Why does the chocolate harden?

[JENSTER]

Why does the chocolate harden when put on ice cream?

[Janetex]

Because it contains an enormous amount of beef tallow.

[bernardo]

Because it freezes, of course

[woofgang]

that magic stuff has a lower setting point than ordinary chocolate due to whatever "stuff" they put in it. If I remember my o level chemistry correctly..."everything" can be either a solid, a liquid or a gas depending on the temeperature and pressure of its environment. what we have as an environment is defines as STP or NTP (standard/normal temperature and pressure) so things that we think of as "solid" eg my steel saucepan are only solid at STP mercury which we think of as liquid can be a solid at a lower temp...same with chocolate...I think... any chemical whizzes out there today??

[kalise25]

Because chocolate is milk based and would therefore have pretty much the same freezing point as ice cream (which is also milk based, to the best of my knowledge..) not being snide or anything - that's just my simpleton's way to look at it!!!

[woofgang]

hmm, kalise25 chocolate is solid at NTP and icecream is liquid...

[ewand]

Basically, to add to the the other answers, chocolate has a melting point (the point where the chocolate changes from solid, to liquid state) similar to blood temperature....therefore, as icecream is a great deal colder, as the liquid chocolate hits it, it is dramatically cooled, and drops below the melting point, hardening. There is some other scientific stuff to do with energy change between the two states etc. but I feel i've already damaged my already floundering reputation enough.....!

[funkychick]

erm are you of the muppet variety ...... does it matter anyway it tastes damm good ...hard or not wink wink

[Bert]

There's no beef tallow in chocolate, Janetex. English chocolate has a few percent vegetable fat, which we think makes it smoother and nicer, but which our Continental friends think adulterates it, so our chocolate has to be called "family chocolate" if it is exported.