Know your Chocolate

Chocolate always bring a smile on everyone's face. Every one loves it and there is something hypnotic about it that it's just so hard to resist. And when you're feeling down, try treating yourself with a healthy doze of chocolate. It is a great mood booster because it contains phenylethylamine, a mood regulating chemical naturally found in the brain. Others say, it also helps the brain produce serotonin, a natural anti-depressant. My kids love nibbling on bittersweet chocolates, how about you?

The types of chocolate:

1. Unsweetened chocolate is often referred to as baking chocolate. It is unadulterated chocolate and contains no sugar and it is too bitter to be eaten by itself. Also known as chocolate liquor, it contains 50 t0 58% cocoa butter.

2. Bittersweet chocolate is slightly sweetened chocolate and contains 35% chocolate liquor. This is the type of chocolate popular among bakers because of its intense chocolate taste. Bittersweet and semisweet chocolates are sometimes referred to as 'couverture'.

3. Semi-sweet chocolate is slightly sweeter than bittersweet chocolate and is often used for cooking purposes. It is a dark chocolate with low sugar content.

4. Milk chocolate is defined as mild flavored chocolate containing 10% chocolate liquor and as much as 12% milk solids [milk powder and condensed milk].

5. Cocoa powder is chocolate in powder form. There are generally 2 types of unsweetened cocoa powder; natural cocoa and dutch-processed. The natural cocoa powder lacks the chocolate color but will provide you with chocolate flavor. Dutch processed cocoa makes baked products darker in color. Dutch cocoa is slightly milder in taste and is frequently used for chocolate drinks such as hot chocolate due to its ease in blending with liquids.

6. White chocolate does not contain chocolate liquor. It is made from cocoa butter, sugar, flavoring and milk.

7. Compound chocolate is cocoa and vegetable fat combined. It is primarily used for candy bar coatings, but because it does not contain cocoa butter, it is not allowed to be called chocolate in some countries.

Choco tidbits:
And because chocolate is believed to be good for the heart, you no longer need to feel guilty if you enjoy a piece of dark chocolate once in a while. This great news does not give you a license though to eat as much chocolate as you'd like.