Chocolate

All chocolate starts out from the same product: cacao beans. The cacao beans are roasted and ground into a paste substance called chocolate liquor. This liquor is made of cocoa fats and cocoa solids. From this liquor, all the other types of chocolate are made.

Cocoa powder is made when all of the cocoa fats (cocoa butter) are removed from the liquor, leaving behind the solids - and ground into a dark powder. There are 2 types of cocoa powder - just cocoa powder, and Dutch processed. The Dutch processed cocoa has been processed with an alkaline substance to remove some of the bitterness of the unprocessed. This method was developed by the Pennsylvania Dutch. If the cocoa powder is left in its solid state without being ground, it is called baking chocolate. There is no sugar in cocoa powder or baking chocolate.

The next step for chocolate is dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is a combination of cocoa solids, cocoa butter and sugar. The darker the chocolate, the less sugar. When reading a label on dark chocolate, you will often see a percentage, such as 65%. This is the amount of cocoa solids present in the chocolate. The higher the percent, the more intense the chocolate flavor. For eating chocolate, 70% is probably the highest you should choose, more than that and the chocolate will be very bitter. Dark chocolate is good for both eating and cooking with. Recent studies have shown that dark chocolate also contains some of the same heart healthy components as red wine.

Milk chocolate was invented in Switzerland in 1876, when milk and more sugar were added to chocolate.... and then popularized in the United States by candy giant Hershey's in 1900. In the US, government regulations state that milk chocolate must contain at least 10% cocoa solids. In Europe, the minimum for cocoa solids is 25%. Sometimes lecithin is added to milk chocolate to give it a smoother texture. Milk chocolate is an eating chocolate only, and does not do well when trying to cook with it, due to the amount of milk solids present.

White chocolate does not contain any cocoa solids at all. White chocolate is made by combining pure cocoa butter with sugar, milk and vanilla. It has a very mild chocolate flavor, and the extra sugar makes it extra sweet. True chocolate lovers often turn their noses up at white chocolate, since there aren't any cocoa solids present.

There is also another type of chocolate which is generally not available for the public to purchase. It is a chocolate called 'conveture'. It is specially formulated for coating candies, fruits or other sweets. It has a higher percentage of cocoa butter than other types of chocolate.

Now you know the differences between different types of chocolate. The fun part is trying each one to find which chocolate you like best!