What actually is the difference between flavors of chocolate?
Chocolate gets its wonderful flavor from the cacao bean. But if you happened to see cacao beans growing, you would NOT want to eat them. Cocoa by itself is actually quite bitter, so we need to add other ingredients to make our tasty treats. Sometimes, a chocolate can have as little as ten percent cocoa! That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s still delicious. That brings up a very important question: What actually is the difference between flavors of chocolate? Mainly, this difference lies in how much of the actual cacao bean goes into the chocolate when compared with other ingredients.
The Main Ingredient
All chocolate contains chocolate liquor, which despite its name was not meant for cocktails. To make chocolate liquor, cacao beans are roasted and fermented. Once fermented, the kernels are extracted and ground to form a pasty fluid. This fluid may then be hardened in molds to make bitter (baking) chocolate, pressed to reduce the cocoa butter content and then pulverized to make cocoa powder, or mixed with sugar and more cocoa butter to make sweet (eating) chocolate.
Milk Chocolate
Milk chocolate is very popular for chocolate bars. In order for a chocolate to be called milk chocolate, it must contain at least twelve percent milk. This can be in the form of milk powder, condensed milk, regular liquid milk, or any combination of those. Milk chocolate also usually contains sugar and cocoa butter.
Milk chocolate is also required to contain at least ten percent cocoa liquor. Most of Europe requires 25 percent, but Britain only requires 20. Basically, as long as your treat contains between ten and 25 percent chocolate liquor and also contains milk, it’s milk chocolate.
Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate contains anywhere from 18 to 99 percent cocoa. Consult the label of your chocolate treat to find out exactly how much cocoa it contains. Canada only requires an 18 percent chocolate liquor content to be considered dark chocolate, while Europe and the United States require 35 percent.
It’s important to note that treats with a higher chocolate liquor content will be far more bitter, so if you’re looking for a sweet treat you’ll want to look for one with enough sugar to balance out the bitterness of the liquor.
A Wide Selection of Chocolate Treats from Wockenfuss Candies
Head to WockenfussCandies.com and browse our wide selection of chocolates and candies; we promise you will not be disappointed! Wockenfuss Candies is one of the oldest candy makers in Baltimore. We opened our doors in 1915 and have proudly served the people of Baltimore ever since. If you have any questions about our wide selection of chocolates, please contact Wockenfuss Candies by calling 1-800-296-4414 or email info@Wockenfusscandies.com. When you’re not savoring our sweets, stay satisfied by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!