Archive for December, 2008
Chocolate and wine pairing for the holidays
Posted by: | CommentsThe holidays are here and it’s time to check in on chocolate and wine pairings. After all, you’ll need to know what bubbly or brew to serve with great chocolate as you celebrate.
First let’s talk about chocolate and wine. The first approach is to pair a slightly sweeter chocolate with very dry wine, possibly a champagne or sparkling wine.
The second approach is a very strong pairing, such as a robust wine with rich, dark chocolate.
The third approach to apriing chocolate and wine is to go very light and sweet with your wine choice, and pair it with, again a darker chocolate. In this case, you’ll want an even deeper, darker chocolate than in the second case.
Next time, I’ll show you more about what I mean.
Tags: Chocolate, Chocolate Fudge, chocolate wine pairing, Gourmet Food, Recipes, wineRelated posts
Checking Your Chocolate Palate
Posted by: | CommentsWe’ve been talking about chocolate percentages. And how the world is going darker and darker in our chocolate preferences.
What about you personally and your possibly changing palate?
Well, here’s a quick tip – our taste does not change down the sweetness scale (to the sweeter) it only goes up to the “Dark Side” or close to it! So, you don’t need to test sweeter chocolate. You only need to check dark chocolate to see if your palate has developed in that direction.
Check out some chocolate that is a bit darker than you are used to. You might find that you like it!
Tags: Artisanal Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate & Fudge Making, Chocolate Blog, Chocolate Fudge, Dark Chocolates, Fudge, Gourmet FoodRelated posts
Changing Your Taste in Chocolate
Posted by: | Comments
Another thing to know about chocolate percentages is that your taste in chocolate can change. Typically when we are kids, we like sweeter chocolate. White chocolate is often “too milky” for some people, though kids do like its sweetness levels. Most kids say that milk chocolate is their favorite. Or at least, they used to.
Chocolate preferences here in America and around the world have been changing. Our palate has been developing. We are getting to be more sophisticated in our chocolate taste. Now many kids say they “love dark chocolate”, even though it tastes less sweet than white or milk chocolate.
Even if you loved milk chocolate when you were young, you probably like dark chocolate now. In fact, many of us crave the dark stuff exclusively!
If you know your chocolate preference, that’s great. Maybe semi-sweet levels are your fave. But, don’t forget that your taste in chocolate can keep on changing. Branch out sometimes and try something a little darker. You may be surprised to find what you like these days.
Tags: Chocolate, Chocolate & Fudge Making, Chocolate Blog, Chocolate Fudge, Chocolate Gifts, Chocolate Truffle, Dark Chocolates, Fudge, Fudge Recipes, Gourmet Food, Handmade chocolate fudgeRelated posts
Mind the Gap
Posted by: | CommentsSo we’ve heard that when it comes to chocolate percentages, white does not contain cacao solids, milk chocolate is 36 – 46% cacao, semisweet is 52 – 62% cacao, and bittersweet chocolate is 63 – 72% cacao.
But what about the gaps? I mean, don’t you see chocolate bars labeled with percentages like 50%, 75%, 82% and even 99%?
Well, when you know the basic ranges it can be your guide. Even the gaps don’t have to be confusing.
For example, if you like “dark chocolate” and you see percentages, try the “semisweet chocolate” range first. Do you like it? Does it taste “dark enough” to you? If so, stick around that percentage range…and maybe in the gaps nearby. So, that would mean you would probably like something that is 50% cacao. You might even want to try chocolate as high as 62%. If you think that this semisweet range of chocolate and the gap near it are not quite dark enough for you, try the bittersweet range. If going up as high as the top of that range (i.e. to 72% cacao) works for you palate, you can think about the gap. That means, maybe you’ll want to go into that area between the top of the bittersweet range and 100% cacao. Try 75%, or even 80%. See how you feel about it.
Tags: Chocolate, Chocolate Blog, Chocolate Truffle, Dark Chocolates, Gourmet Food, Handmade chocolate fudgeRelated posts
More About Chocolate Percentages
Posted by: | CommentsSo we were talking about percentages in chocolate, something people ask us about a lot here at Cocopotamus by NYDC Chocolate. Like I was saying, the percentages are basically telling you the same general thing that we used to say with words…you know, those phrases we all grew up with. White chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, bittersweet chocolate.
When we put it in words, most of us know that kinds of chocolate we prefer. The percentages are just as easy. Here’s a quick and easy guide to understanding chocolate percentages:
White chocolate doesn’t technically contain cacao. So, it isn’t really “chocolate”! You don’t see percentages on white chocolate.
Milk chocolate is in the percentage range from 36% cacao to 46 percent cacao. So if you know you like “milk chocolate” and you see (confusing!) percentage labels, look for the 36% -46% range.
Dark chocolate contains 2 categories, semi-sweet chocolate and bittersweet chocolate. Of course, there’s really a third, unsweetened chocolate. But not may of us enjoy eating 100% chocolate straight!
Semi-sweet chocolate is in the percentage range from 52% cacao to 62% cacao.
Bitter sweet chocolate is in the percentage range from 63% cacao to 72% cacao.
More about these ranges next time…
Tags: Chocolate, Chocolate & Fudge Making, Chocolate Recipes, Chocolate Truffle, Food, Foodies, Fudge Recipes, Gourmet Food, TruffleRelated posts
Chocolate Percentages – What’s Up with That?
Posted by: | CommentsHere at Cocopotamus people know how deeply we love chocolate and of course, dark chocolate fudge. That’s why they often come to us with questions about chocolate. Here’s a simple question we hear a lot…what’s up with chocolate percentages?
Chocolate percentages can be confusing. People wonder how much they should pay attention to them. Is the percentage really important? Why are some chocolates labeled with percentage, while others are not?
Basically, there’s one thing you need to know. You can talk percentage, or you can say the same thing with words. That’s because the percentages fall into basic categories of chocolate. We’ve all heard these before. white chocolate. Milk chocolate. Dark chocolate. Semi-sweet chocolate. Bittersweet chocolate.
If I give you a chocolate name like that, you have an idea about whether or not it will suit your taste in chocolate, don’t you? I mean, you know if you like milk chocolate or if you don’t. It’s simple.
Well, the percentages dont’ have to be intimidating. When it comes to chocolate percentages, all you need to know is which percentage fits which word category. More about this next time, when I’ll teach you how to hone in on your personal favorite chocolate range.
Tags: Chocolate, Chocolate & Fudge Making, Chocolate Blog, Chocolate Fudge, Chocolate Gifts, Food, Foodies, Fudge, Gourmet FoodRelated posts
Jonesing for chocolate? So R. We!
Posted by: | CommentsThere are times when you just need to get your chocolate on. (We feel your pain, believe me!)
But not just any chocolate. This blog is all about the good stuff…like, the reasons we at Cocopotamus spend our days making artisanal dark chocolate fudge. Want to share the tips & tricks with you.
Who makes great chocolate? Where is it from? How is it made? Why should you look for it? How do you taste chocolate? What are some great recipes for chocolate? What flavors work with chocolate & in what ways? How do you know what chocolate to put with wine? What chocolate makes a good gift according to personality? What chocolate is the most “you”?
All these burning questions & more. So much chocolate! So little time! But we will do our bloggin’ best to answer them all.
Tags: Artisanal Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate & Fudge Making, Chocolate Fudge, Chocolate Gifts, Food, Fudge, Gourmet Food, Recipes, wine
