Different Types of Chocolate

Cocoa Powder

The residue left after the cocoa butter has been pressed from the ground,
roasted beans. Sweetened cocoa is used for drinks. In Britain, this is
blended with powdered milk and called "drinking chocolate". Unsweetened
cocoa powder is used for baking.

Milk, Sweet or Eating Chocolate

Mainly used for eating, rather than cooking, this chocolate tastes good
because of added sugar and condensed or powdered milk. The proportion of
dairy fat has a lower melting point and is softer than cocoa butter, which
results in the softer texture of the chocolate.

Plain or Cooking Chocolate

A pleasant-tasting chocolate because it contains some sugar, it is often
used for cooking. The cocoa butter content varies depending on the
particular brand.

Unsweetened Chocolate

Unsweetened with a high proportion of cocoa butter, this is used mainly for baking.

White Chocolate

This is creamy in colour and texture as it does not contain any cocoa solids
but does contain cocoa butter and high proportions of sugar and milk solids.
It does not set as firmly as milk and dark chocolate. As it contains no
cocoa solids it can be said that it is not true chocolate.

Couverture Chocolate

Used by professional cooks because it melts smoothly, it has a high cocoa
butter content (up to 50%) but needs tempering. It is designed for molding
and chocolate making. It has a good gloss and sets hard (known as "snap").
There is a comprehensive range of couvertures available for use by the
professional, depending on the equipment and the job in hand. Thicker
couvertures are for hand dipping whilst thinner types are available for use
with machinery.

Also called dipping or coating chocolate, couverture comes in dark, milk and
white options. The dark type comes in varying degrees of bitterness, from
sweet through to extra bitter, depending on the amounts of cocoa solids and
sugar added. Milk couverture can be bought in various shades, from very
creamy and pale to almost dark.

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