Types of Chocolate

Although there is a huge range of chocolate to choose from there are essentially only 5 main types: -

You can make chocolate with cheap or expensive Cocoa beans and the combination of the types and quantities of the additives used will affect the quality, taste and ultimately the price of the chocolate.

Here are a few simple rules to guide you: -

The less the sugar – the more bitter the taste
The darker the chocolate – the lower the level of sugar
Unsweetened chocolate is for cooking, not eating (no sugar and therefore very bitter)

To find the perfect chocolate for you, you’re going to need to experiment (which means trying lots!) and make a note of the different cocoa and sugar levels to get an idea of what gets your taste buds tingling the most.

Dark Chocolate

My personal favourite as I just love the real taste of chocolate. I can also eat it guilt free as it is now generally regarded as being healthy (although all the experts will still tell you to eat in moderation).

In terms of cocoa content you can get dark chocolate from about 30% upwards – for extremely dark colouring you will need between 70-80%. Just bear in mind that the higher the cocoa percentage the more expensive it is going to be.

Dark chocolate is often referred to as ‘plain chocolate’ and occasionally you will see it called ‘black chocolate’. Semisweet and bittersweet chocolate are also considered to be part of the dark chocolate category and dark chocolate can be either sweet, semi-sweet, bittersweet or unsweetened.

In terms of cooking with it, if a recipe states that you should use dark chocolate then you should probably try a semi-sweet dark chocolate first.

Bittersweet Chocolate

This is basically chocolate that is heavy on the cocoa and light on the sugar. It is lovely chocolate that has a rich intense flavour. Typically chocolate calling itself extra dark will be the same as bittersweet

There isn’t really a difference between bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate. The FDA does state that bittersweet chocolate must contain at least 35% cocoa solids, although I wouldn’t recommend getting anything less than 50%. There is, however, no regulation regarding how much sugar manufacturers must use and so one companie’s bittersweet could taste just like another’s semi-sweet.

If you see the category ‘couverture’ this is essentially bittersweet or semisweet chocolates that have at least 32% cocoa butter.

Milk Chocolate

Quite simply this is chocolate that has some form of milk in it – generally powdered, liquid or condensed. Sweeter and lighter in colour than darker chocolates it typically has less of a chocolate flavour. Without getting too boring the US government states it must have at least 10% chocolate liquor (EU regulations require a minimum of 25% so US milk chocolate bars may be less chocolatey than in Europe).

Very popular for candy bars this type of chocolate will be good for a year if stored in a cool, dry place. It is used extensively for cake decoration and is a firm favourite by cooks for their cookies, although for general baking purposes it is not the best type of chocolate to use as it scotches too easily. For baking use either sweet or semi-sweet chocolate as it’s easier to use and will give you more of a chocolate taste.

White Chocolate

Now, there are those that say White Chocolate is not really chocolate – in some places they are not actually allowed to even call it chocolate. The reason for this is that it contains no cocoa solids, and this is also the reason why it has no brown colouring. It does, however, contain cocoa butter which is why I will continue to call it chocolate.

It has a mild taste that is great for desserts, particularly mouse and pan cotta but be careful when baking with it as, like milk chocolate, it is prone to scorching.
The use of cocoa butter gives the chocolate its off-white (ivory) colour, if you see white chocolate that is actually white then it probably means that it has been made with vegetable fat instead of cocoa butter. In my opinion avoid this, the taste is not as good and without the cocoa butter even I’ll concede that it is not really chocolate.

Unsweetened Chocolate

Don’t go eating this stuff on its own – that’s not really what’s it’s for. This is unadulterated chocolate in its purest form and it is very bitter to taste. This is what all of the other types of chocolate (except white) have as their base. It is known as ‘bitter’ or ‘baking’ chocolate and contains almost 100% cocoa solids with half of this being cocoa butter.

Throw in a bit of sugar and welcome yourself to the world of making cakes, brownies, cookies and a whole host of other chocolate confection.