Which chocolate to choose for baking

Choice chocolate

When a craving for a piece of chocolate strikes, almost any chocolate available will do, whether dark, milk or white. But when it comes to using chocolate in a recipe, we need to pay a little more attention to the choice of chocolate. The chocolate you choose must match both in taste and texture with the other ingredients you will use in the baking. We have everything from edible, dark, milk, white, dark cocoa and so on. With all these different types of chocolate, choosing the right one to use in a recipe can be really difficult. So how do you choose the right one?

You can find the ingredients on each chocolate. This way we can see exactly what proportion of cocoa it contains and, at the same time, all its additives. Of course, chocolates differ in taste and texture, and this is very important when choosing one.

Fifty years ago, when there was not much choice, almost any chocolate was suitable, of course, but nowadays there are more varieties to choose from than ever before, so we can use this to our advantage and perfect our confectionery.

Some recipes call for soft chocolate, without any flavouring. In this case, choose both. If your recipe contains fruity, sour flavours such as berries or citrus, it is best to use a chocolate that tastes similar to this.

The best way to choose is to taste different chocolates and note the flavours. This way you will know when you are making which one goes best with your recipe. If the recipe already specifies exactly what the chocolate should be, but you want to change it, try to choose one that has about the same amount of cocoa butter as the recipe specifies.

The next factor to consider is the texture of the chocolate. Many chocolates taste great on their own, but when they are mixed and melted in a recipe, they can behave completely differently. Some become drier and thicker, others more thin and runny. This is particularly noticeable in recipes where there is only one ingredient other than chocolate, such as cream.

To help you out, we''ve put together a short list of chocolates and how best to use them.

Chocolate for cooking

You really can''t imagine making confectionery without cooking chocolate, or in other words, edible chocolate. Good quality cooking chocolates contain well over 50% cocoa and very little sugar. Unfortunately, there are many different varieties of cooking chocolate on the shelves these days, so make sure you check the ingredients before you buy.

It is very difficult to use on its own, so it is best paired with confectionery such as brownies or with chocolate icing on its own. Do not use chocolate in recipes that do not contain sugar to enhance the taste of the chocolate.

Dark chocolate

Dark chocolate is known for its bitter taste due to its high cocoa content. It starts at 65% cocoa and goes up to 100%. Of course, the more cocoa there is, the less sweet the chocolate is. As these chocolates contain no dairy ingredients, they are also suitable for use in vegan desserts.

Dark chocolate can be enjoyed on its own or in baking. It is good for using in rich toppings or simply chopped up in biscuit dough. When using dark chocolate in baking, it is a good idea to check the recipe to see what proportion of cocoa in the chocolate you are asking for.

Milk chocolate

We are all familiar with milk chocolate. This, unlike dark chocolate, naturally contains milk ingredients. This is usually powdered milk. The vast majority of chocolate consists of sugar to which about 20% cocoa is added.

Because of the sugar in milk chocolate, great care must be taken when heating it, as it can burn quickly. It is easiest to use in recipes where there is no baking, such as toppings for already baked desserts or as a filling in desserts.

White chocolate

All white chocolate contains is sugar, milk and cocoa butter. There are no cocoa particles in it at all, so it can hardly be called chocolate at all. Its high sugar content makes it a good accompaniment to desserts. We usually use melted white chocolate in recipes to replace the sugar. White chocolate should not be used in place of dark or table chocolate in recipes, as it is more sensitive to heat and burns more quickly.

So, in short: if you don''t know the chocolates and recipes well, always use the one that is listed, because it is there for a reason. The experts who prepare the recipes know exactly why it is necessary to use that particular chocolate. Thus, following the use of the listed chocolates will give you positive results that will be visible in the prepared confectionery.