It’s no secret that chocolate is one of the most popular ways to indulge in Valentine’s Day celebrations. From bite-sized kisses, to the platonic ideal of a sampler box, to the post-holiday clearance mixed bag (my chocolate of choice, if we’re being honest), there’s something for basically every valentine each year. Almost 60 million pounds of it, in fact, was consumed in 2022, and over $2 billion was spent on the confection.
Also seemingly endless are the types of chocolates available: Milk or dark, 65 or 80 percent, baking or semi-sweet. But what does it all mean? And how much does any of it affect the final, sweet product we all know and love?
What’s in a chocolate?
Not to get all Shakespearean on you, but what’s *in* your chocolate is more important than what it’s called. Cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, and sugar are the staple ingredients of all chocolates.
Cocoa butter and cocoa liquor (also known as cocoa solids) are made from a long process of fermenting, roasting, grinding, and extracting cocoa beans, allowing us to get the products that are the core of chocolate.
There’s a lot of hefty science between the picking of the cacao pod (cacao being the unprocessed version of cocoa) and your resulting Valentine’s treat, but the main thing to know is: Cocoa liquor comes first, created by grinding the fermented and roasted bean, then from there, the mass is pressed to extract cocoa butter. (Yep, the same cocoa butter you can find in lotions and creams.) That’s then combined with sugar, and milk and flavorings—if applicable—to make a range of chocolate products.
What are the different kinds of chocolate?
Chocolate is typically divided into three main categories: Dark, milk, and white. The difference between the three types of chocolate is the amount of cocoa liquor (or cocoa solids) each contains. As you can guess, dark chocolate has the most, and white chocolate has the least—zero, actually.
Dark chocolate contains anywhere from 50 to 90 percent cocoa solids, and contains a mix of cocoa butter and a little bit of sugar. Most dark chocolates you come across are in the 70 to 85 percent range, as this is the sweet spot between “too bitter” and “too sweet.” Because there’s no milk, dark chocolate can be a bit ‘harder’ and will snap nicely when broken up.
Milk chocolate has a bit less—somewhere in the 10 to 40 percent range—but also has more cocoa butter and some type of milk (hence the name) which gives it the signature creamy light brown color it's known for. This also leaves it being more prone to melting, and the texture can sometimes be a bit softer than dark chocolate.
White chocolate is probably the most controversial of the “chocolates,” with some people claiming that white chocolate isn’t even chocolate at all. I have to say, they do have a point, as white chocolate contains no cocoa solids (why it’s white in color), but has a sizable amount of other cocoa products. Cocoa butter, mainly, which can make up somewhere around 40 percent of white chocolate’s creation, plus milk and sugar. So, you can see why chocolate purists dismiss it.
What does the percentage of chocolate mean?
Though mostly seen on dark chocolate, the percentage refers to how much cocoa liquor/solids is contained per batch. So, an 80% dark chocolate bar has 80 percent cocoa solids, and 20 percent cocoa butter.
The more cocoa liquor, the more bitter the product is, as pure cocoa is not sweet at all, and in its bean/pod form is similar to a coffee bean. (Fun fact: Neither are beans. Coffee beans are seeds from berries, and cocoa “beans” are seeds from cacao pods.)
Is dark chocolate better than milk chocolate?
Oh, you know what I’m going to say: It depends! From a flavor perspective, dark chocolate provides a more, well, chocolate-y flavor, while milk chocolate provides a snack-able creaminess (a totally real measurement, trust me) that’s perfect in your favorite candies.
Dark chocolate *does* contain more polyphenols and flavonoids–touted for supporting immune system responses and brain function, and also managing inflammation. In fact, dark chocolates have five times more of these antioxidants than milk or white chocolate. A study in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry showed that small amounts of dark chocolate could even help with your gut microbiome (but was only tested with 85% dark chocolate).
All this aside, though scientists suggest a diet bolstered with polyphenols and flavonoids can be beneficial, you’re not going to gain all of your daily benefits from chocolate alone, so you may as well reach for the piece of chocolate that’s going to bring you the most happiness.
What’s the best chocolate to bake with?
Semi-sweet morsels are a hit for a reason. They deliver the perfect chocolatey bite without being too sweet, and melt just enough without totally dissolving into your baked goods, though, don’t discard a good milk chocolate or white chocolate chunk.
If you’re melting chocolate, you’re going to want to choose a good-quality one. This is because cheaper, or more mass-produced chocolates use a higher concentration of water to emulsify their chocolate creation—works in production, but once melted and that homogenous mix breaks, the water essentially attacks the chocolate, and it seizes into a lumpy mess. (Water is the enemy of chocolate.) Maybe you’ve experienced this frustrating phenomenon before, but a smaller-batch, less commercial chocolate is less likely to have this happen. Bakers love Guittard and Valrhona.
A few of my favorite chocolate products
Spring & Mulberry Embellished V-Day Collection - $65
All Spring + Mulberry chocolates are sweetened with dates, instead of granulated sugar, so you get a more earthy sweetness than typical in a Valentine's Day confection. Plus, their special V-Day collection includes flavors like: Mango Chili, Lavender Rose, Pecan Date, Mixed Berry, Mulberry Fennel—perfect for the gourmet girly in your life or the chocolate lover who wants a little more *oomph* in their sweets.
Harry & David Signature Chocolate Truffles - $45
Remember that platonic ideal of a sampler that I was talking about? This is it. There are no "duds" in this sampler box, according to reviews, and even contain a higher ratio of caramel filling which, if that's you're thing, amazing for you.
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