A Thortons chocolate maker claims that storing your Easter eggs at the ‘Goldilocks temperature’ is the secret to making them last for months after your purchase
If you celebrated Easter over the weekend, you may feel like you’re now living in Willy Wonka’s factory, overwhelmed by nothing but piles of chocolate. But if you’re worried about how you’ll eat all of this at once, don’t worry, as one master chocolate maker has revealed just how to make these sweet treats last.
While you may be tempted to pop your eggs in the fridge, Thorntons expert Ian Clay explains this isn’t strictly the right course of action. Instead, he advises egg eaters to store their goodies at a ‘Goldilocks temperature’ – not too hot and not too cold.
Chilling eggs for far too long will not only harden the chocolate, but may even cause a loss of flavour. This is due to a phenomenon called ‘bloom’ which causes fat to rise to the surface of chocolate, changing its texture.
Previously, scientists have also found that our perception of sweetness and bitterness is often dampened by cooler temperatures, while sourness and saltiness tends to remain the same. This is thanks to the harshness of cold which suppresses the flavour of chocolate, preventing our taste buds from making the most of it.
If you’re also guilty of leaving your eggs too long in view of a sunny window, chances are, they’ll probably melt too. This will leave your chocolate soft and sticky, but not ideal for eating.
“Refer to the storage instructions and store your chocolates in a cool, dry and dark place, away from heat sources,” the team at Thorntons added. “Around 18 degrees is the perfect temperature to ensure they maintain their optimal taste and texture.
“Your sense of taste alone offers a very one-dimensional experience – it can only detect sweet, sour, bitter or savoury. The rest of the flavour is picked up by your sense of smell. The all-important aromas which are released as you chew, combine with taste to make that unforgettable flavour.”
If you still do prefer cooler chocolate in spite of this advice, it’s suggested that you can pop your eggs in the fridge for 20 minutes before consumption. This was advised by Tim Kelly, a professional egg tester at Morrisons, who told The Mirror that egg chocolate should be treated differently than your everyday bars.
He said: “Easter eggs are a lot thinner, which means they melt much quicker on the tongue than a standard chocolate bar would. Therefore you get a more immediate hit of flavours and aromas from the chocolate itself.
“This means the aromas and the flavours hit your brain faster and it’s all delivered in a much quicker way so you get more of an immediate pleasure hit with an Easter egg.”
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