Chocolate appears to be such a desirable commodity, in that, once people are questioned about its quality, they would argue that it is not only their food of choice, but perhaps their 'drug' of choice. Studies have shown that it is addictive, so to feed this addition further, learning how to make it will be invaluable for most people.
The first step to understand is to familiarise yourself with the following terms to help understand the different types of chocolate and their uses. Each type of chocolate varies in composition, providing differing tastes and overall results. It is important to not chose baking chocolate if the recipe requires a specific type of chocolate - minor differences in chocolate, cause big differences in taste; so don't take the easy route thinking it will have comparable tastes.
To gain a basic idea of what ingredients are available, they can be split into 3 categories - additives, milk and powders.
Chocolate liquor is an important first step - it acts as the foundation to virtually all chocolate. This will be the basic liquid produced after the initial grounding and roasting of coco beans has occurred.
Then to add onto this foundation, there are a variety of products that vary in chocolate concentration, ranging from 15% to 90%. The semi-sweet chocolate is a sweet variant, whereas the bitter chocolate represents 35% chocolate liquor. Couverture is the French for cover, and relevantly this will be suitable for truffles and other candies by adding the 'sheen' and finished look that makes it look and taste more appealing.
Others include; baking chocolate (which is the hardened chocolate liquor, and also unsweetened) - many recipes use baking chocolate as their primary chocolate - however, it would be advisable to not use this as a short cut for any other recipes that specify another chocolate. These are the main body of chocolates that will ensure that most forms of taste can be achieved.
The first step to understand is to familiarise yourself with the following terms to help understand the different types of chocolate and their uses. Each type of chocolate varies in composition, providing differing tastes and overall results. It is important to not chose baking chocolate if the recipe requires a specific type of chocolate - minor differences in chocolate, cause big differences in taste; so don't take the easy route thinking it will have comparable tastes.
To gain a basic idea of what ingredients are available, they can be split into 3 categories - additives, milk and powders.
Chocolate liquor is an important first step - it acts as the foundation to virtually all chocolate. This will be the basic liquid produced after the initial grounding and roasting of coco beans has occurred.
Then to add onto this foundation, there are a variety of products that vary in chocolate concentration, ranging from 15% to 90%. The semi-sweet chocolate is a sweet variant, whereas the bitter chocolate represents 35% chocolate liquor. Couverture is the French for cover, and relevantly this will be suitable for truffles and other candies by adding the 'sheen' and finished look that makes it look and taste more appealing.
Others include; baking chocolate (which is the hardened chocolate liquor, and also unsweetened) - many recipes use baking chocolate as their primary chocolate - however, it would be advisable to not use this as a short cut for any other recipes that specify another chocolate. These are the main body of chocolates that will ensure that most forms of taste can be achieved.
About the Author:
Chocolate is always a great idea for a gift! At the end of the day, who doesn't love chocolate truffles?
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