted them in the microwave. I microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stir then 30 seconds, etc. until it's melted.

We left the candies out to dry and harden, and once they did, spots started to show. By the next day there were snowflake like white spots. It looks moldy, but of course, it's not.

We tried adding Crisco to the second batch. Those have the dark spots, but not the white (yet, we just made them last night).

My son is very excited to give these homemade treats, but disappointed that they're ugly. What can I do to make them come out looking like "real" candy next time?

Mar 07, 2011

White spots on turtles
by: Janie

I had that happen to some chocolates I made to give as gifts. Since they were dipped chocolates anyway, I just dipped them again in some fresh chocolate. They were now "double-dipped", bright, shiny and awesome.

Dec 15, 2010

Getting Rid of White Spots on Chocolate with Water
by: Angie

Hi Jacque,

Thanks so much for letting us know the results of your experiment. I never even thought of plain old H2O! :) Good thinking. Now I'll try to remember that so I can suggest it to others who ask the same question.

So a little warm water can help get rid of white spots on chocolate. I hope they stay looking lovely for your friends/family.

Thanks again!

Dec 15, 2010

White spots on chocolate
by: Jacque

Hi, Thanks for answering. I did try to oil. However, it did NOT work. It gave me an idea however, and I tried a small amount of WARM water brushed on with a pastry brush. That seems to work - at least for 2 days now. I am watching it to see if it goes back to the white spots. Even, if it does, I will try it and then give it as gifts and hope the people eat the turtles immediately!! Thanks again and happy holidays! Jacque

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Candy Making Questions & Answers.