I continue to be amazed by great web sites and the personal journeys of bloggers and the Giverslog.com is no exception, it's ALL about giving - from making gifts, packing, social graces, etc. Bookmark her, you'll want to return there often.
The Chocolate tutorial below is an example of the wealth of information you will find on her site.
How to Buy Chocolate (for melting, baking, or just straight eating)
If you want to remain in chocolate innocence, read no further. Because after reading this post your run the risk of becoming a chocolate snob. Then there’s just no going back.WHAT’S YOUR FLAVOR?
I’m getting to be quite the dark chocolate junkie. Lately I’ve been adding unsweetened chocolate or natural cocoa when I have a cup of hot chocolate. How about you? Here is how chocolate flavors are divided up:
I’m getting to be quite the dark chocolate junkie. Lately I’ve been adding unsweetened chocolate or natural cocoa when I have a cup of hot chocolate. How about you? Here is how chocolate flavors are divided up:
unsweetened chocolate (the other name for this is “chocolate liquor,” aka, straight chocolate, more on that below)
sweetened dark
(this includes extra bittersweet, bittersweet, semi-sweet, and sweet)
milk chocolate
white chocolate
sweetened dark
(this includes extra bittersweet, bittersweet, semi-sweet, and sweet)
milk chocolate
white chocolate
Here’s a peek at the spectrum of ingreds:
bittersweet = at least 50% chocolate, at most 12% milk solids
semisweet = at least 35% chocolate, at most 12% milk solids
milk = at least 10% chocolate and 12% milk solids
white = at least 20% cocoa butter and 14% milk solids
bittersweet = at least 50% chocolate, at most 12% milk solids
semisweet = at least 35% chocolate, at most 12% milk solids
milk = at least 10% chocolate and 12% milk solids
white = at least 20% cocoa butter and 14% milk solids
Chocolates will label themselves with “bittersweet” or “semisweet” but standards vary between companies. The only way, then, to compare chocolates from one company another is to taste them (twist my arm).
Standards vary between companies, one company’s bittersweet is another company’s semi-sweetPOPULAR BRANDS
Anyone have a brand you’re loyal to? Here are a few that are popular among pastry chefs and chocolatiers:
E. Guittard (USA), Cluizel (France), El Rey (Venezuela), Valrhona (France), Scharffen Berger (USA), and Callebaut (Switzerland, USA).
Anyone have a brand you’re loyal to? Here are a few that are popular among pastry chefs and chocolatiers:
E. Guittard (USA), Cluizel (France), El Rey (Venezuela), Valrhona (France), Scharffen Berger (USA), and Callebaut (Switzerland, USA).
WHICH BRAND TO CHOOSE
The best way to find your favorite chocolate is to sample:
1. Smell it. Good chocolate will smell chocolaty.
2. Break it and look for a nice clean snap, not a grainy crumble.
3. Look it over, it should be pretty and glossy.
4. Taste it. Once in your mouth it should melt soft and smooth.
The best way to find your favorite chocolate is to sample:
1. Smell it. Good chocolate will smell chocolaty.
2. Break it and look for a nice clean snap, not a grainy crumble.
3. Look it over, it should be pretty and glossy.
4. Taste it. Once in your mouth it should melt soft and smooth.
Consider having your culinary friends over for a chocolate tasting. Set out different types of chocolate and some water for cleansing y’alls pallets. Start with the darkest chocolate and work your way to the lightest. Look it over, hold it in your hand and smell it as it starts to warm, snap it, then let it melt over your tongue.
Have your friends over for a chocolate tasting party. Have everyone bring a bar and taste from dark to light.WHAT IS REAL CHOCOLATE?
We’re going to get hardcore here. Chocolate starts as ground up nibs found inside a cocoa bean. This pure chocolate is called chocolate liquor (it has nothing to do with alcohol, in case you were wanting to ask), and that is made up of nearly equal parts cocoa solids and cocoa butter (it has nothing to do with dairy). So there you have it.
We’re going to get hardcore here. Chocolate starts as ground up nibs found inside a cocoa bean. This pure chocolate is called chocolate liquor (it has nothing to do with alcohol, in case you were wanting to ask), and that is made up of nearly equal parts cocoa solids and cocoa butter (it has nothing to do with dairy). So there you have it.
real chocolate = cocoa butter + cocoa solids
Cocoa solids are just the nonfat part of cocoa, the chocolate-flavored part.
So a real chocolate bar, then, is just real chocolate plus sugar, extra cocoa butter to make it smooth and meltable, a little vanilla because chocolate is so much better in combo with another flavor, and usually soy lecithin. A milk chocolate bar will also have milk solids.
When you leave out the cocoa solids, you get white chocolate.
When you keep the cocoa solids but replace the cocoa butter with vegetable fats, you get confectionery coating, like the Wilton candy melts you buy at the craft store (which is why these are called “chocolate-flavored” wafers, they are not real chocolate ).
When you leave out the cocoa solids and replace the cocoa butter with vegetable fats, you get vanilla confectionery coating. Which is not any kind of chocolate any way you look at it. See the chart below.
Where it all starts, cocoa nibs. You can buy these raw at a place like Whole Foods.
cocoa butter + cocoa solids = real chocolate (bottom left)vegetable fats + cocoa solids = chocolate-flavored confectionery coating (top left)
cocoa butter + vanilla = white chocolate (bottom right)
veg fats + vanilla = vanilla confectionery melts (top right)
White chocolate has a creamer color than vanilla melts because it is made with cocoa butter.
The ingredients for real chocolate will say “cocoa butter.”
Candy melts will have a vegetable fat, like palm kernael oil, instead of cocoa butter.
Candy melts are nice and easy to use. They melt easily, are hard to scorch, do not have to be tempered, and are otherwise very cooperative. The only problem is they taste waxy.
BUYING CHOCOLATE FOR MELTING
When you buy chocolate for melting, you want something that will melt quickly and smoothly. A chocolate that’s had a lot of extra cocoa butter added will do that ( it has a low viscosity, or low resistance). It will enrobe whatever you dip into it and hug the bumps and nooks and will cool quickly and be oh so pretty. The chocolate you really want for this job is called courveture. It’s super meltable (it has up to 39% cocoa butter). It’s also super expensive. So shop around. It’s often hard to find out how much cocoa butter is in a bar of chocolate in American bars. Chocolate makers figure this is part of their secret recipe. But you can pretty much guess by price. A high price often means a higher cocoa butter content. So pick your budget and go from there.
When you buy chocolate for melting, you want something that will melt quickly and smoothly. A chocolate that’s had a lot of extra cocoa butter added will do that ( it has a low viscosity, or low resistance). It will enrobe whatever you dip into it and hug the bumps and nooks and will cool quickly and be oh so pretty. The chocolate you really want for this job is called courveture. It’s super meltable (it has up to 39% cocoa butter). It’s also super expensive. So shop around. It’s often hard to find out how much cocoa butter is in a bar of chocolate in American bars. Chocolate makers figure this is part of their secret recipe. But you can pretty much guess by price. A high price often means a higher cocoa butter content. So pick your budget and go from there.
If you really want to get hardcore, bust out the calculator. You can usually get a good estimate of how much of the bar is cocoa butter (I saw this in a book called Bittersweet by Alice Medrich, p. 347):
grams of sugar per serving / grams per serving = percentage of sugar in the chocolate
whatever’s left is the percent of chocolate liquor
fat grams per serving / serving size = percentage cocoa butter
whatever’s left is the percentage of cocoa solids
if it’s milk chocolate you also need to account for up to 12 percent milk solids
grams of sugar per serving / grams per serving = percentage of sugar in the chocolate
whatever’s left is the percent of chocolate liquor
fat grams per serving / serving size = percentage cocoa butter
whatever’s left is the percentage of cocoa solids
if it’s milk chocolate you also need to account for up to 12 percent milk solids
The cheapest way to buy, which also happens to be the way to buy the best chocolate, is to buy it in huge slabs. I’ve gone in on a slab with friends and also bought chunks of a slab at the bulk section in WinCo. I’ve also had great luck with chocolate meant for chocolate fountains, which I’ve bought at a restaurant supply store or at Michael’s with my 40% off coupon. Just make sure it is real chocolate.
All of these versions of real chocolate will work for melting.
This bar has plenty of extra cocoa butter and would be great for melting. Too bad most American chocolate bars do not make their cocoa butter level so clear.A NOTE ABOUT COCOA
While we’re talking about chocolate, I thought I’d throw in a quick note about cocoa. As you’ve probably figured by now, cocoa is made up mostly of the solids from choclate liquor,with a little fat left in. When you’re trying to decide what kind of unsweetened cocoa to buy, here are some guidelines.
While we’re talking about chocolate, I thought I’d throw in a quick note about cocoa. As you’ve probably figured by now, cocoa is made up mostly of the solids from choclate liquor,with a little fat left in. When you’re trying to decide what kind of unsweetened cocoa to buy, here are some guidelines.
Natural cocoa: This has the more intense taste of the original cocoa bean, and more acidic. Chocolate purists often prefer it. It is nonalkalized, so it’s used in recipes with baking soda, which is an alkali.
Dutch-processed cocoa: This cocoa has been mixed with chemicals to alkalize it. It smooths out the flavors and makes them less harsh, which was especially necessary when chocolate making was not as sophisticated as it is today. It also gives it a rich darker color. Because it’s already alkalized, you can use it in recipes with baking powder. If you use it with baking soda it will over rise—too muck alkali.
Dutched cocoa (on the right) is darker and richer in color, but the flavor is milder.
natural cocoa (top) is nonalkalized, dutch processed is alkalized
Baking soda usually won’t work with dutch processed cocoa becsue you’ll have too much alkali.
