Chocolate may be a familiar food and a common ingredient, but the word “chocolate” can mean a variety of different things. One simple word encompasses everything from smooth, sweet white chocolate to the darkest bittersweet chocolate, and everything in between.
Chocolate, as we commonly know it, is the product of a long refining process that begins with the fruit (cacao beans) of the tropical tree Theobroma cacao. The beans are fermented, dried, roasted, and ground. Afterward, the resulting products include cocoa butter, a smooth, solid fat used in both food and cosmetics, and chocolate liquor, or ground roasted cocoa beans.
The types of chocolate that come from this refining process is determined by the various amounts of cocoa butter and chocolate liquor the chocolate contains, as well the amount of sugar and any other ingredients added to the mixture.
Types of Chocolate
This brief guide to the types of chocolate will demystify the many different chocolate names, and help you choose the perfect type of chocolate for your recipe.
Cocoa powder
This unsweetened powder is pulverized, partially defatted chocolate liquor. Natural cocoa powder is light brown, with a strong, pronounced chocolate flavor.
Unsweetened chocolate
Also known as “bitter” or “baking” chocolate. This is pure chocolate liquor, composed solely of ground cocoa beans. Although it looks and smells like chocolate, it has a bitter taste and is not meant for consumption on its own—it is best used in cooking when it can be combined with sugar to make it more palatable.
Dark chocolate
Chocolate that contains chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla and lecithin (an emulsifier). There are no milk solids added to dark chocolate. The cocoa content of commercial dark chocolate bars can range from 30 percent (sweet dark) to 70 to 80 percent for extremely dark bars. Bittersweet chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate also fall into the “dark chocolate” category.
Bittersweet chocolate
Bittersweet Chocolate contains at least 35 percent cocoa solids. Most bittersweet bars contain at least 50 percent chocolate liquor, with some bars pushing 70-80% chocolate liquor. This chocolate often has a deeper, more bitter flavor than sweet dark or semi-sweet bars.
Sweet dark chocolate
This is “dark chocolate” in the sense that it does not contain milk solids, but it still has a high percentage of sugar and is much sweeter than other types of dark chocolate. Many brands of sweet dark chocolate have only 20 to 40 percent cocoa solids.
Milk chocolate
In addition to containing cocoa butter and chocolate liquor, milk chocolate contains either condensed milk (most European varieties) or dry milk solids. Milk chocolates are typically much sweeter than dark chocolate and have a lighter color and a less pronounced chocolate taste.
White chocolate
White chocolate gets its name from the cocoa butter it contains, but does not contain chocolate liquor or any other cocoa products. As a result, it has no pronounced chocolate taste but commonly tastes like vanilla or other added flavorings. There are some “white chocolate” products available that contain vegetable fats instead of cocoa butter — they contain no cocoa products at all, and are not technically white chocolate.
Couverture chocolate
Used primarily by professional bakers or confectioners, this chocolate contains a very high percentage (at least 30 percent) of cocoa butter, as well as a high percentage of chocolate liquor. This high ratio makes it expensive, but it also means that the resulting chocolate is smooth and melts quickly and evenly.
Gianduja chocolate
Gianduja is the name given to a European style of chocolate made from chocolate and nut paste. Hazelnut paste is most common, but gianduja can also be made with almond paste.
Adapted from thespruceeats.com