Title: Chocolate Guide Part 1
Categories: Info Check
Yield: 1 Servings

Information and tips to help make your chocolate creations a stunning success...

Measuring Cocoa, Confectioners' Sugar and Flour Measure these dry ingredients by lightly spooning the ingredient into the appropriate dry measuring cup and leveling it off with the straight edge of a knife or spatula. Tapping the measuring cup will result in an inaccurate measure.

Chocolate Key: When we test the recipes for Chocolatier we use the nationally available brands of chocolate listed here. Be sure to check the recipe before setting out to buy the chocolate for it - if you use the wrong type of chocolate, all your efforts may be wasted; certainly the results may be different. Within the following categories, you may use the brands we name interchangeably with only subtle differences in taste and/or texture.

Unsweetened chocolate Baker's, Ghirardelli, Hershey's or Nestlé

Swiss dark chocolate/bittersweet chocolate Ghirardelli, Lindt Excellence or Callebaut

Semisweet chocolate Ghirardelli, Hershey's, Nestlé or Baker's

Semisweet chocolate chips Ghirardelli, Hershey's, Nestlé or Baker's

Sweet chocolate Baker's German Sweet Chocolate or Ghirardelli Sweet Dark Chocolate

Swiss milk chocolate Lindt Swiss Milk Chocolate

Milk chocolate chips Baker's, Hershey's or Nestlé

White chocolate Lindt Swiss Confectionary Bar or Nestlé Premier White Baking Bar

White chocolate chips Hershey's or Nestlé

Couverture/coating chocolate It is not a brand or type of chocolate but rather a term used to describe professional-quality coating chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa butter -- at least 32 percent and often as high as 39 percent for good-quality couverture. The extra cocoa butter allows the chocolate to form a thinner coating shell than noncouverture chocolate: Cacao Barry, Carma, Ghirardelli, Lindt or Valrhôna.

Unsweetened non-alkalized cocoa powder Hershey's, Ghirardelli or Nestlé

Unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder (Dutch processed or European style) Droste, Fry's, Hershey's European Style or Poulain

How To Melt Chocolate Melting chocolate to use as a baking ingredient for candy work or decoration requires gentle heat. Chocolate that is overheated may scorch, lose flavor and turn coarse and grainy. Stir melting chocolate after it has begun to liquefy. Because of the sensitivity of milk solids to heat, milk and white chocolates should be stirred almost constantly while dark chocolate need only be stirred frequently during melting.

Here are two good methods for melting chocolate so that it is smooth and glossy.

IN A MICROWAVE OVEN

Place coarsely chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe container and microwave at MEDIUM (50 percent power) for 1 1/2 to 4 minutes, until the chocolate turns shiny. Remove the container from the microwave and stir the chocolate until completely melted. Stir milk and white chocolates after about 1 1/2 minutes. Because of their milk proteins, they need to be stirred sooner than dark chocolate. (If overheated, these chocolates may become grainy.)

IN A DOUBLE BOILER

Place coarsely chopped chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot, not simmering, water. Melt the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove the top part of the double boiler from the bottom.

End of part 1.

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