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Skip to content. Retrieve Password Create Account. Dark chocolate is simply chocolate liquor the centers of cocoa beans ground to a liquid , extra cocoa butter, sugar, an emulsifier often lecithin and vanilla or other flavorings. Dark chocolates may contain milk fat to soften the texture, but they do not generally have a milky flavor. Dark chocolate also is known as semi-sweet chocolate.
Since chocolate liquor comes directly from the cocoa bean it contains fiber, proteins and healthy fats. Despite the antioxidants that chocolate liquor contains, it is always best to consume chocolate in moderation. Cocoa butter remains solid at room temperature, unlike many vegetable oils that take a liquid form at most any temperature.
As cocoa butter nears body temperature, it becomes soft and starts to melt into a liquid state. It has several crystallization and melting ranges — about six stages total — that slightly overlap, which helps create that one-of-a-kind feeling when it melts in the mouth in the form of real, high-quality chocolate. Cocoa powder comes from grinding and sifting the cocoa cake until it is fine.
Even though cocoa powder is made from what remains of chocolate liquor after cocoa butter is removed, the powder still has some cocoa butter in it — anywhere from 10 to 22 percent in order to comply with FDA definitions.
The higher the percentage of cocoa butter remaining, the more flavorful the cocoa powder tastes. Since cocoa powder often goes into chocolate, the quality of the cocoa powder itself can affect the taste and quality of the finished chocolate product. The chocolate you consume is more than cocoa liquor, cocoa butter and cocoa powder. The quality of the non-chocolate ingredients, including milk, sugar, vanilla and stabilizers, also affects the quality of the finished chocolate product.
Pure flavorings and natural ingredients, rather than artificial flavoring, produce the best-quality chocolate candy. Chemical preservatives also affect the flavor and quality of the finished product. Top-notch chocolate products use the simplest, purest ingredients so the true flavor shines through.
Not all candies and products with a chocolate flavor are considered real chocolate based on complex FDA guidelines and regulations. Some products use ingredients other than parts of the cocoa bean to save money or have more control over the manufacturing process.
Chocolate-like products almost always have an inferior taste and quality when compared to real chocolate. The label of chocolate candy provides several clues to help you determine if the product is real chocolate or a chocolate-like product. When assessing the chocolate, take a look at the ingredients list.
High-quality chocolate uses some form of cocoa as the main ingredient. Some products list chocolate liquor on the label, while others list the two components — cocoa butter and cocoa powder — separately. To qualify as chocolate under FDA standards, the product has to contain a minimum amount of chocolate liquor.
Products not meeting those minimum requirements must be labeled as chocolaty or chocolate-flavored. They are sometimes called compound chocolate. Compound chocolate still uses cocoa powder as the chocolate flavoring, but the fat comes from a source other than cocoa butter — typically vegetable oil. You might see hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils such as palm, soybean or cottonseed oil listed on the packaging. These ingredients should send up red flags about the quality of the chocolate-flavored product.
Quality chocolate needs rich cocoa butter on its ingredients list to produce that melt-in-your-mouth texture chocolate lovers crave. So why do chocolate makers use vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter? It usually comes down to price and how easy it is to work with. Vegetable oil is more cost-effective than cocoa butter and is much less temperamental during the manufacturing process. Cocoa butter must be tempered to avoid crystallization and clumping. Tempering refers to manipulating the temperature of the chocolate during the cooking process to control the crystallization of cocoa butter.
As a general rule, compound chocolate is inferior to true chocolate that is made with cocoa butter. Extra-dark chocolate, when properly stored, has a shelf-life of about 20 months.
Cocoa powder is created when chocolate liquor is separated under high pressure, and the resulting cocoa solids are crushed into a powder. There are two types of cocoa powder, natural cocoa and dutch-processed cocoa. Natural cocoa is lighter brown in color and has a strong chocolate flavor that is often acidic. Dutch cocoa is natural cocoa that has been alkalized to neutralize the acidity.
The dutch-process gives the cocoa powder a deep, warm color and slightly milder flavor. Unsweetened cocoa, especially dutch cocoa is great for baking.
When added to a recipe, like this ultimate chocolate cake , it can create a delicious, deep chocolate flavor. Unsweetened cocoa can be added to spice rubs and moles to give the dish a richer, more complex flavor.
Dutch-processed cocoa is often used when making hot chocolate , because the extra process allows the powder to easily blend with liquids. When stored properly, unsweetened cocoa can have a shelf-life of about 18 months.
In , a fourth type of chocolate, ruby chocolate was discovered by Belgian chocolate maker, Barry Callebaut. With its red-pink hue, this distinctive chocolate is noticeably different than its other chocolate counterparts. It is not colored white chocolate, but rather a color derived from a specific type of cacao — the ruby cocoa bean a bean typically grown in Ecuador, Brazil, and the Ivory Coast.
Because this is a relatively new discovery and the exact cacao making process developed by Barry Callebaut is proprietary , there is no standard FDA definition. Made from This trendy new type of cacao is great for creating bold, fruit-forward chocolate treats and colorful Instagram-worthy chocolate confections. When stored properly, ruby cacao can have a shelf-life of about 12 months.
Interested in learning more? Put your tastebuds to the test with a chocolate tasting or tie on an apron and get busy in the kitchen with one of our extraordinary chocolate recipes!
Home Types of Chocolate. Types of Chocolate. My question is, "if it's flavored like milk chocolate, that must mean it's not chocolate. I had to find out. What I found out wasn't too surprising. If you look at the ingredients you'll see cocoa and others that are still chocolate, but it doesn't quite contain enough to be considered chocolate.
It's no different than Velveeta, Pringles and some 'ice cream'. Velveeta is a combination of ingredients that also has some cheese product in it like whey , but not enough to be considered cheese.
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