As you probably know, there are different types of chocolate. In this post, I will be explaining differences, similarities, facts, and how to use each type.
1. HOW IS CHOCOLATE MADE?
Chocolate comes from cacao beans. Cacao nibs are found inside of these.
(CACAO NIBS- bean like seeds from which cocoa, cocoa butter, and chocolate are made. Cacao nibs are a very healthy, bitter ingredient.)
Picture by Worldatlas.com
Cacao nibs are fermented to create deep intense chocolate flavors. Then they are roasted and ground up to make chocolate liquor.
(CHOCOLATE LIQUOR- when grinding cacao, heat generates from friction. This causes the cocoa butter or fat to melt and form a fine paste called chocolate liquor. Also called cocoa mass. This is not sweet at all!)
When cacao nibs are roasted, they become cocoa beans!!! Cacao is not processed, cocoa is processed. The cocoa is now going to be separated from the cocoa butter.
(COCOA BUTTER- a fatty substance obtained from cocoa beans [cacao nibs after roasting], used in the manufacturing of confectionery and cosmetics)
The cocoa that was taken out of the cocoa butter is cocoa powder.
Now we can make different types of chocolate with the chocolate liquor, and cocoa butter!
Picture by Irena Macri
2. TYPES OF CHOCOLATE & HOW THEY CAN BE USED
There are 4 main groups of chocolate:
1. Milk chocolate
Milk chocolate is made by mixing chocolate liquor, milk, sugar, and cocoa butter.
Used for baking, coating, rarely tempering, & even cooking!
2. Dark chocolate
(includes semisweet, bittersweet, & couverture [precisely tempered chocolate])
Dark chocolate is made of chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, and sugar.
Used for baking, coating, tempering, & even cooking! BEST FOR TEMPERING!
3. White chocolate
White chocolate is made of cocoa butter, sugar and milk. No chocolate liquor, and due to this, some people don't consider this chocolate. Many people also think almond bark is white chocolate. Well, it isn't. Almond bark is made of vegetable fats and added flavoring.
Used for baking, coating, rarely tempering, & even cooking!
4. Ruby chocolate
This is chocolate is fairly new, and a little confusing to explain. All cocoa beans have a small amount of pinkish tint to them, but the color is gone when processing. Some people do use a ruby bean, but it makes no difference. When making other types of chocolate, manufacturers will let the beans ferment to develop that deep chocolate flavor. For ruby chocolate, there is no fermentation process. This keeps the ruby color. Some companies dye the chocolate pink, to emphasize the ruby color. The taste is described to be sour and tangy... not chocolaty! To make this, you would need sugar, cocoa butter, milk, chocolate liquor, citric acid, and vanilla flavoring. Many people believe adding pink dye to white chocolate would be the same. It is also very hard to find in stores!
Used for baking, coating, rarely tempering, & even cooking!
Comment which one you like most!
These are less common types/ forms of chocolate:
1. Raw chocolate
Raw chocolate has not been heated, processed, or mixed with other ingredients. Often advertised as healthy.
2. Compound chocolate
Compound chocolate is cocoa combined with vegetable fats instead of cocoa butter.
Used mainly for coatings on candy bars!
3. Modeling chocolate
Modeling chocolate is a paste made with melted chocolate mixed with glucose syrup, golden syrup, or corn syrup.
Used for decorating cakes and more desserts!
4. Cocoa Powder
Cocoa powder is the pulverized powder left after cocoa butter extraction.
Used for baking and drink making!
5. Dutch process cocoa powder
Dutch process cocoa powder is regular cocoa powder washed with potassium carbonate to neutralize the acidity. It has a deeper color and richer taste than regular cocoa powder.
Used for baking and drink making!
3. BARS, CHIPS, OR CANDY MELTS?
Walking through a chocolate section, there are 3 forms of chocolate: bars, chips, and candy melts. I am going to explain which ones are best for what. Starting with bars...
1. Bars
I am talking about chocolate bar brands such as Lindt or Ghiradelli, not bar brands like Snickers or Twix. Almost all of these brands are tempered chocolate (I will explain what tempered chocolate is after this section). A brand like Hershey, is not tempered. Tempered or not, bars are best used for smores & baking.
2. Chips
Chocolate chips... not potato:). These are most common for baking. You can coat different items with these though. These are NOT for tempering, due to not enough cocoa butter!
Used for baking & coating.
3. Candy melts
Despite their name, candy melts are pieces of confectionery treats made with vegetable oils instead of cocoa butter. They are almost identical to chocolate though. Since they don't have cocoa butter, they are not tempered. These are commonly used to coat things like strawberries!
Used for coating.
4. THE ART OF TEMPERED CHOCOLATE
TEMPERED CHOCOLATE- THE PROCESS OF HEATING AND COOLING CHOCOLATE TO STABILIZE IT FOR MAKING CANDIES. THE CHOCOLATE WILL BECOME GLOSSY, SMOOTH, AND WILL HAVE SNAP WHEN BITTEN INTO.
Chocolate that will be tempered has to have cocoa butter in it. The purpose of tempering is to pre-crystalize the cocoa butter. While being tempered, the chocolate and cocoa butter stabilize crystalline form.
Couverture is a precisely tempered type of dark chocolate. Use this in masterful creations.
To temper chocolate, you need to heat it, cool it, and heat it again. If you heat it up again after this, it will ruin the chocolate.
I will make a different post about how to temper chocolate in the future, so stay tuned for that!
5. CACAO PERCENTAGE
When you pick up a bar of chocolate, you may see different numbers on them. 60%, 75%, 90%, and many more. The higher the percent, the more bitter they are, and the darker too! This is because there is more cacao. In the Mother's Day Brownie recipe I posted, I used 60% cacao to make a not so bitter brownie.
6. BONUS RECIPE
Chocolate Milk
Ingredients:
- 1 c. whole milk, divided in half
- 1 1/2 tsp. dutch process cocoa powder
- 1 1/2tsp. - 2tsp. powdered sugar (depends on the sweetness you desire)
Directions:
1. Heat half of the milk in microwave for 15 seconds.
2. While heating, sift and whisk together the cocoa powder and powdered sugar.
3. Take the milk out and whisk the dry ingredients until no lumps remain.
4. Pour into the cold milk and stir until combined.
ENJOY!
I hope y'all enjoyed this post!
Here is a riddle you can try to solve! Comment if you know the answer!
I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I? The answer to the last post was a map!
Stay tuned for more posts like this one!
What a great lesson!