How is chocolate made?
Chocolate is sold to us in hard, rectangular tablets. It can be dark, milk or white - but have you ever wondered what exactly is inside? You may be surprised to hear how many steps are required to produce this sweet delicacy.
Cacao beans: the chocolate origin story
Chocolate's fundamental ingredient is cacao, which comes from the cacao bean. The cacao bean is the seed of the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao. It's found inside the cacao pod, which also contains a white substance named mucilage.
To make chocolate, we start by taking the cacao beans and letting them ferment for several days. This fermentation stage stops germination and helps the cacao start to develop its unique flavour nuances.
Next, the cacao beans are tried and toasted, another important step for flavour development. The dried beans are winnowed to remove the shells, and then pressed. We end up with two ingredients: cacao butter and cacao liquor (not in the alcoholic sense).
Cacao liquor: that classic chocolate taste
Cacao liquor is what makes chocolate taste like chocolate. The taste can vary significantly depending on the cacao variety, the terrain and the microclimate of the plantation, and the fermentation and roasting stages. A good bean-to-bar maker knows how to leverage these steps in order to bring out the delicate nuances of a fine-quality cacao bean.
Cacao liquor is one of the primary ingredients in dark and milk chocolate. White chocolate does not contain cacao liquor, although it does contain cacao butter.
Cocoa butter: fundamental ingredient in white, dark, and milk chocolate
Cocoa butter is the fat of the cocoa bean, and it's responsible for the texture of well-made chocolate. Cocoa butter is a unique fat in that it's solid at room temperature, but it melts quickly once it reaches approximately 32 degrees Celsius, which is more or less mouth temperature. If you want to work with chocolate, you need to master tempering to produce shiny chocolate with a firm snap.
There is cocoa butter in white, dark and milk chocolate.
Ingredients in white, dark and milk chocolate
The core ingredients in dark chocolate are cocoa liquor, cocoa butter and sugar. These ingredients are ground, or "conched," for more than 24 hours to obtain a fine and creamy texture.
Chocolate makers may add a hint of vanilla to balance the flavour, or a pinch of soy, rapeseed or sunflower lecithin to help with the texture, but dark chocolate is naturally vegan and does not contain milk products.
Milk chocolate is made with cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, sugar and powdered milk. Some chocolate makers may add vanilla or lecithin.
White chocolate is a little different. It contains cocoa butter, powdered milk and sugar, but it doesn't contain any cocoa liquor. This is why white chocolate doesn't take on the brown colour of dark or milk chocolate.
Nowadays there are also many chocolate products that replace white sugar with natural sugars or artificial sweeteners; or vegan milk instead of cow's milk. Some companies even make "white chocolate" with raspberry, passionfruit, or other fruit powders instead of milk.
In order to be legal definition of chocolate, the product must contain a minimum of 35% cocoa in the form of paste or butter. In Europe, companies are permitted to add up to 5% of other vegetable fats, although chocolate made with other fats is considered to be of inferior quality.
Bonbons are made with couverture chocolate, which has a higher percentage of cocoa butter. Couverture chocolate flows better and is less viscous when melted, making it easier to handle and allowing for thinner, more delicate layers.
What does the percentage on a chocolate bar label refer to?
The percentage refers to the percentage of cocoa, which includes cocoa paste and cocoa butter. So for example, a 70% dark chocolate bar could contain 30% cocoa butter, 40% cocoa mass and the rest sugar. Or, it could contain 50% cocoa mass, 20% cocoa butter and the rest sugar.
Generally there is no way to know the percentages of cocoa butter and cocoa mass separately, so the percentage is not the best way to know if a tablet will have a strong flavor or not. Additionally, the cocoa itself can have different flavour notes depending on its origin.
En Danielle Pacheco Chocolatier vendemos tabletas de chocolate de puro origen, que han sido tratadas con la máxima delicadez para preservar y resaltar sus aromas únicos.