We’ve had an enduring love affair with cocoa that has lasted 3,500 years. What began with the ancient civilizations of South America has grown into a relationship that knows no bounds. But what is it about chocolate that captivates us so much?
Is it the velvety, melt-in-the-mouth texture, or those gorgeously comforting flavors? Or does it go much deeper than that into how it makes us feel or where it takes us when we close our eyes as it gently melts away…?
White ChocolateCreamy white chocolate is one life’s more relaxing pleasures as it readily melts away to a creamy, dream-like texture. It’s the sheer amount of cocoa butter in white chocolate that gives it that gorgeous melt in the mouth feel. Cocoa butter is the natural fat contained in the cocoa bean and is unique in that it melts just below mouth temperature.
In fact, white chocolate contains much more cocoa butter than either milk chocolate or dark chocolate. That’s because it lacks one ingredient so essential to its darker cousins – cocoa solids. And that’s where white chocolate sometimes runs into trouble. Many connoisseurs of chocolate refuse to even consider white chocolate as chocolate, precisely because it contains no cocoa solids.
Technically, they may be correct but white chocolate’s biggest enemy is the enormous amount of mass produced product available. In an effort to cut costs, manufacturers cut out as much expensive cocoa butter as possible, replacing it with much cheaper vegetable fats. This results in a cloying, fatty ‘chocolate’ that does the reputation of white chocolate no favors!
All of our
white chocolates are all made with nothing but wholesome, honest ingredients and they’re packed with cocoa butter. So you can sit back and enjoy those creamy, dreamy, laid back flavors to the full.
Milk ChocolateNothing compares with the mellow sensations of milk chocolate as it gently melts in the mouth and it should start melting the moment you eat it. But in order for it to do that, milk chocolate needs to be made with authentic, wholesome ingredients.
Cocoa is what gives chocolate its unmistakable flavors, so it is essential that any milk chocolate recipe include a good proportion of cocoa solids as well as cocoa butter.
Unfortunately, when it comes to mass-produced chocolate, the trend has been in the opposite direction. Cocoa butter is replaced by inferior, but cheaper, vegetable fat substitutes and cocoa solids have been on the decline too. And it’s no coincidence that milk chocolate seems to be getting sweeter and sweeter. That’s because cocoa solids are being replaced by sugar, chocolate’s cheapest ingredient.
At Hotel Chocolat we have a policy of using less sugar and more cocoa wherever and whenever possible. Which is precisely why you’ll find 40% and 50% milk chocolates in our range as well as a stunning
62% single origin milk chocolate. They’re full of those deep chocolaty flavors that we all love, with the added comfort of a dash of milk.
Dark ChocolateTo make
premium dark chocolate, you really do have to start right at the beginning with fresh, wholesome ingredients. As you’d expect, one of those crucial ingredients is the cocoa itself. Each and every bean has its own distinct character and nuances of flavor. But to deliver these authentic tastes, it’s essential that dark chocolate contain a respectable amount of cocoa solids – anything less than 60% is likely to disappoint!
Good dark chocolate should be intense, flooding the mouth with its deep flavors that can range from a robust earthiness to passionate red fruitiness. Expert chocolate tasters use language that is very similar to wine tasters – and with good reason because, as with grapes, the terroir (or the environment in which the bean is grown) makes an enormous difference to the finished product.
And we can take that wine analogy even further with single estate chocolates that are made from beans grown on a named plantation giving them a unique intensity and purity of taste – in much the same way as Grand Cru wines.
