There's far more to chocolate than meets the eye. It comes in a variety of forms, and it helps to understand the differences when planning a chocolate-cooking session.
To start with, let's look at how chocolate is made. Chocolate liquor (also known as cocoa liquor or cocoa mass) consists of cocoa butter (almost 50%) and cocoa solids. It is a paste product produced by drying, fermenting, roasting and grinding cocoa beans. This paste, along with a few other ingredients including sugar, extra cocoa butter and flavouring such as vanilla is mixed or pressed with a heavy roller (a process called "conching") to produce dark chocolate.
The roasting and conching processes, along with the variety of cocoa beans used, the cocoa butter content and the combination and proportions of other ingredients added to the chocolate liquor, determine the characteristics and quality of the chocolate.
1. couverture chocolate: is available in dark, milk and white along with other flavours such as hazelnut, and is generally found in specialty shops. For example throughout my page you will see me refer to Haighs....I purchase all my couverture chocolate from there....I mainly use dark as this is my preferred taste. This chocolate has a very high cocoa butter content (approx 32%) which ensures that it melts easily and results in a very smooth texture and shiny texture. It is more expensive than regular chocolate but its sublime flavour and heavenly texture more than compensate for the higher cost.
2. milk chocolate: contains the same ingredients as dark chocolate with milk solids added during the manufactruing process. It is sweeter, lighter in colour and has a less intense flavour than dark chocolate. Milk chocolate is more popular for eating than for use in cooking. Due to the added milk solids and higher sugar content, milk chocolate needs to be stirred frequently during melting to prevent scorching and lumps forming....and beleive me it is not a pleasant experience to scorch your chocolate!!!
3. dark chocolate: contains varying amounts of chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sugar and vanilla. It has an intense, rich flavour.
4. dark cooking chocolate: is very similar in taste and price to dark chocolate, but the key ingredients are blended in different proportions to lower the melting point....this makes for easier use in the kitchen.
5. white chocolate: is unsual as it doesn't contain any chocolate liquor - it simpily contains cocoa butter mixed with sugar, milk solids and flavouring (such as vanilla). It is rich and creamy and sweeter than dark and milk chocolate.
6. choc bits and chips: are available in dark, milk and white, they contain the same basic ingredients as other chocolate....however, they have a higher fat content that is specially formulated to withstand oven heat so they can retain their shape during cooking.
7. compound chocolate: is available also in dark, milk and white and is available in buttons or blocks. It contains similar ingredients to regular chocolate, but with vegetable fats instead of cocoa butter. This means it is less expensive, easier to melt and will set at room temperature. This chocolate does lack the intense flavour and smooth texture of regular chocolate.
8. cocoa powder: is dry, fine and highly concentrated. It is made from chocolate liquor that has had most of the butterfat removed. As a result, cocoa powder is relatively low in fat compared to chocolate but still delivers an intense, rich flavour to cakes, desserts and drinks. Dutch cocoa, regarded as the world's best quality cocoa, is treated with an alkali that gives it a deeper flavour and makes it lighter in colour.
9. drinking chocolate: is cocoa powder that has been mixed with sugar and milk powder. It is sweeter than cocoa and dissolves in both hot and cold liquids. Drinking chocolate cannot be used as a substitute for cocoa or Dutch cocoa.
