Deep Dark Chocolate Read Free

of the three main varieties of the cultivated cacao tree, forastero is the workhorse. Believed to be native to the Amazon basin, it is hardy and high-yielding, producing more than 80– percent of the world’s production of cacao beans. While the beans have a big chocolate flavor, they lack the subtle nuances associated with premium chocolate.
    ganache
    A versatile blend of chocolate and cream (or any water-based liquid). Depending upon the temperature and the proportion of cream to chocolate, ganache can be a velvety sauce to serve over ice cream. It can also cover a cake in a shiny glaze or fluffy frosting or become as firm and toothsome as fudge.
    milk chocolate
    While this type of chocolate may be America’s candy-bar star, it should not be used as a substitute for dark chocolate. It needs to contain only 10–percent chocolate liquor, which is why it does not have a pronounced chocolate flavor and why it plays a minor role in baking. (It also contains cocoa butter, vanilla, milk solids, and lecithin, a natural emulsifier.) percentage
    This is a useful label for gauging sweetness (or bitterness). It represents the combined amount, by weight, of ground cacao beans and cocoa butter in the solid chocolate, versus sugar and other ingredients. In premium chocolates, that fraction is made up solely from ground cacao beans, but some chocolate makers may add more cocoa butter than is naturally present in the beans. When that happens the flavor is not as intense, although the percentage remains the same.
    single-origin, vintage, and plantation or estate chocolate
    These terms are used for chocolate made from the cacao beans of a single country, region, year, or plantation. While most chocolates are a blend of beans from different regions, these chocolates are like fine wines, with distinct flavors characteristic of a particular soil and climate.
    tasting terminology
    In the world of premium chocolate, terms are as elaborate as the descriptive words used for wine and fine-quality coffee. Flavor and aroma profiles exist. If you’re interested in learning more, see Sources.
    tempering
    This is the process of alternately cooling and reheating melted chocolate to form fat crystals and stabilize them within the cocoa butter, so that the solid chocolate retains its glossy sheen, snap, and melting properties.
    theobroma cacao
    The Latin name for the spindly tree that grows in equatorial regions of the world. Its common name is cacao , or simply the chocolate tree. Theobroma means “food of the gods,” a name bestowed by botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1753.
    trinitario
    One of three main varieties of the cultivated cacao tree, trinitario is a hybrid of criollo and forastero . It exhibits properties of both, such as high yield and aromatic beans.
    white chocolate
    This isn’t really chocolate at all, because it contains no chocolate liquor or solids. It does contain cocoa butter with sugar, milk solids, and vanilla added. Premium-quality white chocolate, such as Green & Black’s, Valrhona, Callebaut, or El Rey, has a creamy, custard like flavor .
a word about the bean
Cocoa content—the percentages—does not guarantee a quality chocolate. It’s all about the bean. An inferior bean will not make a superior chocolate no matter how high the cocoa content.

Baking Tips And Deep, Dark Chocolate Secrets
    (Read this first, before the recipes)
    Buying, Storing, Chopping, Measuring, And Melting Dark Chocolate: The Basic How-To Guide
    Buying Dark Chocolate
    I hope this book encourages you to begin experimenting in the kitchen with fine-quality, premium chocolates you enjoy eating instead of using semisweet and bittersweet chocolates from the supermarket’s baking aisle.
    Any solid, dark chocolate can be used as a baking chocolate. Remember, when a recipe highlights chocolate, the better the chocolate, the better the recipe will turn out. Begin by trying celebrated brands such as Scharffen Berger, Valrhona, Callebaut, El Rey, Michel Cluizel,