Can you imagine a life without chocolates? It's a key ingredient in
many food items. Think of brownies, chocolate truffles, cookies, hot
fudge, cakes or even the humdrum milk shake- its chocolate that makes
them so irresistible! However, very few realize that chocolates are of
various kinds and each as its unique taste and applications. Let us
glimpse through some of the most popular ones:-
White chocolate
An extremely sweet variety of chocolate, it is unique in not having
any cocoa solids and thus often referred to as a chocolate derivative
instead of traditional chocolate. It is formulated from a mixture of
cocoa butter, milk emulsifier, sugar and flavorings like vanilla or any
other. Absence of cocoa lends it the off-white or ivory color. It can
stay solid at higher temperatures than other chocolate varieties. While
it lacks the chocolate's antioxidant properties, its mild and pleasant flavor is terrific for Chocolate Mousse, Penna Costa and varied other
desserts.
Milk Chocolate
Apart from cocoa butter and chocolate powder, it contains dry milk
solids or condensed milk and sugar in varying proportions. They also
have some butter fats. These are much sweeter than dark chocolates, a
lighter hue and less pronounced chocolate flavor. These are difficult
to temper and can easily overheat. These are most often consumed as a
candy bar.
Dark Chocolate
This chocolate is hallmarked by minimal to no solid milk content. Its
major ingredients are chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, lecithin, sugar
and vanilla. If the solid cocoa component in chocolate ranges from 30 to
35 percent, it is deemed as dark chocolate. However, extremely dark
bars can have content, even up to 70 to 80 percent. Often bittersweet
and semi-sweet chocolate are also considered a variety of dark
chocolate. They show a classic brown or brown-black color due to
absence of milk content.
Unsweetened chocolate
This is commonly synonymous with baking chocolate. It is formulated
from solid chocolate liquor and fat with no addition of sugar. Thus, its
taste is quite bitter. It lends an amazing flavor in baked recipes
like brownies or cakes.
Semi-sweet chocolate
Classified under dark chocolate, it is made with equal proportions if
sugar and cocoa liquor and other flavorings like vanilla and
emulsifying agents. They are prepared in the same way as unsweetened
chocolate and are mostly used to make garnishes and fondues.
Sweetened chocolate
It is also counted under dark chocolate as it has no milk solids. But
with more than half of sugar content, it is the sweetest form of dark
chocolate with a rich and creamy texture. Various brands have different
proportions of cocoa solids ranging from 20-40%. These are popularly
used in manufacturing commercial candies and bars.
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