 |
Alkalized Cocoa Powder:
Dutch process powders which have been treated with alkali. They range
from very light reddish-brown to dark reddish-brown in color, and mild cocoa
flavor to strong cocoa flavor. |
| Amenolado:
Amenolado cocoa is the only variety of forastero cacao that is delicate and
mild-flavored... most are harsh and bitter. It’s derived from the Arriba bean. |
|
American Cocoa Powder:
Also known as regular, produces a bit more acidic chocolate flavor that the
mellower Dutch Cocoa Powder. American or regular cocoa has far less fat and
fewer calories than baking and eating chocolate because the cocoa butter has
been removed. |
| Arriba:
The name for a variety of forastero cacao beans cultivated in Ecuador which
produce a delicate, mild-flavored cocoa, considered to be one of the world’s
best. |
| Bahia:
A province in eastern Brazil that gives its name to a hybrid of the forastero
cacao bean. Bahia beans have a strong flavor and are usually blended with
other beans. |
|
Bain Marie:
The French term for water bath. A bain marie is the equivalent to a double
boiler. It melts chocolate gently over warm water so it will not burn. |
| Baking Bitter:
Non-alcoholic unsweetened chocolate liquor in solid form used as a baking
ingredient. |
| Baking Chocolate:
This chocolate is pure, unsweetened, sometimes bitter chocolate liquor,
pressed from the cacao bean. Baking chocolate usually has lecithin added,
which acts as an emulsifier, and vanilla, for flavoring. |
| Balao Malacha:
Another hybrid of the forastero cacaco bean cultivated in Ecuador. Balao
malacha beans are always blended with other beans... their flavor is not
desirable when unblended. |
| Ballotin:
The French word for a small, elegant box of chocolates designed to prevent the
chocolates from damaging each other. In 1912 Louise Agostini, wife of the
grandson of the founder of Neuhaus Chocolates created the ballotin. |
|
Bittersweet Chocolate:
First chocolate liquor is pressed from the cacao bean during processing, then
cocoa butter, a small amount of sugar, vanilla, and usually lecithin are
added. Bittersweet chocolate has a deep, strong, tangy and slightly
sweet flavor. It is used for making all types of desserts, pastries, and
confections. Some like to eat it as is. Bittersweet chocolate is also made as
couverture (coating) chocolate. Because it has more cocoa butter than regular
chocolate, and is used by professionals to produce thin outer coatings on
cakes, truffles.and other confections. Couverture chocolate must be tempered
to stabilize the cocoa butter. |
|
Bloom:
When the cacao butter in chocolate separates out from the other ingredients,
floats to the top, and crystallizes, it appears as white dots and streaks, or
as a dull, gray film on the chocolate. This is only a cosmetic effect and does
not mean that the chocolate is spoiled. The cacao butter will blend in
when the chocolate is melted. This condition is also called fat bloom. |
| Breakfast Cocoa:
Cocoa powder composed of at least twenty-two percent cocoa butter. |
| Cacahuatl:
The Aztec word for cacao bean ... the word chocolate is a derivative. |
| Cacao:
The tropical evergreen tree and its dried and partially fermented beans that
are processed to make chocolate, cocoa powder, and cocoa butter. |
| Cacao Mothers:
Tall trees grown on plantations next to cacao trees to shade them from the
sun. These trees are banana, rubber, or coconut palms depending on the
location of the plantation. |
| Cacao Walks:
Large groves or orchards of cacao trees. |
| Caraque:
A name given by the Spanish to the criollo variety of cacao bean when it was
first brought to Europe. |
| Chocolate:
A food prepared from ground roasted cacao beans.
A small candy with a center (as a fondant) and a chocolate coating. |
| Chocolate
Liquor: The nib, or the center of the bean, is heated and
ground into a smooth liquid state. It is then cooled and formed into blocks,
and from this, all chocolate is made. Chocolate liquor is simply the term for
the pure, processed product of the cocoa bean. In other words: roughly 50%
cocoa solids and 50% cocoa butter. Unsweetened chocolate (which you can buy in
the grocery store) is basically chocolate liquor. There is no alcohol; the
term "liquor" means "essence." |
|
Chocolate Modeling Paste:
Chocolate modeling paste can be made with dark, white, or milk chocolate by
mixing it with corn syrup. It’s pliable and has a malleable texture, similar
to marzipan.. Ribbons, ruffles, flowers, leaves, and stems can be cut and
fashioned from thinly rolled out chocolate modeling paste to decorate
desserts, pastries, and other confections. |
| Chocolate
Thermometer: This specially designed
thermometer is a critical tool when you are tempering chocolate since extreme
accuracy is necessary. The slim, glass mercury thermometer has distinct
markings and reads in 1-degree graduations in the range of 40 degrees
Fahrenheit to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. |
| Chocolatier:
This word may be used to describe several different functions. A person who
makes chocolates by hand in small batches is called a Chocolatier. A
Chocolatier may be employed to evaluate beans and/or supervise the blending
and roasting. In large companies, there may be as many as twenty. Chocolatiers
will generally adjust blends, roasting times and other factors to create a
final product that is consistent with prior products. |
| Chocovic:
Located in Barcelona, Spain, Chocovic makes a line of three dark couverture
varieties, that are unsual since they are each made from single origin fine
grade cacao beans, labeled “Origen Unico.” This means that the beans are all
one variety (not blended) and that they are all grown in the same area. |
| Chuao: Is
the name of an isolated plantation located in Venezuela which dates back to
the seventeenth century. They grow one of the world’s most highly prized,
flavorful varieties of the criollo cacao bean. These beans are rare and are
usually blended with other beans before they are shipped to the market. |
| Cocoa:
The residue of fibrous and other solid materials containing the flavoring and
coloring components of chocolate liquor after some or most of the fat has been
removed with a hydraulic press.
| Low-Fat Cocoa:
Cocoa powder composed of less than ten percent cocoa butter.
|
|
| Medium Fat Cocoa:
Cocoa powder containing between ten and twenty-two percent cocoa
butter. |
|
|
| Cacao Beans:
The source of all chocolate... cacao beans are found in the pods of the cacao
tree, Theobroma cacao, an evergreen typically grown within 20° of the equator. |
| Cacao (Cocoa) Butter:
The natural, cream-colored vegetable fat extracted from cocoa beans during the
process of making chocolate and cocoa powder. It is obtained by pressing
chocolate liquor. Adds smoothness and flavor. |
| Cocoa Cake:
Also called presscake, cocoa cake is a fairly dry, solid cake, which is
what is left over after hydraulic presses extract the cacao butter from
chocolate liquor. Cocoa cakes are crushed, ground, and sifted to produce cocoa
powder. |
| Cocoa Dance:
In Trinidad and some regions of South America the women shuffle through the
cacao beans when they are spread out to dry. By continually turning them, this
ritual ensures the beans will dry evenly, it removes extra particles, and also
polishes the beans. The cocoa dance is performed twice a year after the
cacao beans are harvested. |
| Cocoa Powder:
May be Natural
or Dutch processed. Once cocoa beans are fermented, dried,
roasted and cracked, the nibs (center of the cocoa bean) are ground to extract
about half the cocoa butter, leaving a dark brown paste called chocolate
liquor. After drying again, the hardened mass (press cake) is ground into the
powder known as unsweetened cocoa which may be natural or Dutch processed.
It’s available in different fat levels and a range of tastes include, mild to
strong, and unsweetened, and it’s used for baking, reduced fat and calorie
recipes, and ice cream flavoring. |
|
Compound or Confectionery Coating:
A blend of cocoa powder, sugar and vegetable oil. By substituting the
vegetable oil for the cocoa butter, melting is easier (no
tempering
required) but the results are not as high in quality. |
| Conching:
The conching machines knead the chocolate paste during controlled
temperatures. This process develops flavors and changes the texture. It’s the
last and most important refining process, which allows the separate flavors of
the individual ingredients to combine. Conches [the paddles of the early
machines resembled conch shells] are equipped with heavy rollers that plow
back and forth through the chocolate paste, anywhere from a few hours to
several days. Contemporary technologies can grind the chocolate particles
extremely fine, which can reduce conching times. The finer brands are conched
more than the lesser ones and are more tolerance to going over temperature
zones when
tempering. Swiss and Belgian chocolates, are conched as much as
96 hours. Some chocolates are not conched at all, or for only 4 to 12 hours. |
|
Couverture:
A term describing professional quality coating chocolate that is
extremely glossy. It usually contains a minimum of 32% cocoa butter, which
enables it to form a much thinner shell than ordinary confectionary coating.
Couverture is usually only found in specialty candy making shops. You often
find it as the chocolate that surrounds chocolate covered fruits, or as the
shell of fancy filled chocolates. |
|
Crystallization:
Sugar crystals are formed during the process of cooking sugar when the
particles stick together because the liquid they are mixed with is saturated
to its fullest point and cannot absorb any more sugar. Whether fudge has
a grainy or smooth texture is determined by controlling the sugar
crystallization. If the mixture is stirred while warm, large crystals form and
produce a grainy texture. If it is stirred when cool, small crystals form,
resulting in a smooth texture. Sugar crystallization also occurs when
moisture accumulates on the surface of chocolate and the sugar is drawn up.
This condition is called sugar bloom, which is visible as white streaks and
dots and grainy texture. It is not the same as chocolate bloom. |
| Cupuacu: Its
Latin name is Theobroma grandiflorum (it’s related to cacao), and is native to
the Amazon rain forest of Brazil. A cupuacu pod is about the size and shape of
a football, with skin like a kiwi fruit. The seeds are buried in the moist
pulp of the fruit inside the pods. The seeds are dried, then processed like
cacao beans to producer a light-colored chocolate that has a mellow, mild
bittersweet flavor with fruity undertones. Cocoa butter is present in cupuacu
as it is in chocolate. Cupuacu is processed into both powder and bars and is
used in the same way as cocoa powder and chocolate. |
| Cuvee: A
blend of different types of cacao beans. |
| Devil's Food:
a chocolate-flavored product that derives most of its flavor from cocoa butter
rather than chocolate. |
| Drinking Chocolate:
Hot chocolate is a favorite of kids. A mixture of cocoa and sugar,
mixed with warm milk to form a drink. |
| Dutch Processed:
An alkaline treatment of the nib prior to grinding, or the liquor prior
to pressing. This process darkens the resultant chocolate liquor or cacao and
modifies the chocolate flavor, helping to neutralize cacao's natural acidity.
Used to create deep cocoa color in baked goods, ice cream and beverages. |
| Dutching:
A treatment of the chocolate product with alkali. |
| Emulsifiers:
The emulsifiers used in chocolate are Lecithins and
polyglycerolpolyricinoleate (PGPR). Chocolate is a dispersion of very fine
solid particles in a fat phase. The degree of flow of chocolate (viscosity) is
greatly dependent upon the ease with which the solid particles are able to
move over one another within the liquid phase. Emulsifiers coat the solid
particles so that they move more easily in the fat phase of chocolate. |
| Enrobe:
The process of coating candies and confections with chocolate in a
specially designed machine. |
| Enrober:
A machine, which receives lines of assorted centers (nuts, nougats, fruit or
whatever desired filling) and showers them with a waterfall of liquid
chocolate. Other confectionery machines create a hallow-molded shell of
chocolate, which is then filled with a soft or liquid center before the bottom
is sealed with chocolate. |
| Fondant Chocolate:
Fondant chocolate has become the standard for modern, high-quality chocolate
because it is extremely smooth and palatable. The invention of the conching
machine by Rodolphe Lindt in 1879 and his experiments of adding cocoa butter
to chocolate liquor created chocolate with a velvety smooth, fluid texture
that has no trace of bitterness. |
| Forastero:
One of the three main types of cacao beans used to make chocolate,
forastero beans originated in the upper Amazon. Forastero cacao is hearty and
produces high yields, which account for approximately 90 percent of the
world’s crop. Forastero cacao is widely grown in Africa, the West Indies, and
Central and South America. Because its flavor is strong and bitter it is most
often blended with other beans. As with the other two main types of cacao
beans, forastero beans have several hybrids and varieties, many of which are
named by their places of origin. |
|
Fudge:
a confection. A combination of chocolate, cream, butter and sugar
are cooked together to form a smooth confection. Nuts are often added.
|
| Ganache:
Ganache is made with varying proportions of chocolate and cream; more
chocolate than cream yields a firm ganache, whereas more cream than chocolate
makes a softer more velvety mixture. Ganache has many uses: centers for
truffles, fillings for cakes and tarts, and in its liquid state it is poured
over cakes and pastries for a glaze. Ganache can be flavored with liqueurs and
extracts, or combined with soft, beaten butter to create ganache beurre. It is
considered the essence of a truffle. |
| Ganache Beurre:
Also called ganache soufflé, is made by adding butter to ganache and beating
until light and fluffy. It is used to fill and frost cakes, and as a filling
for tarts and other pastries. |
| Gianduia:
Pronunciation zhahn-DOO-yuh. Gianduia was originally created in Turin, the
Piedmont region of Italy, and the home of famous Italian hazelnuts. It is a
commercially blended mixture of roasted hazelnuts and/or almonds, and
chocolate and has a velvety smooth texture. Although milk chocolate is most
commonly used today, it was originally made with cocoa powder. It is also
occasionally made with dark chocolate. Once tasted, Gianduia is impossible to
forget; its flavor is so subtle that it is impossible to pick out the separate
ingredients. Use it to flavor a wide variety of desserts, pastries, and
confections, including ice cream. The name Gianduia is given to a group of
candies and confections made with a combination of hazelnuts and chocolate.
Nutella is a popular brand of a gianduja spread. |
| Glazes:
Glazes are used to give desserts a smooth and/or shiny finish. Cake
glazes can be water icing, melted chocolate in combination with cream, butter
and/or sugar syrup, or fondant. |
| Guayaquil:
Guayaquil beans have a sweet flavor that blends well with other beans. They
are a variety of the trinitario cacao beans grown in western Ecuador. |
|
Ibarra Chocolate:
A brand of Mexican sweet chocolate used primarily for making hot
chocolate. The chocolate is sold in the form of 3-inch round tablets that are
packaged in octagon-shaped, cylindrical, bright yellow and red cardboard
boxes. Ibarra chocolate is available in the imported food section in many
supermarkets and specialty food shops. |
| Lecithin: is an
emulsifier used to reduce the viscosity, or thickness of chocolate. The
thinning of chocolate slightly reduces the amount of cocoa butter required to
produce the correct texture in the manufacturing process |
| Liquid Chocolate:
It is made with vegetable oil rather than cacao butter, it doesn't
deliver either the same texture or flavor as regular unsweetened chocolate. It
was developed for baking, is unsweetened, comes in individual 1 ounce packages
and requires no melting. |
| Magra:
A hand tool used by inspectors on plantations in Africa to open cacao pods
lengthwise so the cacao beans can be classified into various grades by their
appearance. The magra has a blade that is suspended in a frame, which drops
swiftly to open the pods. |
| Maragnan:
Maragnan beans, variety of the forastero cacao bean, have a
strong flavor that is favored for blending with other beans. The are grown in
Brazil. |
| Maya:
The pre-Columbian people who planted and cultivated the first cacao
plantations in the Yucatan region of Mexico about 600 A.D. These plantations
made them wealthy and established them as significant traders. |
| Metate:
The concave curved stone slab used by the Aztecs to grind shelled cacao beans
to paste. The same method was used in Europe until the late nineteenth
century. |
| Mexican Chocolate:
Ibarra is one brand that comes to mind, available in some specialty Latin
markets or at gourmet stores. It comes in boxes containing large chocolate
tablets. Mexican chocolate is flavored with sugar and cinnamon, and used to
make hot chocolate and mole sauce. |
|
Milk
Chocolate:
Cacao butter, milk, sweeteners and flavorings that are added to chocolate
liquor. Milk chocolate lends itself to good use for garnishes and candy
coatings. All milk chocolate made in the U.S. must contain at least 10%
chocolate liquor and 12% whole milk. |
| Mocha:
A scrumptious flavor made by combining chocolate and coffee that is used
extensively in desserts, pastries, and confections. |
| Mole Poblano:
A classic Mexican dish composed of turkey in a spicy, savory chocolate sauce.
It is reputed to have been invented by the nuns of Puebla near Mexico City. |
| Molinillo:
Also called molinet, this wooden tool was developed by the Spanish in the
sixteenth century. When the French created chocolate pots in the seventeenth
century, their lids were made with a center hole to hold a molinillo to stir
the chocolate. At one end it is fat and round with several deep carved
grooves. To use a molinet you twist it in your hands in a back-and-forth
motion to beat the chocolate drink and make it frothy. |
|
Mush: When chocolate is seeded. |
| Naccional:
This cacao bean is also called arriba, the name for a variety of forastero
cacao bean cultivated in Ecuador. It produces a light, delicate, and flavorful
cocoa, considered to be as good as the world’s best. |
| Natural Process:
Non-alkalized chocolate liquor or cocoa processed without an alkaline
treatment. |
| Nibs:
The inner almond shaped seed of the cacao bean. The nibs are
exposed after the outer shells of the cacao bean have been removed. Nibs are
roasted, then ground to produce chocolate liquor, from which all chocolate
products are made. |
|
Non-Alkalized Cocoa Powders:
Natural process powders, manufactured without the use of alkali, ususally
yellowish-brown color; fruity, acidy flavor. |
| Para:
A variety of forastero cacao bean cultivated in the Brazilian state of the
same name. |
| Patisfrance:
A brand of premium quality chocolate and couverture used by professionals. |
| Press Cake:
Made when the cocoa butter is extracted from the chocolate liquor. The dry
cakes are then made into cocoa powder. product that remains after most of the
cocoa butter has been pressed from the chocolate-liquor. Press cake is
pulverized to make cocoa powder. |
| Quetzalcoatl:
The mythical plumed serpent god worshiped by the Aztecs. Quetzalcoatl
provided his people with cacao, which they considered to be divine. He was
supposed to return to earth in the year “one reed” and bring the treasures of
paradise. When Cortes landed in the sixteenth century, in the year “one-reed,”
he was mistakenly thought to be Quetzalcoatl and warmly welcomed by Montezuma,
the Aztec ruler. This ultimately led to the enslavement and destruction of the
Aztec people by the Spanish. |
| Quick Tempering:
A method of stabilizing the cocoa butter in chocolate so the chocolate has a
shiny, even appearance and smooth texture. Finely chop the chocolate to be
tempered and melt two thirds of it in the top of a double boiler over low
heat. Stir often with a rubber spatula so it melts evenly. Remove the top pan
from the water and wipe very dry. Stir in the remaining third finely chopped
chocolate in two or three stages until smooth. To check for the right
temperature, place a dab under your lower lip. It should feel comfortable. |
| Rehrucken Mold:
The specially designed tinned-steel or aluminum baking pan
created to shape the classic Austrian “mock saddle of venison” cake. It
looks like a long loaf pan that is curved in a half-moon shape and has deep,
evenly spaced grooves across the width. Some versions of the pan also
have a groove down the center to represent the bone of the saddle of venison.
The cake is recognized by its classic curved, ridged shape, which it takes
from the pan. A typical Rehrucken Mold measures between 10 and 15
inches long, 4.5 inches wide, and 22.5 inches deep. |
|
Regular cocoa |
|
Schlag:
The German word for whipped cream, which is the traditional accompaniment to
many chocolate pastries and desserts. |
|
Seizing:
Melted chocolate crystallizes and clumps when moisture
touches it or when a cold liquid (or solid) is introduced. |
|
Semi-Sweet or Bittersweet:
chocolate liquor with additional sweeteners and cacao butter. It is
also known as dark chocolate. According to United States standards, it must
contain at least 35% chocolate liquor. Its fat content averages 27%. |
|
Snap:
A technical term that describes one of the characteristics of well-tempered
chocolate. It should break cleanly and crisply, with a sharp snap and should
not be crumbly or soft. |
|
Sugar Bloom:
A white crust of sugar crystals that forms when moisture accumulates on the
surface of chocolate and chocolate candies. The moisture draws the sugar to
the surface where it dissolves. This is visible as white streaks and dots and
causes a grainy texture. Storing loosely wrapped chocolate and candies in the
refrigerator where they are exposed to too much moisture causes sugar bloom.
It is not the same as chocolate bloom, which occurs when the cacao butter in
the chocolate rises to the surface. |
|
Sweet Chocolate:
Contains more sweeteners than semi-sweet chocolate and at least 15%
chocolate liquor. Sweet chocolate is used mostly for decorating and
garnishing. The fat content is similar to semi-sweet chocolate. |
|
Temperate Zone:
After tempering and when using, chocolate must be maintained in the temperate
zone of 84 to 91 degrees F (dark) and 86 to 87 degrees F (white) and stirred
every few minutes. If the temperature goes lower and it is still liquid, it
can be used. |
|
Tempering:
A process that sets cacao butter at its most stable point. Cacao butter has
four different types of crystals and each has a different melting point.
Tempering chocolate captures the beta crystal, the most stable of the four.
Because chocolate has these different melting points it is unstable and causes
the cocoa butter to easily rise to the surface of chocolate. This
creates a condition called chocolate bloom, which results in unsightly white
and gray streaks and dots, a grainy texture, and makes unmolding
difficult. When chocolate is tempered it has a shiny, even appearance and
smooth texture. It breaks with a sharp snap, sets up rapidly, and releases
easily from molds. All chocolate comes from the manufacturer tempered, but
when it is melted it loses the temper and must be tempered again for dipping
and molding. To temper chocolate, it is heated so it melts completely, stirred
to cool to approximately 78 degrees Fahrenheit, then heated again to an exact
temperature, depending on the type of chocolate it is... dark, milk, or white.
Tempering is accomplished through different methods and by machine.
| |
|
| Overtempered chocolate
is chocolate that has been overcooled producing large crystals. The
increased viscosity with large crystals means that at the coating stage
the temperature of the chocolate must be raised to melt some of the
crystals. The inconsistency of the melting leaves too few, and too large
crystals for proper setting. The chocolate has a coarse grainy structure
that gives a dull appearance, poor snap and makes it more susceptible to
fat migration and bloom. |
|
|
| Theobroma
Grandiflorum:
A species of the genus Theobroma, grown in the Amazon rain forest in Brazil,
also called cupuacu. The product of this fruit is a light colored chocolate
that has delicate, mild bittersweet flavor, with fruity undertones. |
| Torrone:
Torrone is an Italian confection made with honey, egg whites, toasted almonds,
pistachios, and other nuts, such as hazelnuts. Chocolate torrone can be made
by adding chocolate, and chocolate-dipped torrone is often available. |
| Torta Barozzi:
A dense, moist, fuggy, flourless chocolate cake that is a specialty of the
town of Vignola near Modena, Italy. According to legend during the
Renaissance, Pastry Chef Eugenio Gollini invented Torta Barozzi in 1897 to
celebrate the birthday of the architect Jacopo Barozzi. A native of Vignola,
Barozzi created the concept of a spiral staircase. It is said that Gollini’s
descendants still make the cake today, but have taken the family vow to never
disclose the recipe. Although the ingredients are printed on the box, the
proportions and the ways in which they are combined are not. The cake contains
peanuts, a very unusual ingredient for Italy, but the family offers no
explanation for how they became part of the cake. |
| Torta Gianduia:
Three layers of rich gianduia cake, filled and frosted with a creamy gianduia
ganache cream... and of course the cake is decorated with ground and toasted
hazelnuts! An Italian delight renowned throughout the Piedmont region, where
hazelnuts are grown. |
| Trembleuse:
A special cup for chocolate drinks, created in the early
eighteenth century to prevent the beverage from spilling. At that time
chocolate was so expensive, only the privileged could indulge. The trebleuse
is placed in a holder, in the center of a saucer that keeps it erect and
steady. |
| Trichocolate Terrine:
A cold molded dessert in three layers, each flavored separately with
dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate. It can be made of a
creamy, velvety mousse, ice cream, or custard, and is generally molded in a
glass loaf pan. When it is unmolded and sliced across the width, the three
distinct chocolate layers show. Trichocolate Terrine is usually served with a
fruit or custard sauce. |
| Trinitario:
One of the three main types of cacao beans used to make chocolate,
trinitario beans are a cross between criollo and forastero beans. They
are cultivated primarily in Central and South America and Indonesia.
Trinitario beans produce flavorful, high-fat cocoa. Some are sweet some
strongly flavored, while others have an acid edge. The particular flavor
characteristics are determined by the soil where the beans are grown. As
with the other two main types of cacao beans, trinitario beans have several
hybrids and varieties, many of which are named by their places of origin. |
| Tumbadores:
The men who harvest the pods for crushing, roasting, and pressing. |
|
Vanilla Bean:
The most moist and flavorful beans come from the plants that are
grown in tropical the climates of Tahiti and Madagascar. Vanilla beans have
been used as a flavoring for hundreds of years, and it seems so fitting that
such an extraordinarily pleasing flavor would come from the fruit of a
climbing Orchid Vine! Vanilla which
is native to southern Mexico was used by the Aztecs to flavor chocolate, as it
is often used today. To use the bean for flavoring, it is split open and
steeped in liquid. The tiny black grains that fill the inside of the bean
contain the potent Vanilla that is released during the steeping. Vanilla beans
will dry out if exposed to air, so keep them wrapped in plastic in a tightly
covered dark container and in a cool, dry place. They will stay plump and
flexible for several months. The beans will scent sugar, teas, coffees, or
other foods when mixed and left to mature, or simmer them with other spices
when you are expecting company... your home will be especially welcoming! |
| Vanilla Extract:
Produced by steeping vanilla beans in an alcohol and water solution, pure
vanilla is concentrated and therefore, only a small amount is needed for
flavoring. Vanilla is an expensive flavoring to produce, which has led to the
proliferation of synthetically produced vanilla. |
| Vanillin:
A substitute for natural vanilla produced synthetically as a byproduct of the
paper industry and treated with chemicals. Vanillin is used to flavor
some chocolate and candies. Synthetic vanillin is easily detected
because it tastes artificial. |
| Viscosity:
A measure of the coating thickness of melted chocolate, which
determines its ability to coat or enrobe confections. Melted chocolate
has varying degrees of viscosity depending on its types (dark, milk, or white)
and whether or not it is couverture, which contains a higher percentage of
cocoa butter than regular chocolate. |
| White Chocolate:
Contains cacao butter but does not contain nonfat cacao solids. Mostly
used as a coating, it contains sugar, cacao butter, milk solids and flavorings
such as vanilla. White chocolate is the most fragile form of chocolate.
Imitation white chocolate is made with vegetable oil rather than cocoa butter. |
| White’s:
One of the famous early chocolate houses in London, established in the late
seventeenth century. These establishments were gathering places, similar
to coffeehouses. Many supporters and members of the Whig party, writers,
and gamblers frequented White’s. In 1787 White’s ceased to exist because
it had become a gambling club and been forced to move many times.
Finally it had no location. |
| Wilbur Chocolate
Company: An
American manufacturer of chocolate and compound coatings and cocoa powders for
the candy manufacturing, bakery, and dairy industries, based in Pennsylvania.
Wilbur was founded in 1865 and has been through several mergers with other
companies and company name changes throughout the years. |
| Winnowing:
The process of removing the outer husk of the cacao bean to release the
inner nibs during the manufacturing of chocolate. |
| Xocoatl:
The Aztec word for bitter water, a drink made from cacao beans, from which the
world chocolate derives. |
