Types of Chocolate

The mere mention of CHOCOLATES can make anyone salivate, whether he is young or old. This sinful delight, the ambrosia of gods, comes in different types, shapes and sizes to woo the hearts of its lovers. Chocolate is a highly popular food and is unlikely to go out of fashion. Many types of chocolate are available in the market today and the shopper is left to choose what he likes and if he is a chocoholic like me then it will definitely be a Herculean task.

Chocolates are made from cocoa beans (originally cacao, pronounced as ka-kow). There are different types of cocoa beans, which have different flavors, to make various types of chocolate. In order to produce chocolates, cocoa beans are fermented, dried, roasted and ground. There are over 500 flavor components of chocolates and chocolate liquor, containing approximately 55% cocoa butter, which is the basis of all types of chocolate.

Different Types of Chocolates

Here are a few types of chocolate that are used for different purposes and are a delight for the taste buds.

Dark Chocolate: Dark chocolates have no milk solids added to them. They contain chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, vanilla, sugar and an emulsifier called lecithin. The content of cocoa in dark chocolate ranges from 30-40% for sweet dark chocolates and 70-80% for extremely dark chocolates. Semi-sweet chocolates and bittersweet chocolates fall into the category of dark chocolates.

Unsweetened Chocolate: Unsweetened chocolate, also known as baking chocolate, is made of ground cocoa beans. This chocolate is unfit for consumption on its own, but when mixed with sugar to make it palatable, it can be used in cooking. Unsweetened chocolates give a rich, deep chocolate flavor to baked goods like cakes, pastries and cookies etc. Unsweetened chocolate is used as a base for all types of chocolate, except white chocolate.

Bittersweet Chocolate: Bittersweet chocolate has a bitter and deeper flavor than sweet dark or semi-sweet chocolates. The amount of chocolate liquor varies with each manufacturer, with most of the bittersweet chocolate bars containing 50% chocolate liquor, while some other bars have a higher content of chocolate liquor up to 70-80%.

Sweet Dark Chocolate: Sweet dark chocolates do not contain milk solids, but have a high percentage of sugar and are much sweeter unlike other types of dark chocolate. Many brands of sweet dark chocolate contain only 20-40% of cocoa solids.

Semi-sweet Chocolate: Semi-sweet chocolate is assumed to be darker than sweet dark chocolate, but is comparatively sweeter than bittersweet chocolates. These chocolates contain 35-40% of cocoa solids and emulsifiers.

Milk Chocolate: Milk chocolate is made from condensed milk or dry milk solids. They have a less pronounced taste of chocolate, are sweeter than dark chocolate and have a lighter color. Milk chocolates contain 3.40% butterfat, 10% chocolate liquor and 12% milk solids.

White Chocolate: White chocolate does not contain chocolate liquor or any other cocoa products and is mainly made of cocoa butter. It tastes like vanilla and other added flavorings and has no pronounced chocolate taste.

Gianduja Chocolate: Gianduja chocolates are made from nut paste like hazelnut or almonds. This European style chocolate comes in dark or milk chocolate varieties and is used as a flavoring agent or substitute for milk or dark chocolates.

Couverture Chocolate: Couverture chocolates are used by confectioners and bakers for making candies. This chocolate has a high content of cocoa butter (30-40% approximately) and is available in milk, white and dark varieties.

Though there are many types of chocolate, it is the lure of the taste and aroma of chocolate, that has made it travel so far out of its land of origin and established popularity the world over. It doesn't matter where does chocolate come from, we can bless these individuals who invented chocolate, each time we take a plunge into this yummy treat. Go ahead and indulge in this tempting delicacy!