CHOCOLATE
WHAT IT IS
Its been called an aphrodisiac and its botanical
name translates to “Food of the Gods”
 It is made from the beans of the cacao, a South
American tree first cultivated in southern Mexico
by the Pre-Columbian Olmecs.


The beans are fermented, dried, roasted, and ground
to make various types of chocolate
WHAT IT IS

The vast majority (about 90%) of the world’s
chocolate comes from one type of cacao tree, the
Forastero grown in Africa, Asia, and Brazil.
Forastero trees are hardy and produce bold-flavored
cacao beans.
 Criollo trees produce cacao beans with more delicate,
complex flavors, but they are less hardy
 Criollo chocolate and Forastero, originating in
Trinidad, yield beans that range widely in flavor and
also account for less than 5% of the chocolate
produces worldwide.

WHAT IT IS

Cacao beans are seeds that grow in ridged oval
pods that hang from trees.
To develop chocolate’s signature texture and flavor,
the beans are removed from the pods and fermented
for several days.
 The beans are then dried (often sun-dried) and
roasted at a relatively low temperature (250 to 320 F)
for less than an hour to preserve their delicate
aromas.
 The inner pieces, or cocoa nibs, are removed from the
roasted beans and repeatedly ground, forming a
brown paste called chocolate liquor.


This alcohol-free “liquor” contains about 30% cocoa solids
and 55% cocoa butter, the cream-colored vegetable fat
responsible for chocolate’s velvety texture.
CONCHING

To make most chocolate products, the cocoa solids are
filtered from the cocoa butter and then recombined
with extra cocoa butter during conching.
Invented by Swiss candy maker Rodolphe Lindt in 1879,
conching creates an exceptionally smooth texture by
kneading, rolling, and gently heating the chocolate liquor
(between 130 and 190 F) with additional cocoa butter for
several hours or several days. It’s essentially controlled
friction.
 Longer conching creates smoother-textured chocolate.
 During conching, manufacturers also add ingredients like
sugar to make bittersweet chocolate, dry milk to make milk
chocolate, and flavorings such as vanilla.
 As a final step, the molten chocolate mixture is tempered, a
process of cooling and reheating the chocolate to precise
temperatures, which creates glossy, smooth-textured
chocolate that snaps when broken.

WHAT IT IS
Chocolate liquor is processed into most of the
solid chocolate, candies, and powdered cocoas
that we enjoy.
 Solid chocolate is a suspension of very fine cocoa
solids in its own fat, cocoa butter.
 Cocoa powder is dried chocolate liquor from
which 70-90% of the cocoa butter has been
removed.
 The more cocoa butter that’s left in cocoa powder
or added to solid chocolate, the richer the texture
of the final product.

NATURAL COCOA POWDER

This dried form of
chocolate liquor has
the most concentrated
chocolate taste,
contains no sugar, and
is naturally acidic
with a pH slightly
higher than 5.
DUTCH-PROCESS COCOA POWDER


In the 1830s, Dutch
chocolate maker Conrad
van Houten began treating
cocoa powder with alkaline
salts like potassium
carbonate to reduce its
acidity and allow the
powder to mix more easily
with water.
“Dutched” (also called
European-style or
alkalized) cocoa powder
has a milder flavor, darker
color, and higher pH
(around 7 or 8) than
natural cocoa powder. It
contains no sugar.
INSTANT COCOA POWDER
This precooked cocoa
product is formulated
to mix easily with
water or milk to
create cocoa
beverages.
 It contains about 80%
sugar, includes an
emulsifier, and
generally is not used
for baking.

UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE

When pure chocolate
liquor is cooled and
solidified, it’s known
as unsweetened,
bitter, or baking
chocolate.
DARK CHOCOLATE

Adding vanilla and
sugar to chocolate
liquor during conching
creates dark chocolate
that may be
bittersweet,
semisweet, or sweet.
MEXICAN CHOCOLATE

Flavored with
cinnamon, almonds,
and vanilla, this
chocolate has a more
grainy texture than
other dark chocolates.
MILK CHOCOLATE

Adding vanilla, sugar,
and milk to chocolate
liquor creates the
North American
favorite, milk
chocolate.
GIANDUJA

Adding hazelnut or
almond paste (about
50% by weight)
transforms dark or
milk chocolate into
gianduja, a popular
chocolate in Italy and
Switzerland.
COUVERTURE CHOCOLATE

These high-quality
dark and milk
chocolates contain
additional cocoa
butter (a minimum of
32% in the final
product) to create easy
melting chocolate
suitable for making
candy.
WHITE CHOCOLATE
Without cocoa solids
and their distinct
chocolate flavors,
white chocolate isn’t
really chocolate at all.
 It’s a candy made
from cocoa butter,
lecithin, milk, sugar,
and vanilla. The bestquality brands use a
relatively high
percentage of cocoa
butter.

COMPOUND COATINGS

These faux chocolates
contain chocolate liquor but
no cocoa butter. Instead,
they use less expensive fats
like coconut oil, palm kernel
oil, cottonseed oil, or
soybean oil and are easier to
work with because they lack
cocoa better and its
sensitivities to heat. They
are formulated with fats
that coat foods like
doughnuts, or melt at a
higher temperature, which
is required for mass-market
candies that will be stored
during the warm summer
months. These products
lack the luxurious textures
of real chocolate.
FORMS



Mass-market chocolates tend to contain only the
minimum amounts of chocolate liquor. Some contain
no chocolate liquor at all (neither cocoa butter nor
cocoa solids).
Many manufacturers have lobbied the U.S.
government to allow products made without cocoa
butter to be labeled “chocolate,” but current
regulations require all products called “chocolate” to
contain at least 10% chocolate liquor, a portion of
which must contain cocoa butter.
Fine chocolate makers use the best cacao beans and
ample amount of chocolate liquor, and list the
percentages of chocolate or cocoa, which refers to the
total combined weight of the cocoa solids and cocoa
butter. For instance, 72% chocolate contains 72%
cocoa butter and cocoa solids and about 28% sugar by
weight.
WHAT IT DOES



Many bakers prefer unsweetened natural cocoa
powder for its concentrated chocolate flavor and so
that they can control the addition of fat, sugar,
vanilla, and other flavorings.
Naturally acidic, cocoa powder is often used to help
activate chemical leaveners like baking soda.
On the other hand, Dutch-process cocoa powder is not
acidic, so the two cocoa powders are not
interchangeable in baking. An acid ingredient must
be added when using Dutch-process cocoa in
combination with chemical leaveners.

To replace 45 ml natural cocoa powder with the same
amount Dutch-process cocoa in baking, add 0.5 ml cream of
tartar to the recipe.
MELTING



Solid chocolate is essentially a suspension of cocoa
powder in cocoa butter, which is very sensitive to
heat.
Cocoa butter melts at relatively low temperatures of
87-97F, so gently heating is best, especially for milk
chocolate and white chocolates.
Even a tiny drop of water can cause melting chocolate
to quickly “seize,” or harden into a stiff, grainy paste
that will not melt.
Make sure your pans, bowls, and utensils are bone-dry and
avoid using pot lids, which can trap moisture.
 Adding more warm liquid will saturate the seized paste
and eventually make the chocolate fluid again, but it will
thin out the texture of the melted chocolate.

MELTING

To melt chocolate without seizing, chop or break
the chocolate into small, fairly uniform pieces so
that it melts evenly, then carefully melt:
In a pan over direct low heat: This method requires
constant stirring and risks burning the chocolate, but
it can be done in a hurry.
 In a heatproof bowl over gently simmering water:
This method, often done in a double boiler, provides
gentle heat and requires less stirring but risks
seizing the chocolate because of the presence of water
and steam.

MELTING

In a preheating or low oven: Many cooks prefer this
simple method for its even, gentle heat and complete
absence of water. If the oven is already preheating
for making chocolate desserts, why not simply melt
the chocolate there? Just be sure to remove the
chocolate from the oven as soon as it is melted
enough to be stirred smooth and before the oven gets
too hot (no more than 300F).
MELTING

In a microwave oven: Microwave cooking melts
chocolate easily but may subject the chocolate to
extreme hot spots and requires frequent stirring.
Melt dark chocolate at medium (50%) power
 Milk and white chocolate at low (30%) power, stopping to
stir every minute until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
 Keep in mind that some chocolates such as chocolate chips
may be melted enough to be stirred smooth even though
they retain their shape.

MELTING
On a warming tray or heating pad: If you have a
warming tray or heating pad handy, put it on the
lowest setting and place the bowl of chocolate on
it, stirring occasionally until smooth.
 In a pan or bowl with ample warm liquid: When
chocolate will be combined with hot cream,
melted butter, or other warm liquid, you can heat
both ingredients in the same pan using any of the
methods above, stirring frequently until the
ingredients combine. Alternatively, you can heat
the liquid first, then add the solid chocolate to
the warm liquid, stirring until smooth and
combined.

TEMPERING

Because cocoa butter is heat sensitive, solid chocolate
is tempered by manufacturers.



This process of cooling the melted chocolate in a controlled
way stabilizes the cocoa butter and created glossy, smoothtextured chocolate that snaps when broken.
If melted chocolate is cooled in an uncontrolled way,
the fat molecules form loose crystals that will re-melt
at low temperatures (63-83F), creating greasy
chocolate that melts too easily. The crystal that melts
between 90 and95 F, just a few degrees below out
body temperature, is the crystal that creates
chocolate’s melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Tempering is a process of eliminating the other
crystals to create the tightly packed, stable crystals
that give chocolate its incomparable snappy texture
that melts luxuriously after just a second or two on
our tongues.
TEMPERING
When melting chocolate, be sure the melted
chocolate isn’t heated above its tempering range,
which tops out at 90 F.
 When melted chocolate is used to “enrobe” or coat
the surface of a food, it will lose its temper and
must be re-tempered

Finely chop the chocolate and then melt 2/3 of it to
115 F -120 F
 Cool chocolate to 95 F – 100 F and add the remaining
1/3 chocolate to the melted chocolate, stirring gently
until the chocolate is smooth and reaches a
temperature of 88 F – 90 F

TEMPERING

While working with tempered chocolate, keep the
bowl of chocolate in a bowl of water just a few
degrees warmer than the chocolate or by setting
the bowl on a warming tray
MOLDING, MODELING AND CURLS
Tempered chocolate can be painted or spread
onto molds as simple as a leaf, flat sheet, or
metal bowl (to create a dome shaped chocolate
shell) or as elaborate as a multipart mold to
create candies like hollow Easter bunnies.
 Chocolate molds should be kept at about 78 to 80
F to prevent the tempered chocolate from cooling
too quickly, which could create a less snappy
texture. When molded chocolate cools, it will
shrink slightly and pull away from the mold,
making it easy to unmold.

MOLDING, MODELING AND CURLS

Tempered chocolate can also be mixed with sugar
and/or corn syrup and kneaded into more pliable
chocolate used for modeling simple or elaborate
chocolate structures.

To make chocolate, temper about 10 ounces dark
chocolate, mix it with 75 ml corn syrup to form a kind
of dough, then cover and chill it for eight hours. Let
it warm up until pliable.
MOLDING, MODELING AND CURLS

To make chocolate curls,
Warm the chocolate briefly in a microwave oven at
low power (30%) in 10 second increments, set it under
a 40-60 watt light bulb for a few minutes, or let it
rest at about 80 F for an hour or two.
 Then hold the block between paper towels (to avoid
melting it with your body heat) and drag a paring
knife or vegetable peeler across the surface.


If you don’t dig too deeply, the chocolate will scrape off in
long, thin “pencil” curls (with a putty or bench knife) or
wider curls (with a spoon).
STORAGE




Stored in a place that’s cool (about 60 to 65 F), dark,
and not too humid, chocolate should last a year or
more.
If the temperature fluctuates wildly or goes above 75
F for several months, as in the summer, the chocolate
may develop a cloudy, pale-grey “fat bloom” of melted
and then recrystallized cocoa butter on the surface.
Similarly, if the humidity is high, excess moisture
may dissolve some of the sugar in the chocolate and
create a similar looking, blotchy “sugar bloom” on its
surface.
Regardless of bloom, chocolate is still usable,
although chocolate with sugar bloom may seize more
easily when melted because of the presence of
moisture.
STORAGE
In the warm summer months, you can refrigerate
chocolate, but that may cause condensation to
form on the surface as it cools, leaving behind
moisture that can create sugar bloom and
interfering with smooth melting.
 Chocolate can also be frozen, but it should be
thawed completely in the refrigerator.
 After refrigerating chocolate, minimize
condensation by gradually cooling it to room
temperature before melting it. Just remember,
cocoa butter prefers gradual temperature
changes.

HOW IT WORKS

The silky-smooth, mouth-filling texture of chocolate
comes mostly from cocoa butter.



This remarkable fat is solid below 88 F (31 C) but begins to
melt above 93 F (34 C). This is the temperature that
happens to be just below our body temperature, which
creates an incomparably lush sensation as solid chocolate
gradually melts into a luscious puddle on our tongues.
High-cocoa-butter chocolates feel distinctly more
luscious than low- or no-cocoa butter chocolates, so
they cost more.
Conching (fine grinding) and, to a lesser extent, the
emulsifier lecithin also smooth out the texture of solid
chocolate, enhancing its mouth feel.
HEALTHFULNESS
Most of chocolate’s healthfulness comes from
antioxidants that reduce the everyday oxidative
stress on our bodies. Cocoa powder is the most
concentrated source of these antioxidant
compounds, which account for 8% of cocoa
powder’s weight.
 Studies show that hot cocoa beverages contain
more antioxidants than wine and tea. However,
alkalizing, or Dutch-processing, cocoa powder
destroys most of the antioxidants in cocoa
powder, so stick with natural cocoa if you’re
looking for a health benefit.

HEALTHFULNESS

The health-promoting antioxidants in chocolate
are called polyphenols, and they can reduce the
risk of heart disease by preventing clots and
improving blood flow.

Polyphenols are most concentrated in high-quality
cocoa powder and solid dark chocolates that contain a
high percentage of chocolate liquor or cocoa solids.
The more bitter the chocolate, the more antioxidants
it will deliver to your body. That’s one reason why
some chocolate manufacturers promote the
percentage of cocoa in their bitter chocolate products.