360. How to Say a Bracha

50:3 The thing over which one will be reciting a bracha, whether it’s a food item, a fragrant item, or an article used to perform a mitzvah, should first be taken in one’s right hand (a left-handed person, in his left hand – Mishnah Brurah 206:18). He should think about the bracha he is going to say so that when he reaches God’s Name, he already knows how he’s going to complete the bracha. If he did not hold the object and it was just in front of him, the bracha still works. If the item was not before him when he recited the bracha, but was brought to him after he recited it, then the bracha is ineffective and must be repeated.

50:4 If someone said a bracha over a piece of fruit, then dropped it, rendering it unfit to eat (or if he discovered it was moldy and unfit to eat – MB 206:24), or if he said a bracha over wine that then spilled, if there is more of the same food or drink before him and he planned to eat more than he had been holding, then he need not repeat the bracha. (If part of the item is still fit to eat, he should do so in order that his bracha not have been recited in vain – MB 206:24.) If he did not plan to eat more, then his bracha only works on what he had been holding in his hand and he must recite a new bracha. Similarly, if he intended to eat more but more was not present when he recited the bracha, he must repeat it when more is brought. Even in a circumstance where one would not normally have to repeat the bracha on more food, different rules apply when one is prevented from eating after reciting his bracha. (Mishnah Brurah 206:26 says that he does not repeat the bracha unless he specifically intended not to eat more than what he had been holding, even if the food was not in front of him at that time.)