Making white chocolate

Although all of us who love chocolate call white chocolate "chocolate", it is not chocolate by its very ingredients. According to the official division, in Slovenia and in Europe, chocolate is considered to be any food that contains at least 2.5% dry, non-fat cocoa solids. White chocolate, on the other hand, does not contain any non-fat cocoa solids, but only cocoa butter. Thus, white chocolate cannot really be classified as chocolate. However, because white chocolate has similar characteristics to milk and dark chocolate (it tastes sweet, melts in the mouth, has a solid shape), the name ''white chocolate'' has simply stuck with ordinary consumers.

Making white chocolate is not the same as making milk or dark chocolate

Making white chocolate is in many ways similar to making dark or milk chocolate. However, given that white chocolate is not real chocolate and that it does not contain the same ingredients as milk and dark chocolate, you can deduce for yourself that the making of white chocolate differs in certain respects from the making of dark and milk chocolate.

Processing of cocoa seeds

The manufacture of white chocolate begins with the seeds of the cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao L.). The melon-shaped fruits that sprout from the tree trunk are first picked and then cut with machetes. The inside of the fruit is extracted, where the cocoa seeds and fruit pulp are stored. Once the inside of the fruit has been cleaned, the hard shells are discarded as they are useless for chocolate making.

This is followed by a stage called fermentation. In this process, the fruit flesh is liquefied and drained off, while the seeds remain in the crates where the process takes place. In this way, chocolate manufacturers get rid of the fruit flesh, which, like the peel, is useless in chocolate production. As the cocoa seeds are moist and wet after fermentation, drying follows. Drying takes place either in the sun or in dedicated drying machines where the temperature and drying time can be regulated. This process further cleanses the cocoa seeds of any other impurities that have not been removed during fermentation.

The next stage is the friction of the dried cocoa beans. The outer shell breaks during the friction process, revealing the inside of the bean, where the main ingredients for making chocolate are stored. Once all the beans have been hulled, grinding follows. In this process, the hulled cocoa beans are ground until they form a thick, creamy paste, which some people call cocoa mass. Cocoa mass is the product from which white, dark or milk chocolate is made by various processes. Up to this stage, the production of dark, milk and white chocolate does not differ significantly.

Cocoa butter - the step where white chocolate goes its own way

The difference comes in the next step. The cocoa mass is heated by the manufacturers. About half of the mass is extracted in the form of cocoa butter (also called chocolate butter by some) and the rest is cocoa dough. The cocoa paste is used to make dark and milk chocolate, while the cocoa butter is used to make white chocolate and is also an ingredient in dark and milk chocolate.

What is cocoa butter?

Cocoa butter is an extract of vegetable fats that is produced as a by-product of the manufacture of dark chocolate. Cocoa butter is light yellow in colour and looks nothing like chocolate. However, the taste of cocoa butter is slightly reminiscent of chocolate.

However, it is the cocoa butter that is the main culprit for the chocolate being solid rather than liquid at room temperature. For this reason, all chocolates, white, milk and dark, contain a certain percentage of cocoa butter. Otherwise they would be in liquid form.

Cocoa butter is also the ''culprit'' for melting chocolate in the mouth. Its melting point is slightly below human body temperature, somewhere between 34-38°C. This is why a piece of chocolate melts pleasantly in the mouth and becomes soft, leaving behind the sweet taste that all chocolate lovers love.

White chocolate is almost ready!

As already mentioned, cocoa butter is the main ingredient in white chocolate. But chocolate manufacturers do not use cocoa butter, which is obtained immediately after separation from the cocoa mass, to make white chocolate. Manufacturers first refine the cocoa butter. In the process, certain chemical and mechanical processes are used to remove impurities from the cocoa butter which have a characteristic smell and taste that are not suitable for chocolate. Artificial flavourings are then added to ensure that the chocolate tastes and smells good.

The cocoa butter is then mixed with milk and sweeteners are added. According to the European guidelines for white chocolate, white chocolate must contain at least 20% cocoa butter, at least 14% milk solids and at least 3.5% milk fat.

Due to its ingredients, white chocolate has a characteristic ivory colour and creamy taste. Interestingly, white chocolate is the most breakable chocolate, making it anything but easy to work with in the kitchen.