Tips for baking chocolate

Cooking with chocolate

Premium chocolate bars are suitable for melting or chopping, but if you want large or decorative shavings, you can buy them with large bricks; especially in many natural food stores. Chop on a cutting board with a chef's knife. To make chocolate crumbs, place the chocolate on a clean cloth and carefully pull the knife toward you. It may take a few passes to get it, but they are very easy.

Be careful when melting chocolate because it is easy to burn. First, chopped chocolate [fragments melt faster than chunks]. Then use a double boiler and chocolate stir on the top layer until it melts. Or cook the chocolate in the microwave for a minute or two at the lowest temperature; watch it like an eagle and interrupt it twice. Melting chocolate with liquid is tricky.

Buy chocolate

The type of chocolate depends on the percentage of cocoa solids [essentially chocolate liquor content] and how they are processed. Some names are used interchangeably, so it's best to read the tags to get an idea of ​​what you're getting. The general rule of thumb: the higher the solids content, the lower the sweetness of the chocolate, because the sugar content in the formula is less. In general, a higher percentage of chocolate solids means that there is not much else to flavor. If you are still confused about the type of chocolate used in baking, the detailed chocolate types are as follows:

Unsweetened chocolate
from

  [baked chocolate, chocolate wine]
from

  A combination of cocoa solids and cocoa butter, nothing else; 100% cocoa. Unsweetened chocolate is too ridiculous, but useful for home chocolate making, cooking and baking.

Bitter sweet chocolate
from

  [semi-sweet, dark, super deep, extra bittersweet]
from

  This is the most common type of chocolate. The solid cocoa content is from 35% to 99% and the milk solids content is less than 12%. This is a big range, so look for an exact number, if not mentioned, check the list of ingredients to see what else is included. Only a high percentage of solids does not guarantee good quality, but it does mean that the filter does not have much space. Try a few brands before setting up your favorite cooking. When you split a piece into two halves, listen first; it should sound crisp. Many high-quality bittersweet chocolates are almost white, if you are not used to them, but they evenly spread your mouth, no wax or gravel.

dark chocolate
from

  [sweet]
from

  It contains 15% to 34% cocoa solids and has a milk solids content of no more than 12%. Sweet chocolate is the "official" name, although it is often referred to as dark chocolate. Good food is great for eating, although it is not really used for cooking, because it does not allow you to control the sweetness of the dessert and the unsweetened and bitter chocolate.

Milk chocolate
from

  If you like sweet, blend into the chocolate in your mouth, that's it; it must contain at least 10% cocoa solids, 12% milk solids and 3-39% cream. But don't worry. Make sure it contains real ingredients, rich in flavor and almost butter. Milk chocolate should be as complex as bitter or dark chocolate, and the taste softens under a creamy background.

German [or German] sweet chocolate
from

  This is not from Germany, the name comes from its inventor Samuel German, who invented a sweet grilled bar for Baker's chocolate company in 1852. It is sweeter than bitter sweet chocolate. Not super high quality.

cocoa powder
from

  After the cocoa butter is pressed out of the crumb or separated from the chocolate liquor, the solid is finely ground into a powder. "Dutched", "Dutch Process" or "alkaline" cocoa is the most common; it has been treated with alkaline ingredients to reduce acidity and darken the color. "Natural" cocoa powder is hard to find but worth pursuing and extra cost. It is light brown with a more chocolate flavor. But they are interchangeable in the recipe. [If you use natural cocoa, there is no baking soda in the formula, please add a pinch to balance acidity and improve fermentation.]

White chocolate
from

  White chocolate is not technically chocolate, but a candy made from cocoa butter. It must contain at least 20% cocoa butter, 14% milk solids and 3-39% milk fat. It's a completely different ingredient, but you can always use white chocolate instead of dark chocolate or milk.

There is a gap between good white chocolate and cheap things. First, scan the label for strange vocal components; cocoa butter should be the first ingredient. Always taste it before cooking. Good white chocolate has a flavor, not waxy, sandy or mild. It's the best, it melts slowly in your mouth, just like you can imagine eating straight vanilla. It is almost as long as dark chocolate; only a few weeks.

---

Orignal From: Tips for baking chocolate