CHOCOLATE!
When a recipe calls for bittersweet or dark chocolate, what should you use?
The lingo. . .
Cacao, which is another word for cocoa beans, is the key ingredient in all chocolate, along with sugar. What makes one chcolate darker than another is the percentage of cacao it contains. As the percentage of cacao rises, the sugar content drops and the chocolate flavor becomes more intense - more bittersweet.
The percentage game. . .
Until recently, most bittersweet and semisweet chocolate contained from 50 to 60 percent cacao, although the cacao percentage didn't appear on the label. Peruse the chocolate section now, however, and you'll see more options in baking bars (60, 70, even 85 percent cacao) and the cacao content clearly stated on the label.
The dilemma. . .
For the cook, thse choices present a dilemma. Most recipes that simply call for bittersweet or semisweet chocolate are based on the standard of 50 to 60 percent cacao. This means that when a recipe calls for bittersweet without specifying a percentage, it's usually risky to use, say, a 70 percent cacao chocolate. Using a chocolate with a significantly higher percentage of cacao can affect a recipe's flavor (more bitter, less sweet) and texture (drier, grainier or gummier) because it has less sugar. Sugar affects not only flavor but also moisture and texture.
Rules of thumb. . .
1. Nothing's black and white in baking, but here are some guidelines to follow:
When a recipe calls for bittersweet or semisweet chocolate without listing a percentage, stay within the safe range of 50 to 60 or even 62 percent cacao.
2. When a recipe calls for a specific percentage, try to use it. The recipe's flavor and texture are dependent upon it.
3. If you want to experiment with higher percentage chocolates, you can alter your recipes by using a smaller amount of high percentage chocolate and judiciouly increasing the sugar and/or liquids.