“Chocolate, one of the trendy desserts.”

“Chocolate, one of the trendy desserts.”

Is there anyone who hates chocolate? Do you like chocolate? Well, I’ve got to say that I definitely love chocolate, especially its sweet-scented aroma, along with its soft, melting texture that dissolves in your mouth the moment you took a gentle bite on a well made, tasty-looking chocolate bar. However, ever thought of what and how chocolate is actually made? In this article, we will be discovering different types of chocolate and the ingredients to produce such aromatic desserts!

There are actually 3 different types of well-known chocolate i.e. white chocolate, milk chocolate and dark chocolate. Let us first take a look on white chocolate. White chocolate is a combination of sugar, cocoa butter, milk, vanilla along with a small amount of lecithin, an emulsifier that helps all ingredients to blend smoothly during the process of making. The taste of white chocolate is known to be sweet, containing very high notes of both condensed milk and vanilla. 

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One of its unique features is that it doesn’t contain any cocoa powders (also known as cocoa solids). However, it is extremely costly as it is considered a high demand resource by the cosmetic industry for the production of lotions and other beauty care products. Therefore, to lower the costs of production, companies often induce a synthetic compound that substitutes with other vegetable fats in place of cocoa butter. According to the FDA’s definition, a white chocolate is considered chocolate if it meets the requirement of containing at least 20% of cocoa butter. It’s shelf is up to 4 consecutive months if it’s stored properly.

Following into the next type, that would be the prominent chocolate among all chocolates, the original milk chocolate. It has a light brown color, creamy texture and exquisite flavor that leaves you nostalgic. Milk chocolate is made with the mixture of 3 typical components i.e. chocolate liquor, with sugar and milk. Nonetheless, during the making process, lecithin emulsifier may be added into the mixture to improve the smoothness of its texture. 

According to FDA, milk chocolate must contain at least 10% of chocolate liquor and 12% of milk to be considered as a genuine milk chocolate. In terms of flavour profile, it is sweet and chocolatey, obtaining high notes of cooked milk with caramelized sugar and a slight vanilla aftertaste. However, the taste may vary according to the amount of chocolate liquor added into the making process. In comparison to both white chocolate and dark chocolate, its sweetness is considered medium level as it is sweeter than dark chocolate but not as sweet as milk chocolate. It can last at least not more than 16 months if it’s stored properly. In fact, people often uses milk chocolate to decorate desserts and bakeries to make it look more elegant and fascinating when events are hosted.

Thirdly and prominently, we have dark chocolate! Personally, I am not a very sweet-addictor kinda person. Therefore, the taste of dark chocolate suits me perfectly as it is not sweet as white chocolate and milk chocolate. It has become famous when people discovered that it actually provides health benefits when an article was published regarding this matter. It is made easily by 2 main ingredients: sugar and chocolate liquor. 

Hence, it does not contain any added diary ingredients and it is considered vegan-friendly. The FDA defines a real dark chocolate should contain at least 15% of chocolate liquor, but it usually contains closer to about 50% or higher. A fun fact about a well-tempered dark chocolate will have a nice snap when it is broken in half. Similarly. Dark chocolate could taste varied depending on the cocoa content applied during the making. As it attains a high, chocolatey profile, it is mostly suitable for baking when a recipe requires a high note on chocolate flavor. It could last 20 months when it is stored properly.

Additionally, we have bittersweet chocolate, also known as extra-dark chocolate. As it’s name interpreted, it is a tiny bit more bitter in comparison to dark chocolate (Semi-sweet).It’s popularity has risen eversince people began claiming that we should eat consumer dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate which has a cocoa content of 70% and above, in order to be healthier or have better health system. Moreover, added sugar is usually less than ⅓ of total content. Similarly compared with dark chocolate, it has a shelf life of 20 months if it’s stored properly.

Next we will be looking at 2 main ingredients that are utilized to produce chocolate during the mixing process. I.e. chocolate liquor and cocoa powder.

Chocolate liquor, is an unsweetened chocolate and the base of all types of chocolate. Basically, without chocolate liquor, chocolate will not be chocolate genuinely. It has a texture of thick, dark brown colored paste that is created from cacao nibs, which grows inside of cocoa beans. Before turning into a paste, it has to be grounded finely that becomes a smooth texture to be heated up easily. As it is heated, it quickly turns into a liquid that can be formed into bars and any confectionaries. Chocolate liquor itself is 100% cocoa that doesn’t contain any added ingredients. Eventually, under high pressure, they are squashed to separate into 2 different components, cocoa butter and cocoa powder.

Last but never least, we have cocoa powder. When it is unsweetened, it contains 100% of cocoa. In fact, cocoa powder can be categorized into 2 main types i.e. natural cocoa and dutch cocoa. Natural cocoa has light brown in color in terms of appearance and has a strong chocolate flavor that is often acidic. Unlike natural cocoa, dutch cocoa has been alkalized to neutralize the acidity from natural cocoa. Dutch process gives the cocoa powder a warm, deeper color and slightly milder flavor. Out of curiosity, I have found out that dutch cocoa can actually be added into spice rubs or moles to give it a taste blast, containing richer and complex flavor. It is used oftenly to make hot chocolate, the extra hotness allows the powder to blend into the liquid easily. It has a shelf like up to 18 months if you keep it stored properly.

We hope that from this article, readers would truly understand the fundamental knowledge of chocolate and benefits people who are keen to learn about chocolate. Green House Ingredient also provides Chocolate Emulco Flavour and it has become one of our best sellers ever since. We see you on the next up coming up article!

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