Chocolate can majorly be divided into three categories: Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate, and Dark Chocolate. Everyone has their favorite and buy chocolate according to their liking. But how much do you know about the varieties? What makes Milk chocolate different from the white one and what makes bittersweet chocolate any different from the semisweet one? Well, all this majorly comes down to how the chocolate is cooked. Read to find out more about Chocolate.
1.White Chocolate
White Chocolate is the easiest to identify because of its ivory or white color. It is usually made by combining sugar, cocoa butter, milk, vanilla and lecithin, an emulsifier that helps to bind the ingredients together. It has a rich vanilla essence due to the condensed milk. But, many do not consider this predominantly sweet chocolate as chocolate as it does not contain any cocoa traces.
Nutritional Information in 100 grams of White Chocolate:
Calories: 539
Total Fat: 32 g
Cholesterol: 21 mg
Protein: 6 g
Carbohydrates: 59 g
According to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), White Chocolate contains 20% cocoa butter, 14% total milk solids, 3.5% milk fat and not more than 55% sweetness.
2.Milk Chocolate
Let us admit it. Milk Chocolate is a classic and we all have been in love with it, since our childhood. Light brown in color, creamy texture and sweet flavor, this is the most popular chocolate across the globe. It is made with Chocolate liquor (cocoa solids and cocoa butter), sugar and milk. Sometimes, an emulsifier is also used. This gives a distinct flavor, as sweet and chocolatey with caramelized sugar and a vanilla aftertaste.
Nutritional Information in 100 grams of Milk Chocolate:
Calories: 535
Total Fat: 30 g
Cholesterol: 23 mg
Carbohydrates: 59 g
Protein: 8 g
Caffeine: 20 mg
According to the FDA, a Milk Chocolate must contain at least 10% chocolate liquor and 12% milk.
3.Dark Chocolate
With its prominent dark brown color, Dark chocolate is more bitter than sweet. Some often refer to it as bittersweet chocolate. It has now gained much popularity in recent years all thanks to several articles being posted about its health benefits. Dark chocolate is also easy to make with only two ingredients: Chocolate liquor and sugar. The flavors usually depend on the cocoa content with notes of brown spice and cinnamon. It doesn’t contain dairy and much sugar and hence has a firmer texture than the other varieties.
Nutritional Information in 100 grams of Dark Chocolate:
Calories: 546
Total fat: 31 g
Cholesterol: 8 mg
Carbohydrates: 61 g
Protein: 4.9 g
Caffeine: 43 mg
According to the FDA, Dark Chocolate must contain 15% of Chocolate liquor, but usually contains about 50% of it.
Bittersweet Chocolate vs Semisweet Chocolate
When we say bittersweet and semisweet, what does it actually mean?
Well, technically speaking, White Chocolate cannot be qualified as either bittersweet or semisweet as it has no traces of cocoa solids. Semisweet and bittersweet usually comes under Dark chocolate. Semisweet chocolate has lower cocoa content and is sweeter than the bittersweet chocolate. Bittersweet chocolate has a deeper flavor. However they are differentiated, by adding various amounts of sugar, vanilla and a fat named Lecithin.
According to the FDA, semisweet and bittersweet contains almost the same definition. They contain at least 50% cocoa content. But bittersweet chocolate can go up to 66% cocoa content and has one-thirds of sugar less than the former.
Now, you know, your favourite food is so much more than just the flavours and sweetners!
