tempering chocolate notes

Just temper the chocolate!

Foolproof method (they taught us this in school AFTER we mastered the hardcore old-school French methods):
-bring a pot of water to a boil
-turn it off, put the chocolate in a bowl over it, and ignore for about 10 minutes
-when all the chocolate is melted except the middle, remove from the heat and stir to melt the rest
-stirring vigorously is important, and by the time the chocolate reaches the holding temperature, there should still be a few unmelted pieces
-the holding temperature for dark chocolate is 86-90, for white or milk it's 83-86 (as in, it should stay in that range while using)
-you can test if it's tempered by smearing a bit on a cool surface...if it sets up quickly and without streaks, you're good. if not, stir some more and maybe rewarm, then bring the temp back down with some new pieces of unmelted chocolate.

another guide:

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/155/Tempering-Chocolate