 | Connie McCune and her husband Roger McCune are owners of Candy Bouquet and Candy Connection. Both have completed Candy Bouquet International training courses and are bouquet designers. In addition to Candy Bouquet International, they operate Candy Connection which is a “modern retro” candy store. ”Like” Candy Connection on Facebook. |
Candy, Chocolate & Sweets
2012-02-28 09:48:22
What makes different chocolates taste so different?
Q: I am a confessed chocoholic and my friends and family have gotten into a competition finding the most obscure chocolate makers in the world. This has led to some very interesting taste tests! What are the different types of chocolate and what makes different brands of chocolate taste so different?
A: Nearly every country uses chocolate to make some form of delicious treat. Often the similarities end there, though. Chocolate is used in candy worldwide and the results can be very different, though equally worthwhile.
First, let’s discuss the different types of chocolate, as the type of chocolate and how it is used is the foundation of the products that we enjoy.
Unsweetened Chocolate, also known as Bitter or Baking Chocolate is made from pure chocolate liquor (a combination of cocoa butter and cocoa solids). It is bitter to taste, contains no sugar and intended for use in baking where it is combined with sugar and other ingredients to make it palatable.
Dark Chocolate is chocolate that contains chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla and lecithin. Cocoa content can range significantly between makers, from about 30% to 80%.
Bitter Sweet Chocolate is another popular chocolate type. It contains at least 35% cocoa solids though the amount of sugar used varies between makers and some may be more, or less sweet.
Semi-sweet Chocolate, which is most common in America, is typically made from 35% cocoa solids and is darker that sweet dark chocolate but sweeter than bittersweet.
Milk Chocolate, a favorite with most of us, must contain at least 10% chocolate liquor, and milk or dry milk solids.
Couverture Chocolate is not a name with which many are familiar. It is a high quality chocolate used by bakers and candy makers. It contains a high percentage of both chocolate liquor as well as cocoa butter making it perfect for melting and covering.
Gianduja Chocolate is another name that may not be as familiar but worth getting to know! It is a European style chocolate made from cocoa and hazelnut or almond paste.
White chocolate is technically not chocolate in the strictest form since it is made from cocoa butter but does not contain any chocolate liquor.
Compound Coating Chocolate is a candy product, flavored with chocolate and substitute vegetable or palm oils for cocoa butter.
From this list, you can see that the taste would of course vary significantly between each of the different types just based on the amount of sugar, cocoa butter, and chocolate liquor alone. These are not the only factors that make the chocolates from different makers taste so differently, however. In fact, many very interesting things contribute to taste of the confection we all know and love. I will continue this discussion and answer your second question next month.
