Читать книгу The Clueless Baker - Evelyn Raab - Страница 13

Chocolate. Need we say more?

Well, yes, actually. We need to say lots more. Because there’s lots to say.

Chocolate is made from the fruit of a tropical bush. You pick the beans, whack off their shells, roast them and then squeeze out the juice — from which, eventually, chocolate is made. The juice, technically called cocoa liquor, contains both the cocoa solids (the chocolate-flavored part) and cocoa butter (the creamy smooth melt-in-your-mouth part). These two substances are combined in different proportions, with varying amounts of sugar, to make your basic hunk of chocolate.

Unsweetened chocolate is a mixture of cocoa solids and cocoa butter. No sugar. It has an intense chocolate flavor and is often used in baking when you’re looking for a big chocolate hit without added sweetness. It comes in 1-ounce (28 g) squares (usually in a package of six or eight, which you can find in the baking aisle of the supermarket), or in chunks or squares in a bulk food store. It is absolutely not delicious until you do something with it — a fact that anyone who has accidentally taken a bite of unsweetened chocolate can confirm.

Semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate is a mixture of cocoa solids, cocoa butter and sugar (along with various other ingredients added for flavor and texture). Semisweet chocolate contains more sugar than bittersweet chocolate does, but they’re both deliciously edible and are interchangeable in recipes. Semisweet chocolate is commonly sold in packages of eight 1-ounce (28 g) squares, or in the form of large and small bars meant for eating. It’s often better to buy a big bar of good-quality eating chocolate than a package of baking chocolate squares, but you’ll need an accurate kitchen scale to weigh the right amount for your recipe.

Chocolate chips are usually semisweet chocolate specially formulated to hold its shape when baked in a cookie or cake. In general, you can usually substitute semisweet chocolate chips for an equal weight (hello, digital scale!) of semisweet baking chocolate chunks or bars in recipes where you melt the chocolate. See chapter 1 for equivalent amounts when using chocolate chips in place of semisweet baking chocolate (and vice versa).

Milk chocolate is mild, creamy and very sweet. It’s made with more sugar than semisweet chocolate is and contains milk solids, as well as other ingredients for flavor and texture. Only occasionally used in baking, milk chocolate is usually just munched in the form of chocolate bars and Easter bunnies. Even though it doesn’t pack a huge chocolate wallop, you still gotta love it, because, after all, it is chocolate.

White chocolate is pure cocoa butter mixed with sugar and a few other odds and ends for flavor and texture. The cocoa solids (the brown part that tastes like chocolate) have been left out of the picture. A good-quality white chocolate tastes rich and creamy, and is available in chips, chunks, disks and bars. White chocolate can’t be used as a substitute for other types of chocolate — it’s a different animal altogether.

Unsweetened cocoa powder is basically just processed cocoa solids that have been ground up to a powder. No sugar, no cocoa butter, no nothing else. It is often used in baking to add a serious chocolate punch with no additional fat or sweetness. Very handy. It’s also easy to use, since it can often be mixed with the dry ingredients in a recipe. Unsweetened cocoa powder can be substituted for unsweetened baking chocolate, but you’ll have to add some fat (oil, butter or shortening) to take the place of the missing cocoa butter.