Simple ways to turn chocolate into incredible edible creations.

Kirsten Tibballs spills her secrets.

Chocolate. It's a word as sure to bring a smile to many a sweet-loving face as it is to strike fear in the heart of many a sweet-making home cook. But using this most decadent - and delicious - of ingredients is less intimidating than it may appear in the window of your local patisserie.

Kirsten Tibballs, dubbed the "Queen of Chocolate", has won gold at the pastry Olympics (yes, there is one!) and teaches professionals and novices alike how to work with chocolate to make incredible creations at her Savour Chocolate and Patisserie school in Brunswick. "It's a medium that's so versatile, that's why I love it. There are not many ingredients that are beautiful on their own but also can be used to create something even more spectacular," she says.

With more than 20 years' experience working with chocolate, Kirsten says with a few simple techniques and a couple of recipes in hand, it's easy to impress friends and family. She suggests a baked chocolate cake or chocolate cookies as the first steps for the novice chocolate cook. "They are pretty much foolproof, and you can build your skill set and repertoire from there."

Kirsten writes in her new book Chocolate that cooking with chocolate at home should be easy and rewarding. "You don't need expensive gadgets or hard-to-obtain ingredients to achieve incredible food. Delicious desserts and cakes are best made with simple ingredients."

Here are her top 10 techniques and tips.

What choc to choose?

"The best chocolate to use is not necessarily the most expensive," Kirsten says. "But remember, some chocolate is made for eating and some made for cooking. Chocolate made for eating sometimes has less fat so becomes thick when melted." Look for chocolate with cocoa butter (compound chocolate replaces cocoa butter with vegetable fats); Kirsten uses the Belgium brand Callebaut, but she says any good-quality chocolate will give great results.

Smooth operator

"I know not everyone likes to use one, but the microwave is the best way to melt chocolate," Kirsten says. "It's so much easier and you've got no problem with the chocolate absorbing moisture." Use a plastic container and melt your chocolate - either finely chopped chocolate from a block, or chocolate buttons - on high in 30-second increments, stirring really well in between. The other method, using a double boiler on the stove, is more traditional. Ensure the bowl fits snugly on the saucepan, so no steam escapes and water doesn't come into contact with the chocolate, which will cause it to "seize" and become lumpy and granular.

Temper trap

"Don't be intimidated by tempering," Kirsten says of the process used to ensure finished chocolate products are shiny and that prevents any cloudy "blotches" appearing. "We only temper chocolate that contains cocoa butter, and only then if using it on its own as a decoration or for dipping," Kirsten says. "This controls the way it heats and cools with the cocoa butter, so it doesn't settle on top of the product, which is called fat bloom." Kirsten uses what she calls the 50/50 method, which is simply using the melting method already described until the chocolate is half liquid, half solid, and then stirring vigorously until it's all melted. Then the chocolate is tempered. Untempered chocolate used as an ingredient in a recipe works perfectly fine.

Big dipper

Using a special "dipping fork" is the easiest way to ensure a professional finish to your chocolate product, but a normal fork and a skewer to balance can be used at home to equally good effect. Simply submerge in the melted chocolate, lift and drain until only a thin layer of choc remains. "This ensures it's lovely to eat," Kirsten says. Tap to remove excess, wipe the base and place on a baking paperlined tray to set.

Gorgeous ganache

"Classically a ganache is cream and choc, but it's any emulsion of liquid and chocolate, so it could be caramel and choc, orange juice and choc, any liquid," Kirsten says. "Just boil the liquid to pasteurise, pour it over the chocolate and stir vigorously until it's beautiful and shiny." Kirsten says orange juice and cherry juice are particularly good flavours. "I also like using coconut cream, which is great for people who are lactose intolerant."

Magic mousse

This is one of the first chocolate desserts people tend to make, Kirsten says, and it's a great dish to do to build chocolate skills. "It's important to have a really intense chocolate flavour but the mousse itself has to be really aerated and light." The simplest mousse can be made by pouring boiling cream over melted chocolate and whisking to make a ganache. Fold through whipped cream and you have a mousse that's simple and quick. "Then you can go onto something more complex, adding whipped egg whites to create a different texture and flavour."

Comb under

"The biggest mistake people make with honeycomb is that they overmix it once they add the bicarb soda," Kirsten says. "Once I add the bicarb, I go around with the whisk no more than 2 ½ times, then pour out onto baking paper. If you whisk it too much you'll knock all the air out of it."

Finishing touch

"When making chocolate decorations, if you use baking paper because it is porous it will have a matt finish," Kirsten says. "If you want a shiny finish, use plastic wrap."

Curly question

Impressive looking chocolate curl garnishes are easy to master. For small curls, spoon dots of liquid chocolate on baking paper. Then, through the centre of each dot, use a cold spoon to curve around and out to create a delicate curl. "I then put the baking paper into something curved, like a jug to add to the curl," Kirsten says. Leave for 10-15 minutes to set at room temperature, or no longer than 5 mins in the fridge. For larger curls, spread tempered chocolate onto a strip of plastic, place baking paper on top and roll. Once set, unroll and break garnishes to size.

Gloss and glam

Ready to glaze a cheesecake or choc mousse cake? Remember to always glaze a frozen cake which will ensure the glaze sets cleanly. The gelatine in the glaze provides the shine.