Cooking with Chocolate 101

 

Whether you are cooking for your sweetheart or your son's soccer team, any dish made with chocolate will be a surefire hit. Chocolate's extraordinary flavor adds richness and depth to both sweet and savory dishes, from sumptuous cake to light-as-air mousse to exotic Mexican molé sauce. Chocolate is America's favorite flavor and it's no surprise why.

Here are some basics to get you on the road to becoming the most popular cook on your block:

• Choosing the Right Chocolate: Semisweet or Baking?
• Storing Chocolate: A Cool Cupboard
• Melting Chocolate: Tips and Tricks
• Cocoa Powder: Natural vs. Dutch-processed
• Decorating with Chocolate: Curls, Shavings and More
• Decorating with Chocolate: Using Dark Chocolate: Tips for Cooking with High % Cacao Bars

Choosing the Right Chocolate: Semisweet or Baking?

Recipes may call for semisweet, bittersweet, milk, baking or white chocolate which vary mainly on the amount of sugar and cocoa solids in them. Make sure to read the recipe and the chocolate package carefully because those chocolates differ widely in taste.

Semisweet and bittersweet varieties, which are both considered dark chocolate, can be used interchangeably, as the distinction between them is slight. But the same is not true for unsweetened chocolate or white chocolate. Unsweetened chocolate, also called baking chocolate, is nearly 100% cocoa solids and quite bitter. White chocolate technically isn't chocolate at all because it does not contain any cocoa solids, only cocoa butter mixed with sugar, milk solids and flavorings.

Milk chocolate is the most common chocolate for eating but is less widely used in baking.

Storing Chocolate: A Cool Cupboard

The key to storing chocolate is to keep it in a cool, dry place. Wrap it tightly in a couple layers of plastic wrap and stash it in a dark cupboard away from strong-smelling foods. Chocolate, like butter, will absorb strong aromas.

Stored improperly, chocolate will develop a white film called bloom. Bloom happens because the chocolate has gotten too warm, causing the cocoa butter to separate out, or because some condensation has taken place, melting sugar in the chocolate's surface. If bloom happens, the chocolate will not have that luxurious melt-in-your-mouth feel, but will be fine for baking.

Melting Chocolate: Tips and Tricks

Chocolate can be surprisingly fussy when it comes to melting. If the heat is too high, the chocolate will burn. And if even a few drops of water touch it, the chocolate will get stiff and grainy, a process known as seizing. Here are tips to help make melting go smoothly.

• Chop It: Chopping chocolate helps it melt more quickly and evenly. Chop it quite finely if you are melting milk or white chocolate since they are most apt to scorch. You can chop dark chocolate into bigger, nut-size pieces.
• Indirect Heat: Melting chocolate in a pan directly on the heat is a recipe for scorching. Melt it in the top part of a double boiler, over hot - but not boiling - water. You can also put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl (such as stainless steel) and place it a shallow pan filled with hot water.
• Stir: Stir the chocolate periodically to avoid scorching and help it melt evenly. Make sure to use dry utensils so the chocolate does not seize.
• In An Emergency: If the chocolate begins to tighten or become lumpy while being melted, add a small amount of solid vegetable shortening (not butter, margarine, oil, water or milk). Use 1 level tablespoon shortening for each 6 ounces of chocolate you are melting. (6 ounces is equal to 1 cup baking chips or 6 1-oz squares of baking chocolate)
• Microwave It: Place chocolate in microwave-safe container. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at MEDIUM an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until chocolate is melted and smooth when stirred.

Cocoa Powder: Natural vs. Dutch-Processed

Cocoa powder comes in two forms: natural and Dutch-processed. Natural cocoa has a red-brown color and is usually labeled simply unsweetened cocoa powder. Dutch-processed cocoa is much darker and has been treated with an alkali to neutralize its natural acidity. Both taste bitter straight from the box, but the natural cocoa has a fruitier chocolate flavor while the Dutch-processed has a more mellow, milder flavor. Generally, you can substitute one type of cocoa powder for the other. But beware of substituting very black Dutched cocoa. It's highly alkaline and may interact with the baking soda, producing a "soapy" flavor

Decorating With Chocolate: Curls, Shavings and More

Chocolate shavings and curls add an elegant touch to delicious desserts. All you really need is a big block of chocolate and a vegetable peeler.

• For shavings: Put a large chunk of chocolate on a piece of waxed paper. Rub the chocolate with your hand to warm it up a bit. Drag a vegetable peeler along the side of the block, letting the shavings fall onto the waxed paper. Keep moving your hand around the chocolate (you may want to use a paper towel so it's easier to grip) because you'll get larger shavings from warmer chocolate.
• For curls: Use the same technique for shavings but warm the chocolate more first. Microwave the block at MEDIUM (50%) power very briefly, 5 seconds at a time, until it feels just warm. Two bursts should do it. Drag the peeler across the side with more pressure than you would use for shavings. The warm, soft chocolate should wrap around the peeler. If not, try warming it some more.

Using Dark Chocolate: Tips for Cooking with High % Cacao Bars

New artisanal-style bittersweet and semisweet chocolates such as Scharffen Berger and Dagoba generally contain much more chocolate liquor than other bars. That means adjustments need to made to some recipes not specifically designed for them for optimum results. (Without adjustments, cakes can turn out dry or overbaked, and ganaches can curdle.)

If you are using bars with more than 60% or 70% cacao in a recipe not specifically designed for them, follow this general rule: use 25% to 35% less chocolate than called for in the recipe and add up to 1 1/2 teaspoons more granulated sugar for each ounce of chocolate in the original recipe.