Chocolate is a magical ingredient to work within the kitchen. There are so many ways it can be used. When creativity is applied, different creations can be made. From the simplest of chocolate truffles to the art of building a chocolate sculpture. A delightful childhood treat, transformed into a sophisticated adult delicacy. Candies that can come in a variety of different flavors. From sweet and creamy to dark and bitter. Many characteristics that can enhance a person's sweet taste buds.
What's Chocolate?
Chocolate is an ingredient that everyone is familiar with. Chocolate is fundamentally the seeds driven from a cacao tree. The seeds are roasted and finely grounded. These seeds are called cocoa beans and are known to have a bitter flavor. The cocoa beans are fermented to develop taste before being roasted. While they are being roasted, the beans will begin to develop the aroma and flavor of chocolate.
Cocoa beans have a high percentage of fat, also known as cocoa butter. After roasting, the beans are grounded. During this process, the beans begin to break down, releasing the fats found in it. While grounding, the heat from roasting is circulated, causing the cocoa butter to melt and reach a liquid stage. This is called chocolate liquor. To enhance its natural flavors, sugar and other ingredients are added. It is treated one more time by heating and cooling the chocolate liquor before being used for production.
Cocoa beans have a high percentage of fat, also known as cocoa butter. After roasting, the beans are grounded. During this process, the beans begin to break down, releasing the fats found in it. While grounding, the heat from roasting is circulated, causing the cocoa butter to melt and reach a liquid stage. This is called chocolate liquor. To enhance its natural flavors, sugar and other ingredients are added. It is treated one more time by heating and cooling the chocolate liquor before being used for production.
Types of Chocolate
Primarily, chocolate comes in three different types: Milk, Dark, and White. Other examples can include Semisweet Chocolate, Cocoa Powder, and Modeling Chocolate. The three primary types of chocolates, as well as semisweet, are identified differently based on the amount of cacao and sugar it contains. The higher the amount of cacao used to prepare the chocolate, the less sweet it will taste.
Two other forms of chocolate are used differently than the four listed above.
These are the six types of chocolate I use to train myself at home with. Occasionally I use Unsweetened Chocolate, which is made up of 100% cacao.
- Milk Chocolate: Milk chocolate contains as little as 10% cacao and 90% sugar. The percentage of cacao can increase to as high as 40% with the remaining 60% of it being sugar.
- Dark Chocolate: Dark chocolate contains 60% cacao and 40% of sugar.
- Semisweet Chocolate: Semisweet chocolate contains between 15-35% cacao, cocoa butter, and sugar.
- White Chocolate: White chocolate is primarily made of cocoa butter, milk solids, and sugar. Cocoa butter is a pure fat that is pressed out of the cocoa bean, containing no trace of cacao to be found in it.
Two other forms of chocolate are used differently than the four listed above.
- Cocoa Powder: Cocoa powder contains 100% cacao, zero sugar, without the addition of cocoa butter. Cocoa powder can be used as a garnish for different desserts, or as a flavoring agent when other sweeteners are used in a recipe.
- Modeling Chocolate: Modeling chocolate has the appearance of clay and made from melted chocolate and either corn syrup or glucose. The addition of powdered sugar is sometimes used to prevent the chocolate from becoming too moist, making it difficult to be worked with by hand. It's not to be consumed, rather used for decorating cakes, pastries, and making center pieces.
These are the six types of chocolate I use to train myself at home with. Occasionally I use Unsweetened Chocolate, which is made up of 100% cacao.
