With Valentine’s Day rolling around again in a couple of days, like many people I’m going shopping for chocolate for my wife. Standing in front of the counter at Wockenfuss, I’m always amazed by the sheer variety of chocolates available. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino has suggested, you could say that chocolate is a romance unto itself.
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans mixed with fat (e.g. cocoa butter) and powdered sugar to produce a solid confectionery. There are several types of chocolate, classified primarily according to the proportion of cocoa and fat content used in a particular formulation.
Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate has an intense, profound taste thanks to its high cocoa content. It is made of cocoa butter, cocoa paste (or “cocoa mass”) and sugar.
For a dark chocolate to be described as “fine” or “superior”, legislation requires a cocoa concentration of at least 43%, with 26% cocoa butter and 14% cocoa. Dark chocolate’s aromas are highly influenced by its cocoa’s terroir. The bitter, intense and deep taste that sometimes comes with this designation of chocolate is sought after by people who love dark flavors.
Milk chocolate
Like dark chocolate, milk chocolate contains cocoa butter, cocoa paste and sugar. It differs from dark chocolate because of the powdered milk that is added to its basic ingredients.
Chocolate is a dry substance: throughout its production, we carefully reduce its humidity levels by drying, roasting and conching the beans. Conching is the process that transforms the crude chocolate into a smooth paste by working cocoa butter into the mix. As a result, the ingredients we add to it should be as dry as possible.
Milk chocolate’s composition is as follows:
Milk chocolate must contain at least 30% fat-free cocoa solids.
It has a minimum milk content of 18%.
It is 25% fat (including its cocoa butter).
It contains at least 3.5% dairy fat.
This type of chocolate is available as a snack or pastry-making ingredient. Its cocoa-inflected milk flavor makes it particularly useful for indulgent desserts, especially during the Christmas and Easter festivities.
White Chocolate
Chocolate’s third color is white. This variety was invented by the famous Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter. White chocolate’s main component is cocoa butter, a natural fat obtained from cocoa beans. This unusual composition makes it a unique kind of chocolate!
White chocolate is made of:
cocoa butter (at least 20%),
sugar (about 60%),
milk (at least 14%).
Cocoa butter’s flavor is usually neutralized before being used in chocolate.
White chocolate is a precious ally to pastry chefs. Cocoa butter is very good at locking onto other flavors and can be combined with a multitude of them. It is particularly widely used in macaron fillings.
Chocolate Brandy Truffles
Ingredients
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 cup brandy
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder, finely chopped nuts, and/or toasted coconut, for coating truffles
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler until smooth and set aside.
Heat the heavy cream and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture over the melted chocolate mixture; let stand for 2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, stir gently, starting in the middle of bowl and working in concentric circles until all chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth and creamy. Gently stir in the brandy. Pour the mixture into an 8 by 8-inch glass baking dish and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Using a melon baller, scoop chocolate into balls and roll quickly between the palms of your hands. Place the cocoa powder, nuts, and/or toasted coconut each in its own pie pan and drop the truffles into one of these. Roll around to coat place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Allow to warm to room temperature before serving.
White & Dark Chocolate Holiday Bark
Ingredients
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
6 ounces white chocolate
1 tablespoon orange zest, plus a little for sprinkling on top
1/4 cup shelled pistachios in halves or roughly chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries roughly chopped
In a dry pan, lightly toast the nuts then set aside to cool.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Melt the semi-sweet and white chocolate simultaneously in separate double boilers or one at a time in the microwave ( in a medium microwave-safe bowl, microwave the chocolate until melted, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating), while the semi-sweet chocolate is melting add the orange zest. Once both chocolates are melted, pour the semi-sweet chocolate onto the prepared baking sheet and smooth out into your desired shape then drop spoonfuls of the melted white chocolate on top. Use a wooden skewer or the tip of a knife to swirl the two chocolates together until you are happy with the design. Sprinkle the pistachios and cranberries over the swirled chocolate than sprinkle a little more orange zest on top and allow to cool for approximately two hours or until the chocolate is hard and can be broken into pieces to serve.
