There are several different types of chocolate that can be used in the art of gourmet baking, allowing you to craft delicious and wonderful cookies, cakes, pies, bars and all kinds of other delicious sweet treats. The amount of sugar and cocoa butter that is used can greatly impact the taste and the texture of your gourmet baking chocolate, creating very bitter gourmet baking chocolate and very sweet gourmet baking chocolate on opposite ends of the spectrum. The following is designed to be a quick guide to the more popular types of chocolate that are used when creating gourmet baking items like those mentioned above.
* Unsweetened gourmet baking chocolate only contains pure chocolate and cocoa butter, and nothing more. What this means is that no sugar has been added to this type of chocolate. In color, this chocolate is dark. In flavor, this chocolate is quite strong.
* Unsweetened gourmet baking cocoa powder is pure chocolate that has had a lot of its cocoa butter removed, leaving a cocoa powder in its wake. In color, this chocolate is dark. In flavor, this chocolate is quite strong.
* Semi sweet and bitter sweet gourmet baking chocolate are chocolates that contain at least 35 percent of pure chocolate, and cocoa butter and sugar have both been added. This type of chocolate can be used interchangeably in many different gourmet baking applications, and it is often used in the baking of cookies.
* Milk chocolate is another useful gourmet baking chocolate, and it contains at least 15 percent of pure chocolate. Milk chocolate is also mixed with sugar, milk solids and cocoa butter. In texture, this particular type of chocolate is quite creamy. Milk chocolate is the type of chocolate that is most commonly used in creating chocolate candies.
* White chocolate is a unique type of chocolate in that it does not contain any actual pure chocolate. White chocolate does, however, contain sugar, milk solids and cocoa butter. When you are buying white chocolate for the purpose of gourmet baking, you should make sure that you are checking the label carefully so that it is not confused with other baking products that are white.
* Sweet gourmet baking chocolate contains at least 15 percent, though usually more, of pure chocolate. There are other ingredients mixed in this type of chocolate as well, including cocoa butter and sugar. When you want your gourmet baking products to have a really rich chocolate flavor, choose this type of sweet baking chocolate because it does not have the same type of bitterness that other types of chocolate offer.
Choosing the right type of chocolate for your gourmet baking needs is vital, because each of these types of chocolates offers a completely different taste, texture and overall experience. If you want the end result to be what you intended every time, then it is vitally important that you know your chocolates.