There are a variety of chocolate products, with an often confusing array of types, qualities, fillings and flavourings:
- PLAIN CHOCOLATE (ALSO KNOWN AS BITTERSWEET)
Plain or bittersweet chocolate must contain a minimum of 34 per cent cacao solids, but generally speaking, the higher the proportion the better the chocolate. Not so long ago, plain chocolate containing just 30 per cent cacao solids was considered high quality. Nowadays, as our taste and awareness of chocolate grows, 60 per cent is the preferred minimum, while for chocoholics 70-80 per cent is even more desirable. High quality dark chocolate contains a correspondingly small proportion of sugar. Adding sugar to chocolate has been compared with adding salt to food. You need just enough to enhance the flavour but not so much that the flavour is destroyed. Quality chocolate contains pure vanilla, an expensive flavouring sometimes called Bourbon Vanilla, extracted from a type of orchid grown in Madagascar. It also contains the minutest amount of lecithin, a harmless vegetable stabilizer. In unsweetened chocolate, which is found only in specialist shops, cacao solids are as high as 98 per cent.
- COUVERTURE
This is high-quality chocolate in the professional league, used mainly for coating and in baking. Couverture usually has a minimum of 32 per cent cacao butter, which enables it to form a much thinner shell than ordinary chocolate.
- MILK CHOCOLATE
A good brand will have a cacao solid content of around 40 per cent, but most mass-produced chocolate contains only 20 per cento Mass-produced milk chocolate has a high sugar content, often up to 50 per cent. It can contain up to 5 per cent vegetable fat, used as a substitute expensive cacao butter, and artificial flavouring.
- WHITE CHOCOLATE
This is basically cacao butter without any cacao solids, with some added sugar, flavouring and milk. White chocolate does not have the same depth of flavour as plain chocolate. It is mainly for its novelty value or to provide an attractive colour contrast in chocolates and chocolate desserts.