Everyone of us have consumed chocolate in some form in our lives. Be it confectionery, desserts or baked products chocolate has become an important ingredient. There are some of us who have chocolate as a daily affair and we are choosy on what we eat and consider as a quality chocolate. I am writing this article to throw some light on how chocolate is made and what makes a chocolate a good quality.
The following key questions which we try to answer in this series:
· How chocolate is made?
· What’s a good quality chocolate?
· What ingredients large companies use to make their chocolate and how craft chocolate makers differentiate?
· How to choose the best chocolate for you?
With all the noise around because of excessive marketing campaigns we consumers have been made to believe that a good brand will make a quality product. Consumers hardly check the ingredients list and most of us don’t even understand what’s there in the ingredients list. It’s a hard fact we are so much brainwashed about the brand with catchy ads that we don’t even bother to know what we are eating. To understand your chocolate the first step is to understand how chocolate is made.
How Chocolate is made?
The main ingredients of a chocolate are
Cocoa Nibs
Cocoa Butter
Milk Solids (for milk chocolate)
Sweetener (Sugar or alternatives) and
Vanilla (optional – natural or artificial).
Cocoa nibs are made from cocoa beans which go through a fermentation and drying process. Cocoa beans are roasted as per the chocolate makers roast profile to bring the unique flavors of chocolate in them. Post roasting beans are dehusked and what you are left with are cocoa nibs. Cocoa butter is extracted from cocoa nibs and is added to give chocolate a smooth texture it has. When you refine (grind) cocoa nibs, cocoa butter and sweetener as per the defined recipe you get chocolate.
Its sounds simple but it gets complex when you get to it as every step the chocolate maker takes has a scientific knowhow of the process, chemical reactions of the ingredients to get the right product for every batch consistently. Post the chocolate is refined to the expected micron size it is put to conching to emulsify the fats and sugars to enhance the flavor. Post this chocolate is tempered, moulded and packed.
Hope you are excited to know how chocolate is made. There are many articles on this topic on the web. But are we eating good quality chocolate?
About Soothys?
Soothys is craft chocolate maker based out of Hyderabad, India. We bring the unique flavors of cocoa beans from Andhra Pradesh. We are known for creating confectionery with pure and natural ingredients. Soothys aspires to bring exceptional chocolate experience to its customers. Other than Artisanal chocolates Soothys also provides couverture chocolate products for fine baking industry.
you can reach us at: info@soothys.in