These days, almost every food has its own day. (World Tripe Day is October 24th - mark it in your diary!) July 7th is World Chocolate Day and we're ready and willing to celebrate with gusto. From gooey brownies to chewy chocolate chip cookies, chocolate is as versatile as it gets when it comes to baking.

Chocolate can be a little delicate though and needs to be treated with care to avoid potential baking disasters. These 5 tips will help you store and use your chocolate for perfect results every time.

How To Work With Chocolate

Storage

Chocolate hates moisture. It's as simple as that. When chocolate is stored in the fridge, condensation can form. Condensation causes your chocolate to bloom - that's why you sometimes see that white coating on chocolate. (You can still use it, but you can't temper it.) It can also lead to issues when it comes to melting. Store your chocolate at room temperature to keep it in perfect condition.

Melting

If you've ever melted chocolate and ended up with a thick, grainy paste, chances are your chocolate has had an unfortunate date with moisture. Water causes chocolate to seize, turning it into a mess that may be a lost cause. (You could try adding a little warmed cream to turn it into a sauce, but there are no guarantees.) For perfectly smooth, glossy melted chocolate, bring a pot of water to a simmer, place your bowl of chocolate on top of the pot and turn off the hob. Be careful not to let the bottom of the bowl touch the water, and avoid splashing even a drop of water into the chocolate. Now leave the chocolate alone. No stirring. Let it do its thing. Once the chocolate looks like it has melted, give it a gentle stir and remove the bowl from the pot. Lick the spoon as a reward before you move on to the next step in your recipe.

Tempering

No, don't shout at the chocolate. (Unless it seizes - then you can go to town.) If you're melting chocolate to make cupcakes, the regular method will do, but if you want to coat truffles or make chocolates you'll need to temper your chocolate. Tempering helps create smooth, shiny chocolate with a pleasing snap when you bite into it. It can get a little messy (okay, it can get very messy, and if you're like me you'll still be finding chocolate on cupboard doors a week later) but the result is both impressive and satisfying. Tempering involves melting, cooling and heating chocolate until you end up with an eventual temperature of 32°C for dark chocolate. It's much more straightforward than it sounds though, as this quick video demonstrates.