Nourishments—

A World Of Chocolate

By Nancy K. Crevier

Milk chocolate eggs wrapped in shiny, pastel foil wrappers, and nestled in the cellophane grass lining my Easter basket. Reddened, frost-nipped fingers wrapped about steaming mugs of hot chocolate, following up an afternoon of snow fort building. Sitting at my Aunt Helen’s kitchen table, downing chocolate chip cookies, still so warm that the chips leave melty streaks on lips and fingers. Pajama parties and Oreo cookies eaten the proper way: twisted open, stuffing first, then the dark, crunchy chocolate cookies devoured in two bites. Snuggled next to my Grandpa, watching the Sunday baseball game on black and white TV, and sharing chocolate covered cherries on Father’s Day. Two straws in a chocolate malt and falling in love. Oranges dipped in melted dark chocolate on Christmas Eve. Bricks of Callebaut chocolate dropped onto a tabletop, the shattered pieces washed down with champagne at midnight. Chocolate Ganache cake filling. Chocolate truffles. European chocolate. Dark and darker chocolate.

I can’t remember a time when chocolate hasn’t colored my world.

Chocolate is refined from cacao beans that are fermented, dried, roasted, and ground. The kind of chocolate that results from that process is determined by the amount of cocoa butter or chocolate liquor left in the finished product. (And just in case you are wondering, there is not a drop of alcohol in chocolate “liquor.” Liquor refers to the center of the cacao bean, ground into a liquid.)

Cocoa butter is the fat processed from the liquor, and is what gives chocolate that silky, melt-in-the-mouth sensation, depending on how much is added to the finished product.

But even decades into my love affair with chocolate, there are still moments that I pause, confused by the myriad choices. Take cocoa powder, for instance.

Hershey’s — or “natural” — cocoa, is a light-colored, unsweetened, flavorful powder. It is somewhat acidic, and best baking results are achieved with the addition of baking soda to the recipe. “Dutched” cocoa refers to cocoa powder processed with a potassium carbonate solution. This darkens the cocoa color and neutralizes the acidity. Baking powder is the leavening agent of choice when baking with a “Dutched” cocoa. It is also, strangely enough, milder in chocolate flavor than the “natural” cocoa. (It is an ultra alkalizing process that results in the uncommon “black” cocoa: think Oreos.) The new kid on the block, Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa, is a blend of natural and Dutched cocoa.

All cocoa powders start out with the same process. Chocolate liquor is crushed by a hydraulic press, expelling the cocoa butter. What is left behind becomes hard, and can then be crushed into a powder. Cocoa powders are all unsweetened and low fat, but there will be a difference in flavor.

Interestingly enough, I discovered that several of my recipes using natural cocoa, and some using Dutched cocoa, called for half baking soda and half baking powder, and I’ve always had good results with those recipes. I turned to local Master Chef Patrick Wilson, who observed, “In general I think it is not the soda, powder, or cocoa, but the recipe and ingredients that vary. When making a cake, for example, the liquefiers must equal the stabilizers. And this is gospel.”

It is actually the recipe and ingredients that therefore dictate the type of leavening to use, in other words, which explains why the rule of Dutched cocoa equals baking powder, or natural cocoa equals baking soda, does not always add up.

JoyOfBaking.com concurs with Chef Wilson, in writing about Dutched cocoa: “Because it is neutral and does not react with baking soda, it must be used in recipes calling for baking powder, unless there are other acidic ingredients in sufficient quantities used.” So, if a recipe contains vinegar, lemon, yogurt, or honey, for instance, using some baking soda in addition to the baking powder is desirable.

I also found this useful information on substituting one cocoa for another, because who has not been faced with the dilemma of having exactly the opposite cocoa in the cupboard than the one called for in a recipe? The substitution for 3 tablespoons of Dutch-processed cocoa is 3 tablespoons natural cocoa powder plus 1/8  teaspoon baking soda. The substitution for 3 tablespoons of natural cocoa is  3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa plus 1/8   teaspoon cream of tartar or 1/8 teaspoon lemon juice of vinegar.

I have substituted Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa successfully in recipes, replacing it exactly for the natural cocoa. Those recipes did have some baking soda, and some baking powder.

Don’t substitute ground chocolate or chocolate flavored powders for cocoa, though. These are sweetened eating chocolate in powdered form, for mixing into drinks.

When it comes to baking, select the chocolate the recipe calls for specifically. Most chocolate varieties cannot be substituted one for the other without sacrificing some aspect of the final result, and some will not work out at all.

Unsweetened chocolate is pure chocolate liquor, and the basis for all other chocolate varieties. It is meant for cooking or baking and must be combined with a sweetener. Any child who has unwittingly sneaked a chunk off of the counter while Grandma is baking knows this.

Dark chocolate is a combination of just 15 percent chocolate liquor, sweetener, cocoa butter, vanilla, and lecithin. The cocoa content can range from a mere 30 percent to an almost unpalatable, but oh-so heart-healthy, 99 percent. According to SupplementInformationLibrary.com “there is evidence that not only is chocolate rich in flavonoids, but that factors in chocolate somehow dramatically increase the absorption of these compounds.” Flavonoids are antioxidants that occur naturally in plants and that may provide protection from allergies, inflammation, and cancer

Chocolate is particularly rich in flavonoids called proanthocyanidins, and can make up from 12 to 48 percent of the dry weight of the cocoa bean. Cocoa powder can contain as much as 10 percent flavonoids (although that is greatly reduced when water, sugar, and milk are added to make hot chocolate), with dark chocolate being the best source of flavonoids.

Dark chocolate is delicious for eating, can be chopped and added to cookies and baked goods, and can be melted for baking or candy-making purposes.

Bittersweet chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate confuse me the most, and rightly so. Both contain cocoa solids and chocolate liquor, and are sweetened. But because the amounts of chocolate liquor and added sugar vary from brand to brand, some bittersweet chocolate tastes sweeter than semi-sweet. Both contain at least 35 percent cocoa solids, but semi-sweet contains no less than 35 percent liquor, while bittersweet contains not less than 50 percent, and up to 80 percent chocolate liquor, and generally has more cocoa butter. They can actually be used one for the other in a recipe, becoming merely a matter of personal taste.

Just to throw a monkey wrench into the works, there is bittersweet baking chocolate, a lesser quality product containing no cocoa butter at all. It will give a decidedly different texture and flavor to a baked product when substituted for actual bittersweet chocolate in a recipe.

Milk chocolate is primarily eating chocolate. The cocoa butter and liquor is combined with sweetener and condensed or dry milk solids, resulting in a very creamy, but less chocolaty flavor. Milk chocolate is more likely than other chocolates to burn when melting and is difficult to temper, so is not often called for in baking.

How many times have I been tempted to replace semi-sweet chocolate with semi-sweet chocolate chips in a recipe when I discover I have one, but not the other? Listen to the voice of experience: don’t do it if you are going to melt the chips. Get in the car, and go to the grocery store for the right chocolate.

Chocolate chips are very low in cocoa butter and touchy about melting. If you must, do it in a double boiler over very, very low heat, stirring constantly. Avoid getting any water into the melting chocolate or you will have a lumpy mass wrapped about your stirring spoon. (Magically, a tiny bit of vegetable oil can undo this disaster, many times.)

On the other hand, if you are out of chips, do chop up a bar of semi-sweet chocolate and stir the bits into the recipe.

At the other end of the spectrum from baking chocolate or baking chips, are those chocolates from makers like Valrhona, Callebaut, or Guittard. These are known as “couveture” chocolates, and are dark, dreamy, chocolates with extra cocoa butter. They are perfect for making truffles, candies, or for use in a chocolate fountain.

The chocolate snob can indulge in what are called “single bean,” “single origin,” “estate,” or “Grand Cru” chocolate. This chocolate is made from just one kind of cacao bean from a specific region of the world, or even from a particular plantation. It is very high quality and like a fine wine, is meant to be savored.

I think of white chocolate as chocolate’s poor cousin, deficient in flavor and flavonoids. The better quality white chocolates are made of cocoa butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla. It is the lack of any cocoa solids that makes white chocolate the pale, sweet version that it is. White “bars” or “chips” may be made with vegetable oil, rather than cocoa butter, and make the poor cousin even more destitute, in my opinion. However, white chocolate can be a pretty contrast in a cookie or frosting. Look out when melting white chocolate: it loves to burn.

Charles Schulz’s Peanuts character, Lucy, once said, “All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” That, I believe, sums it up.