Types of Chocolate
If
you always like to accompany your cup of coffee with a chocolate
cookie or other chocolate-based treat, or if you usually order
a hot chocolate drink, you might not consider yourself a chocoholic,
but you certainly make it to the fans' category. But even
if chocolate is not your first choice when it comes to dessert,
you should probably by familiar with at least its main categories,
just in case you are asked if you prefer couverture over white
chocolate for your ice-cream glace.
-
Dark Chocolate can contain anything from 30% to 75% cocoa
solids. It has a slightly sweet flavor and a dark color and
it is the chocolate type most used in cooking. For everyday
cooking and the majority of the recipes for dark chocolate,
choose one with around 50% cocoa solids. However, dark chocolate
with a higher cocoa solid content will give a richer, more
intense, flavor. This chocolate is often called luxury or
continental chocolate and has a cocoa solid content of between
70-75%. Occasionally, cooking experts support that it is essential
to use a better chocolate, but the recipe should specify when
that is the case.
-
Milk Chocolate, as its name suggests, contains milk and has
lovely creamy, mild, and sweet flavor. It is mostly used as
an eating chocolate, rather than in cooking. However it does
have its place in chocolate cookery, especially for decorations,
and when a milder, creamy flavor is required. It is more sensitive
to heat than dark chocolate so care must be taken when melting
it.
-
White Chocolate contains lower cocoa butter content and cocoa
solids. It can be quite temperamental when used in cooking.
Always choose a luxury white cooking chocolate to avoid problems
and take great care not to overheat when melting it. White
chocolate is useful also for color contrast in decoration,
creating a dramatic effect when it is placed over darker backgrounds.
-
Couverture is the preferred chocolate for professional use,
as it retains a high gloss after melting and cooling. Nevertheless,
it requires tempering and is only available from specialist
suppliers. In case it can be found to special cooking supply
stores, it usually is more expensive than regular milk chocolate.
-
Chocolate Glace is a chocolate-flavored cake covering which
is an inferior product not generally used by true chocolate
lovers. However, it has a high fat content, making it easier
to handle when making some decorations such as curls or caraque.
In case you do not want to compromise flavor too much, but
have difficulty making the decorations with pure chocolate,
try adding a few squares of chocolate-flavored cake covering
to a good quality chocolate.
-
Chocolate Chips are available in dark, milk, and white chocolate
varieties, and are used primarily for baking and as decoration
materials.
-
Cocoa Powder is the powder left after the cocoa butter has
been pressed from the roasted and ground beans. It is unsweetened
and bitter in flavor. It gives good, strong chocolate flavor
when used in cooking.
Author
Info:
Jonathon Hardcastle: Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for
http://wonderfulworldoffood.com/
- In addition, Jonathon also writes articles for
http://supershoppingtips.com/ and http://fitness-talk.net/
|
