Victoria Chocolate Information Center

Chocolate
The cacao tree produces a fruit from which cocoa is derived. Following harvest the fruit is fermented to give the cocoa seed, or bean, its distinctive flavor. Cocoa, containing approximately 20 percent protein, 40 percent carbohydrate, and 40 percent fat, is high in nutritive value. Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Brazil are leaders in cocoa production.
Cacao, common name for a tree, the seed of that tree, and for certain other related trees in a family that also contains the kola. The cacao tree is a perennial that yields several harvests annually. First cultivated in South America, it was introduced into Europe during the 16th century.

Today it is grown chiefly in western Africa. The average cacao tree attains a height of about 6 m (about 20 ft) and has shiny leaves, as long as 30 cm (12 in), and small pink flowers on the trunk and older branches.
Only about 30 of the 6000 annual blossoms eventually bear seeds. Commonly called cocoa beans, the seeds are surrounded by a yellow or reddish-brown pod about 28 cm (about 11 in) long.

Cocoa beans are either purple or off-white and resemble almonds. The high proportion of fat in the bean kernels (cocoa butter) is used in medications, cosmetics, and soaps. The pulverized residue, which is called cocoa, is used in beverages and as a flavoring. Chocolate is also derived from cocoa beans.Chocolate is one of the most - perhaps the most - popular flavoring for candies, cookies, cakes and pastries. Chocolate is also served as a beverage and is an ingredient in the traditional spicy Mexican mole sauce. Chocolate is available in a variety of forms and degrees of sweetness.

Chocolate Production
Chocolate (Fr. chocolat) begins as yellow fruit pods dangling from the trunk and main branches of the tropical cacao tree. Each pod contains about 40 almond-sized cocoa beans. After the pods ripen, the beans are placed in the sun for several days to dry and ferment. They are then cleaned, dried, cured and roasted to develop flavor and reduce bitterness. Next, the beans are crushed to remove their shells, yielding the prized chocolate nib.

Nibs are shipped to manufacturers worldwide where they can be further roasted. They are crushed into a thick (nonalcoholic) paste known as chocolate liquor or chocolate mass. Chocolate mass contains about 53% fat, known as cocoa butter. The chocolate mass is further refined depending on the desired product. If cocoa powder is to be produced, virtually all the cocoa butter is removed.

A variety of other products are created by adding more cocoa butter, sugar, milk solids and flavorings to the chocolate mass. Most manufacturers of fine chocolates use the Swiss technique of conching to increase smoothness. Conching involves stirring large vats of blended chocolate with a heavy roller or paddle to smooth out sugar crystals and mellow the flavor, a process that may last from a few hours to three days.

Tasting Chocolates
There are two types of chocolate beans: a very hardy, abundant African variety used as a base bean, and a very flavorful, aromatic variety from Costa Rica used for flavor. Unlike wine or coffee, you cannot taste processed chocolate and tell which beans were used.

All chocolates are roasted, created by their manufacturer to be unique yet consistent. Roasting greatly affects the final flavor of chocolate. Generally, German and Spanish manufacturers use a high (or strong) roast; Swiss and American makers use a low (or mild) roast. Refining is also a matter of national taste.

Swiss and German chocolate is the smoothest, followed by English chocolates. American chocolate is notice ably more grainy. Chocolate quality is actually the product of several factors besides flavor. All these factors should be evaluated when selecting chocolates:

Appearance-color should be even and glossy, without any discoloration
Smell-should be chocolatey with no off-odors or staleness.
Break-should snap cleanly without crumbling.
Texture-should melt quickly and evenly on the tongue.

Unsweetened Chocolate
Unsweetened chocolate is pure hardened chocolate liquor without added sugar or milk solids. It is frequently used in baking and is sometime, referred to as baking chocolate. Unsweetened chocolate is approximately 53% cocoa butter and 47% cocoa solids. Its flavor is pure and chocolatey, but the absence of sugar makes it virtually inedible as is.

Bittersweet and Semisweet Chocolates
Both bittersweet and semisweet chocolates contain at least 35% chocolate liquor plus additional cocoa butter, sugar, flavorings and sometimes emulsifiers. Generally, semisweet chocolate will be sweeter than bittersweet chocolate, but there are no precise definitions, so flavor and sweetness will vary from brand to brand. Both are excellent eating chocolates and can usually be substituted measure for measure in any formula.

Sweet Chocolate
Government standards require that sweet chocolate contain not less than 15% chocolate liquor and varying amounts of sugar, milk solids, flavorings and emulsifiers. As the name implies, sweet chocolate is sweeter, and thus less chocolatey, than semisweet chocolate.

Milk chocolate
The favorite eating chocolate in the United States is milk chocolate. It contains sugar, vanilla, perhaps other flavorings and, of course, milk solids. The milk solids that make the chocolate milder and sweeter than other chocolates also make it less suitable for baking purposes. Do not substitute milk chocolate for dark chocolate in any product that must be baked, as the milk solids tend to burn. If melted slowly and carefully, milk chocolate can be used in glazes, mousses or candies.

Cocoa Powder
The brown powder left after the fat (cocoa butter) is removed from cocoa beans is known as cocoa powder. It does not contain any sweeteners or flavorings and is primarily cocoa powder has been treated with an alkaline solution, manly used in baked goods. Alkalized or Dutch processed such as potassium carbonate, to raise the powder's pH from 5.5 to 7 or 8. Alkalized powder is darker and milder than nonalkalized powder and has a reduced tendency to lump. Either can be used in baked goods, however.

Cocoa Butter
Chocolate liquor is approximately 53% cocoa butter. Cocoa butter has long been prized for its resistance to rancidity and its use as a cosmetic. Cocoa butter has a very precise melting point, just below body temperature. Fine chocolates use high percentages of cocoa butter to give their chocolates melt-in-the-mouth quality.

White Chocolate
This ivory-colored substance is not the product of an albino cocoa bean. It is actually a confectionary product that does not contain any chocolate solids or liquor. (Thus it cannot be labeled chocolate" in the United States.) The finest white chocolates contain cocoa butter, sugar, milk solids, vanilla or other flavors.

Other products replace all or part of the cocoa butter with vegetable oils These confectionary products will be less expensive than those containing pure cocoa butter, but their flavor and texture will be noticeably inferior. White chocolate melts at a lower temperature than dark chocolate and burns easily. It is excellent for eating and candy making but is less often used in baked goods.

Imitation Chocolate
A less-expensive product substituted in many prepared foods, imitation chocolate is made with vegetable oils instead of cocoa butter. The resulting product melts at a higher temperature. Products containing imitation chocolate should be labeled "chocolate flavored."

Nutrition
Chocolates are high in calories and fat. They contain minimal amounts to vitamin A and trace amounts of other vitamins as well as some sodium, phosphorus, potassium and other minerals.

Storing Chocolate
All chocolates should be stored at a cool, consistent temperature, away from strong odors and moisture. Dark chocolate, white chocolate and cocoa powder can be kept for up to one year without loss of flavor.

Milk chocolate will not keep as well because it contains milk solids. Chocolate may develop grayish-white spots during storage. This is called bloom; it results from the migration of cocoa butter crystals to the surface when temperatures change. Bloom will not affect the flavor or function of chocolate and will disappear when the chocolate is melted.