Types of Chocolate

Dark Sweet Chocolate

In almost every country, chocolate is a popular ingredient which is able to add to many types of desserts and foods to increase deliciousness. A type of chocolate depends on quantities of different ingredients which are added in chocolate and also depend on the temperature and the length of roasting.

• Unsweetened chocolate; Unsweetened chocolate is chocolate in its rawest form. This unadulterated chocolate is also known as baking, plain or bitter chocolate and popularly used as the base for cakes, brownies, confections, and cookies. Unsweetened chocolate is made from pure chocolate liquor that has been refined and contains 50-55% of cocoa butter. Since no sugar has been added to the chocolate it has a strong, bitter taste that is used in cooking and baking but is never eaten out of hand. Unsweetened chocolate, if well wrapped and stored in a cool, dry place with good air circulation, could be kept for several years.

• Dark chocolate; Also known as ―plain chocolate‖, Dark chocolate is chocolate without milk as an additive. Dark chocolate is considered as healthy chocolate. According to studies of two prestigious scientific journals, it states that eating more dark chocolate can help lower your blood pressure, but you have to balance the extra calories by eating less of other things.

• Milk chocolate; Milk chocolate is the combination of chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, vanilla, milk solids, and lecithin. This type of chocolate could be kept up to a year if stored in a cool, dry place. Milk chocolate must contain at least 10% of chocolate liquor, 3.7% milk fats, and 12% milk solids. Generally, milk chocolate is popularly used in decorating cake and cookies.

• Semi-sweet chocolate and bitter sweet chocolate; Semi-sweet and Bittersweet chocolate are the same kind of chocolate, both refer to dark chocolate. Both Semi-sweet and Bittersweet chocolate contain cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla, and sometimes lecithin. Semi-sweet and Bittersweet chocolate, if well wrapped and stored in a cool, dry place with good air circulation, could be kept for several years.

• Couverture chocolate; The word ―Couverture‖ translates to ―covering‖ and refers to one of the finest quality of chocolate in the world. Couverture is produced with premium cacao beans and a high percentage of cocoa butter. Additionally, this type of chocolate also contains a total fat content of 30-40%.

White Chocolate

• White chocolate; in fact, white chocolate cannot be called ―chocolate‖ because it does not contain chocolate liquor. White chocolate is the combination of cocoa butter, sugar, milk solids, vanilla, and lecithin, and is able to be kept from 6-10 months if stored in a cool, dry place. Generally, white chocolate is ivory-colored, but white chocolate which is made with vegetable fat is white-colored.