CLN 2751 Chocolate Creations
Chocolate Theory
Table of Contents
Historical facts about chocolate ............................................................................................ 2
Swiss Chocolate Pioneers ..................................................................................................... 2
From Bean To Chocolate Bar................................................................................................... 4
Cocoa trees ................................................................................................................................... 4
Cocoa tree varieties ................................................................................................................. 4
Handling and harvesting / Fermentation .................................................................... 4
Chocolate production from cocoa to chocolate ........................................................ 4
Chocolate product definitions ........................................................................................... 5
Melting the chocolate ............................................................................................................. 6
Tempering/pre-crystalize chocolate ............................................................................. 7
Pre-crystalization methods................................................................................................. 8
Working Temperatures of chocolate ............................................................................. 8
Tips working with chocolate .............................................................................................. 9
1
Historical facts about chocolate
The great botanist Carl von Linné (1700s) was the first to record the unique merits of
the plant to which he gave the botanical name of "Theobroma Cacao". "Theobroma”
in Greek language means "food of the gods". As such, or as the food of princes and
the wealthy, cocoa was already recognized by the Toltecs, Mayas and Aztecs. The
earliest evidence of use traces to the Mokaya (Mexico and Guatemala), with
evidence of chocolate beverages dating back to 1900 BC. Around 600 AD the Mayas
and Aztecs, were already cultivating cocoa in Central America and establishing the
earliest known plantations. They used the cocoa beans to prepare a very nourishing
and fiery drink, which they called "xocolatl”, meaning "bitter water“, from which we
get the modern word chocolate and valued it highly so that the beans were also used
as a means of a payment.
In 1502 Christopher Columbus and his crew were actually the first non-natives to
encounter cacao and broad it to Europe.
In 1528 Cortez took the first cocoa to Spain, along with the equipment needed to
prepare the exotic drink, and it soon met with approval in the Spanish great court. It
had little in common with today's instant cocoa drinks. It was sharp, highly
concentrated, and was even drunk with pepper added. Sugar was rare and
expensive. If the drink was sweetened at all, it was with honey. The basic product
was diluted with milk, water, wine, or even beer!
In 1615, Anna of Austria, who grew up in Madrid, took drinking chocolate to the
French court when she married King Louis XIII. In Paris it became a badge of status
and the fashionable drink of the aristocracy, and from there it spread to the upper
echelons of society throughout the whole of Europe.
The 19th century saw the fall of the aristocracy, accompanied by the decline of their
drink in favor of coffee and tea, but at the same time solid chocolate, which had its
origins in France in the years following 1830, grew in importance. This method of
preparation had been known previously in other European countries starting with
Italy, where "cioccolatieri” - travelling producers - moved around the country and
offered the brown mixture, which was incredibly expensive, for sale at fairs.
Swiss Chocolate Pioneers
Francois-Louis Cailler
Travelling journeymen also came to Italy from other countries to learn the art of the
confectioners and Cioccolatieri, among them Francois-Louis Cailler (1796-1852). He
then opened a mechanized chocolate production facility in Corsier near Vevey in
1819, establishing the oldest brand of Swiss chocolate still in existence today.
2
Daniel Peter
Peter began his career as a candle maker in his native town Vevey, Switzerland, but
soon demand fell due to the emergence of oil lamps. Then he met the daughter of
famous chocolatier François-Louis Cailler. In 1825 together with his brother-in-law,
he bought his father-in-law's company.
When Peter came up with the process of making milk chocolate in 1857, he had a
problem with removing the water from the milk, which caused mold to form and was
also destroying the texture of the chocolate. He tried to substitute normal milk with
condensed milk, and it was very successful. Then he enlisted the cooperation of
Henri Nestlé, then a baby-food manufacturer, and finally, in 1875 after seven years of
effort, he was able to bring the product onto the market.
Later, in 1879, the two joined to form the Nestlé Company.
Rudolf Lindt
Rodolph Lindt, actually Rudolf Lindt (1855 –1909) was a Swiss chocolate
manufacturer and inventor. Lindt was born in Bern.
In 1879 he founded his own chocolate factory in the Mattequartier on the Aare in
Bern. He was never happy with the texture and taste of chocolate, not only his
chocolate but all chocolates of his competitors.
In December 1879 he succeeded in improving the then moderate quality of
chocolate by the development of the conching machine, a lengthwise stirring device.
His brother, a pharmacist in profession, advised him to heat his roller grinder and
leave it running longer. The chocolate he took out of the machine, that he let run for
three days and three nights, was virtually something else. Visually, texturally and
tastily different, it was like dark velvet with matt silky shine, and most important of all,
by adding more cocoa butter the chocolate was melting in the mouth. At the same
time, finer consistency made undesired aromas evaporate. He called his new
creation “chocolat fondant” melting chocolate.
The conching machine and the cocoa butter addition in the cocoa mass greatly
contributed to the high quality of Swiss chocolate.
3
From Bean To Chocolate Bar
Cocoa trees
A tree begins to bear fruit when it is four or five years old. A mature tree may have
6,000 flowers in a year, yet only about 20 pods. About 40 are required to produce 1
kg of cocoa paste. Cocoa trees grow in hot, rainy tropical areas within 20° of latitude
from the equator, known as the cocoa zone.
Cocoa harvest is not restricted to one period per year and a harvest typically occurs
over several months. In fact, in many countries cocoa can harvest at any time of the
year. Pesticides are often apply to the trees to combat capsid bugs and fungicides to
fight black pod disease.
Immature cocoa pods have a variety of colors but most often are green, red, or
purple, and as they mature, their color tends towards yellow or orange. Unlike most
fruiting trees, the cacao pod grows directly from the trunk or large branch of a tree
rather than from the end of a branch. This makes harvesting by hand easier as most
of the pods will not be up in the higher branches.
The pods on a tree do not ripen together, harvesting needs to be done periodically
throughout the year. Harvesting occurs between three and four times weekly during
the harvest season. The ripe and near-ripe pods, as judged by their color, are
harvest with a curved knife on a long pole.
Cocoa tree varieties
Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario are cacao’s three dominant varieties. Conventional
wisdom would have you believe that Criollo is the best, Forastero the lowest quality,
and Trinitario in the middle.
Handling and harvesting / Fermentation
The harvested pods are opened typically with a machete to expose the beans.
The beans are fermented, inside crades, for four to seven days and must be mixed
every two days. During the fermentation the beans develop the color and the aroma.
The beans after fermentation are dried for five to fourteen days, depending on the
climate conditions.
Chocolate production from cocoa to chocolate
In a factory, the imported raw cocoa is first subject to a quality control check. In the
laboratory, specialists make sure that the beans are healthy and perfectly fermented.
After they pass to a cleaning process and debacterization.
Then the beans are roasted. Roasting is also very important as the cocoa develops
the aroma.
Next, the beans are cracked and then de-shelled by a "winnower". The resulting
pieces of beans are called nibs.
4
Most nibs are kneaded/ground, using various methods, into a thick creamy paste,
known as chocolate liquor or cocoa paste. This paste is then further processed into
chocolate by mixing in more cocoa butter and sugar and sometimes vanilla and
lecithin as an emulsifier, and then refined by “conching“. In this process the chocolate
is heated up to 80°C by intensive movement and force; the powerful movement
breaks down all the particles and gives the paste a smooth texture.
Alternatively, it can be separated into cocoa powder and cocoa butter using a
hydraulic press. The beans approximate contain 50% cocoa butter and 50% cocoa
powder. Standard cocoa powder has a fat content of approximately 10–12 percent.
Cocoa butter, as almost all oils, has a very light green to yellow color, that is from the
chlorophyll. Cocoa butter is used in chocolate bar manufacture, other confectionery,
soaps, and cosmetics.
Treating with alkali produces Dutch process cocoa powder, which is less acidic,
darker and more mellow in flavor than what is generally available in most of the
world. Another process that helps develop the flavor is roasting.
Chocolate product definitions
"Blend": stands for the common mixture of the coverture. In such the producer
combines up to 20 different sorts of different origins. This way, so it goes, an
overarching constant quality is guaranteed.
"Grand-Cru": chocolates is a relatively recent denomination from 1999 and stands for
a precisely defined, single sort of cocoa.
Blending, like the major producers do, is completely omitted. If one follows the
"Grand-Cru" principle, there usually will be some variations from harvest to harvest.
Not only are they willingly accepted but these variations really bring out fantastic
flavours.
"Single Origin": defines a specific cropping area or country (e.g. "Single Origin
Madagascar"). Purity of variety does not matter and thus, the cocoa beans stemming
from a certain cropping area are wildly mixed.
"Single Plantation": is an even more specific denotation of the provenience meaning
that the cocoa beans originate from a single plantation. Unsurprisingly, this comes
with higher production costs attached due to the limited crop and the related higher
involved effort. Whether this makes sense or not, is a topic of discussion in the
industry. In contrast, the two aforementioned principles are generally accepted.
Couvertures: at least 31% of cocoa butter
Chocolate: at least 18% of cocoa butter.
Milk chocolate: at least 14% milk solid content, of this at least 3,5% being milk fat.
White chocolate: at least 20% cocoa butter, 14% milk solids of which 3,5% must be
milk fat and a maximum of 55% sugar.
Fat glaze or compound chocolate: similar to couverture but doesn’t have cocoa
butter addition, it has another type of vegetable fats such as coconut oil or palm
kernel oil.
Cocoa powder: at least a 20% of fat
Chocolate powder: pulverized chocolate with at least 16% of cocoa butter.
5
Melting the chocolate
There are certain fundamental principles when melting chocolate, and if you follow
them, your liquid chocolate will be ready to use as a base in all sorts of recipes. All
equipment, bawls spatulas must be dry, neve have water in the pot and ever cook
chocolate on direct heat.
In a bain-marie
Using a serrated knife, chop the chocolate on a chopping board.
You may also use couverture chocolate in other forms, chips/coins. Place the
chopped chocolate in a glass or metal heatproof bowl. If you have a double boiler,
half fill the bottom part with hot water. Otherwise, half fill a pot or saucepan with hot
water. Place the bowl in this, ensuring that it does not touch the bottom of the
saucepan. Place the saucepan (or double boiler) over low heat and check that the
water does not boil. As soon as the chocolate begins to melt, stir it continuously
using a flexible rubber or silicone spatula so that it melts evenly.
In a microwave oven
Place the chocolate pieces in a bowl designed for microwave use. Heat at 500 W
maximum for one minute, remove from the oven, stir with a flexible spatula, and
return to the heat for 30 seconds. Mix again and repeat the procedure as many times
as necessary, until the chocolate has melted completely.
All chocolates at 45°c are melting with no crystal formation. Dark chocolate can
reach temperature up to 55°c but milk and white never go above 45°c.
6
Tempering/pre-crystalize chocolate
Chocolate get hard cause of the crystallization of the cocoa butter. The cocoa butter
as it cools down creates different types of crystals, with different melting point.
Crystal types Melting point °C
I 17,3
II 23,3
III 25,5
IV 27,3
V 33,8
VI 36
The chocolate must crystalize with the stable, type V crystals in order to be shiny, not
to melt easy and to have a snap when eaten.
One crystal grows on to of another crystal so if the chocolate has “seeds” of stable
crystals, wile is cooling down the type V crystals will crystalize effectively all the
cocoa butter with the stable crystals.
If we take some melted chocolate (untempered - no structure at all), and let it cool
slowly, type V “crystals” will start to form as it cools, then IV, then III, then II, then I.
What have we gained - all we have is this mass of soft chocolate with all the forms.
What we have is a soft mass with quite a lot of type V crystals “contaminated” by the
other forms.
What happens if we heat this back up to 32 C?
All the forms except type V melt and we left with what is effectively type V “seed”
chocolate. If you then add this to a batch of untempered chocolate that is UNDER
33.8 C (the melting point of type V), the cocoa butter present will start to form around
the seed crystals very nicely and preferentially give you 90+% type V cocoa butter.
There WILL be a little of the other forms present (that whole crystallization) but the
majority will be type V and you will have tempered chocolate.
When the pre-crystalize chocolate gets hard it does not melt easy, it has a snap and
it is shiny.
7
Pre-crystalization methods
Table method
Pour on the marble about 2/3 of the melted chocolate at 40-45°C. Work it and move
it, consistently on the marble, with pallet knife and a scraper until the structure of
chocolate turns sluggish (thickened). The temperature should be around 26-27°c.
Pour it back to the rest melted chocolate, work it very well and raise the temperature,
depending on the chocolate, up to the working temperature.
Seeding
Melt chocolate at 45-50°C then add about 15-30% of chopped chocolate or chocolate
chips / coins. Let it stand for 3 minutes and then blend it using a hand blender.
Be careful not to mix in air.
By direct warming (warmer or microwave)
Heat the chopped couverture to the desired working temperature in the microwave in
short steps 10-20 seconds each time. Mix well after each heating because
microwaves create hot spots that can burn the chocolate.
Tempering machine
The couverture is warmed between 45 to 50°C under thermostatic control. It is then
eventually cooled to 26 to 27°C to start the crystallization and then re-warmed to the
working temperature of 30 to 32,5°C.
Working Temperatures of chocolate
White chocolate: 29-31
Milk choclate: 30-32
Dark couverture: 31-33
8
Tips working with chocolate
The ideal temperature of the interiors for dipping into couvertures
18 to 20 °c.
Chocolate work needs a special room with low temperature of 20°c.
If the couverture goes foamy, it should be warmed again to 45° - 50°c, and should
then be tempered correctly.
All equipment that comes in contact with the chocolate must be, certainly very clean
and very dry.
If you work with tempering chocolate, the bowl has to be plastic (metal bowl
attracting cold temperatures). It is always good to have some untempered chocolate
on stand by at 45-50°c. Every time that you see that the chocolate is getting harder
that means that the temperature of the chocolate is very low, so you have to add
some untempered hot chocolate to bring it back to working temperature.
The chocolate must be first hard in a chocolate room temperature before it is placed
in the fridge.
If the interior is too cold to dip in the couverture the coat is too thick, pralines are matt
and white-greyed
The right place and temperature for chocolate and covertures storing is in a dry, airy
and cool room with no sunlight at 15-18°c
