March 23, 2007, Newsletter Issue #58: Follow your chocolate recipe

Tip of the Week

All chocolate is not created equally. It's important to read a chocolate candy or truffle recipe thoroughly so you know you have the best chocolate for your recipe. Substituting one for the other could have disastrous effect on your homemade chocolate candies and truffles.

Unsweetened chocolate contains only chocolate liquor—no cocoa butter. It is rarely used in chocolate candies, but more often is an ingredient in cakes and cookies.

Bittersweet chocolate is comprised of half chocolate liquor and half cocoa butter and sugar. Check the label to make sure before you buy.

Milk Chocolate is for eating. Only a third of it should be actual chocolate liquor. The rest of it is cocoa butter, sugar and milk.

Candy bars are a last resort for cooking because they often don't reveal ingredient percentages on the labels. Feel free to eat liberally, however.

Chocolate chips often contain extra ingredients to help them maintain their shape. They are sold in bittersweet, semi-sweet and milk chocolate varieties. These are adequate for melting and covering truffles, but not for making the actual truffle candy.

White chocolate is not technically chocolate at all, although cocoa butter should be the second ingredient listed on the label. Often corn syrup solids are substituted for cocoa butter, making it difficult to find good quality white chocolate.

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