Baking chocolate, or cooking chocolate,
is chocolate intended to be used for baking and in sweet foods that
may or may not be sweetened.
Dark chocolate
Dark chocolate is a form of chocolate made from cocoa solids, cocoa butter and sugar. It has a higher cocoa percentage than white chocolate, milk chocolate, and semisweet chocolate. Dark chocolate is valued for claimed—though unsupported— ...
,
milk chocolate
Milk chocolate is a form of solid chocolate containing Chocolate liquor, cocoa, sugar and milk. It is the most consumed types of chocolate, type of chocolate, and is used in a wide diversity of chocolate bar, bars, tablets and other confectione ...
, and
white chocolate
White chocolate is a chocolate made from cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids. It is Ivory (color), ivory in color and lacks the dark appearance of most other types of chocolate as it does not contain the non-fat components of cocoa (cocoa sol ...
are produced and marketed as baking chocolate. However, lower quality baking chocolate may not be as flavorful compared to higher-quality chocolate, and may have a different
mouthfeel
Mouthfeel refers to the physical sensations in the mouth caused by food or drink, making it distinct from taste. It is a fundamental sensory attribute which, along with taste and smell, determines the overall flavor of a food item. Mouthfeel i ...
.
Production
Modern manufactured baking chocolate is typically formed from
chocolate liquor
Chocolate liquor, also called cocoa liquor, paste or mass, is pure cocoa in liquid or semi-solid form. It is produced from cocoa bean nibs that have been fermented, dried, roasted, and separated from their skins. The nibs are ground to the point ...
formed into bars or
chocolate chips.
Baking chocolate may be of a lower quality compared to other types of chocolate, and may have part of the
cocoa butter
Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible Vegetable oil, fat extracted from the cocoa bean (''Theobroma cacao''). It is used to make chocolate, as well as some ointments, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter h ...
replaced with other fats that do not require
tempering.
This type of baking chocolate may be easier to handle compared to those that have not had their cocoa butter content lowered.
Varieties
It is typically prepared in unsweetened,
bittersweet,
semisweet
and sweet varieties,
depending on the amount of
added sugar
Added sugars or free sugars are sugar carbohydrates (caloric sweeteners) added to food and beverages at some point before their consumption. These include added carbohydrates ( monosaccharides and disaccharides), and more broadly, sugars nat ...
.
Recipes that include unsweetened baking chocolate typically use a significant amount of sugar.
Bittersweet baking chocolate must contain 35 percent chocolate liquor or higher.
Most baking chocolates have at least a 50% cocoa content, with the remaining content usually being mostly sugar.
Sweet varieties may be referred to as "sweet baking chocolate" or "sweet chocolate".
Sweet baking chocolate contains more sugar than bittersweet
and semisweet varieties, and semisweet varieties contain more sugar than bittersweet varieties.
Sweet and semisweet baking chocolate is prepared with a chocolate liquor content between 15 and 35 percent.
The table below denotes the four primary varieties of baking chocolate.
Manufacturers
Manufacturers of baking chocolate include
Baker's Chocolate
Baker's Chocolate is a brand name for the line of baking chocolates owned by Kraft Heinz. Products include a variety of bulk chocolates, including white and unsweetened, and sweetened coconut flakes. It is one of the largest national brands of ...
,
,
Fazer
Fazer (, ) is one of the largest corporations in the Finland, Finnish food industry. The company was founded by Karl Fazer in 1891, as a "French-Russian café" in central Helsinki. Today, it employs over 6,000 people across Finland, Sweden, Lat ...
,
Ghirardelli,
Guittard,
The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company, often called just Hershey or Hershey's, is an American multinational corporation, multinational confectionery company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World. T ...
,
Lindt
Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, doing business as Lindt, is a Swiss chocolatier and confectionery company founded in 1845 and known for its chocolate truffles and chocolate bars, among other sweets. It is based in Kilchberg, Zürich, K ...
,
Menier, and
Valrhona.
See also
*
Types of chocolate
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 ...
References
Bibliography
* 136 pages.
{{Chocolate
Types of chocolate
Baking