Bain-Marie
(BAN mar-EE) Used to melt chocolate. Consists of a bowl placed over a pan of boiling water.
Bouchon
(BOO-shon) French for 'cork', often used to name distinctively shaped chocolates
Café au Lait
(CAF-ay oh LAY) Coffee made with milk.
Caramel Chocolate
Most milk chocolate has flavour notes of caramel, but this chocolate also has some of the sugar caramelised to enhance the caramel notes.
Chocolatier
(shok-o-LAT-ee-yay) Person, or sometimes company, making chocolate.
Cinder Toffee
A traditional version of toffee which is made with bicarbonate of soda to give a lighter, aerated texture.
Cocoa
The preferred term in the UK for the tree, Theobroma cacao, and the bean found within its fruit, the cocoa pod. Referred to as CACAO predominantly in the USA and Europe.
Cocoa Butter
The fat which is removed from cocoa beans in order to produce cocoa powder. Cocoa butter is then added back at a later stage in the chocolate-making process to enable molding.
Cocoa Mass
This is the main ingredient in chocolate and is the product of grinding roasted cocoa nibs into a thick paste. Also known as cocoa solid and cocoa liquor.
Cocoa Nibs
The part of the cocoa bean used in the manufacture of chocolate. The dried and roasted kernel of the cocoa bean that remains after the husk has been removed.
Conching
A process invented by Rudolph Lindt in 1879, which breaks down the particles making up chocolate by gentle heating and kneading. This improves the texture of the chocolate and produces more mellow flavor by driving out bitterness.
Confiseur
(con-fee-SER) Person, or sometimes company, making confectionery.
Couverture
The chocolatier's key ingredient and basic building block. A mixture of cocoa mass, cocoa butter and sugar. Usually contains a higher cocoa butter content than non-couverture chocolate.
Criollo
The most delicate and sought-after type of cocoa bean, representing only 5-10% of the world's crop, thought to have originated in Mexico.
Dark Chocolate
Quality ingredients are the key to real, quality dark chocolate.
Diamant
(DEE-a-mon) Literally 'diamond'. Name used for an Hermès chocolate.
Dragée
(DRA-zjay) chocolate coated in sugar shell.
Engaged Ethics
This is the name we give to our “roll-up-the-sleeves and get-involved” ethical program. Sustained investments of know-how, sweat and passion as well as dependable funding really does make a difference to cocoa communities in Ghana and St Lucia.
Enrobing
A process by which individual chocolates are given an outer shell by being passed through a waterfall of molten chocolate.
Feuilletine
(fo-yer-TEEN) a praline textured with small pieces of crispy, oven baked pancakes (crepes dentelles).
Florentine Squares
Sliced almonds stirred into a buttery caramel, then poured into thin layers, left to set and cut into squares with a very sharp knife.
Fondant
A mixture of sugar, water and glucose used in the production of creamy-textured confectionery. Can also be a covering paste, made with sugar icing.
Forastero
The mainstay of the world's cocoa bean crop (80%), with a robust flavor, thought to have originated in the Amazon.
Framboise
(FROM-bwarz) French for 'raspberry'.
Ganache
(ger-NASH) A mixture of chocolate and cream, with a velvety smooth texture. Created when a nineteenth century apprentice knocked some cream into a tub of chocolate. His boss called him 'un ganache' - an imbecile!
Gianduja
(zjan-DO-ya) A blend of chocolate, very finely ground hazelnuts and sugar, typically much smoother than a praline. A silky smooth texture.
Griotte
(gre-OT) French for Morello Cherry.
Hermès
(AIR-mez) Flemish chocolatier.
Hotel Chocolat
(HO-tel SHOCK-o-la) A place where only the best, most authentic, most original chocolate finds sanctuary.
Kastanjes
(kas-TAN-ya) Chestnut-shaped chocolate.
Lecithin
A natural emulsifier made from soya, used to stabilize the fats in chocolate and improve its texture.
Marrons Glacés
(MA-ron GLA-say) Crystallised chestnuts.
Mendiant
(MON-dee-on) Literally 'blind men/beggars' in French. Piped discs of solid chocolate studded with fruit and nuts.
Milk Chocolate
What makes quality milk chocolate?
Molded Chocolate
Individual chocolates or chocolate shapes made by pouring molten chocolate into moulds and allowing it to set to create a shell.
Myrtille
(MEER-tee) French for 'blueberry'.
Nacional Arriba
One of the world’s most sought after cocoa beans, revered for its long lasting, yet mellow flavors. Grown in Ecuador and botanically a Forastero type, it is widely accepted as a fine flavor bean by connoisseurs.
Piri-Pir
the name used in Mozambique to describe the African bird's-eye chili, often used in preparing sauces and marinades for roast and grilled dishes.
Praline
(PRAH-leen) Paste of crushed hazelnuts/almonds, caramelized sugar and chocolate.
Rabot Estate
(ra-BOH) Hotel Chocolat's 140 acre cocoa plantation on the island of St Lucia, near the original French capital, Soufrière.
Sahne
(ZAR-na) German/Dutch for 'cream'.
Single Estate Chocolate
Cocoa grown on a single, named estate or plantation such as the Rabot Estate, whose distinctive flavors are directly influenced by the terroir (or environment) in which it is grown. These flavors will vary from harvest to harvest and can be readily tasted in the chocolate they produce.
Single Origin Chocolate
Chocolate grown in a single region or country whose distinctive flavors are directly influenced by that terrior (or environment). These flavors will be less varied than single estate.
Sugar
A vital ingredient in chocolate but should be used in moderation; too much makes chocolate sweet and sickly.
Sultana
Golden-colored raisin whose name and origin can be traced back to the Ottoman Empire and the ‘Sultans’ who introduced it to the English-speaking world.
Tempering
The precisely controlled heating and cooling of molten chocolate to correctly crystallize or solidify the cocoa butter within, which produces the required consistency and a smooth, glossy finish.
Terroir
A term taken from French that describes the external influences that help define the character and flavor nuances of cocoa, includes the geographic location, the topography, the type of soil and the climate.
Trans Fats
or hydrogenated vegetable fats, used by industrialized chocolate makers as a replacement for the more expensive cocoa butter. Linked to the clogging of arteries and heart disease.
Trinitario
Type of cocoa bean - a hybrid of Criollo and Forastero, with delicate flavors, but easier to grow than the Criollo.
Truffle
Often handmade, made from ganache of chocolate mass, cream and a little butter, shaped into a round ball or piped into a peak. Soft, yielding texture. Find out more about gourmet chocolate truffles.
Truffle Fork
Used by chocolatiers to gently turn freshly enrobed truffles to achieve a ruffled finish.
Tuile
(TWEEL) French for 'tile'. Describes the Pringle-like shape of the product.
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