DARK CHOCOLATE

Dark chocolate is chocolate without milk solids added. Dark chocolate has a more pronounced chocolate taste than milk chocolate, because it does not contain milk solids to compete with the chocolate taste. However, the lack of milk additives also means that dark chocolate is more prone to a dry, chalky texture and a bitter aftertaste.

The basic ingredients in dark chocolate bars are cacao beans, sugar, an emulsifier such as soy lecithin to preserve texture, and flavorings such as vanilla. Dark chocolate is often distinguished by the percentage of cocoa solids in the bar. The cocoa content of commercial dark chocolate bars can range from 30% (sweet dark) to 70%, 75%, or even above 80% for extremely dark bars. Common terms used to distinguish the cocoa content of dark chocolate bars include bittersweet, semi-sweet, and sweet dark chocolate.

Also Known As: Bittersweet chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, sweet dark chocolate

Why is Dark Chocolate Healthy?:

Chocolate is made from plants, which means it contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables. These benefits are from flavonoids, which act as antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body from aging caused by free radicals, which can cause damage that leads to heart disease. Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries). Flavonoids also help relax blood pressure through the production of nitric oxide, and balance certain hormones in the body.

Heart Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate:

Dark chocolate is good for your heart. A small bar of it everyday can help keep your heart and cardiovascular system running well. Two heart health benefits of dark chocolate are:

• Lower Blood Pressure: Studies have shown that consuming a small bar of dark chocolate everyday can reduce blood pressure in individuals with high blood pressure.
• Lower Cholesterol: Dark chocolate has also been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) by up to 10 percent.

Other Benefits of Dark Chocolate:

Chocolate also holds benefits apart from protecting your heart:

• it tastes good
• it stimulates endorphin production, which gives a feeling of pleasure
• it contains serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant
• it contains theobromine, caffeine and other substances which are stimulants

Doesn't Chocolate Have a lot of Fat?:

Here is some more good news -- some of the fats in chocolate do not impact your cholesterol. The fats in chocolate are 1/3 oleic acid, 1/3 stearic acid and 1/3 palmitic acid:

• Oleic Acid is a healthy monounsaturated fat that is also found in olive oil.
• Stearic Acid is a saturated fat but one which research is shows has a neutral effect on cholesterol.
• Palmitic Acid is also a saturated fat, one which raises cholesterol and heart disease risk.

That means only 1/3 of the fat in dark chocolate is bad for you.

Chocolate Tip 1 - Balance the Calories:

This information doesn't mean that you should eat a pound of chocolate a day. Chocolate is still a high-calorie, high-fat food. Most of the studies done used no more than 100 grams, or about 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate a day to get the benefits.

One bar of dark chocolate has around 400 calories. If you eat half a bar of chocolate a day, you must balance those 200 calories by eating less of something else. Cut out other sweets or snacks and replace them with chocolate to keep your total calories the same.

Chocolate Tip 2 - Taste the Chocolate:

Chocolate is a complex food with over 300 compounds and chemicals in each bite. To really enjoy and appreciate chocolate, take the time to taste it. Professional chocolate tasters have developed a system for tasting chocolate that include assessing the appearance, smell, feel and taste of each piece.

Chocolate Tip 3 - Go for Dark Chocolate:

Dark chocolate has far more antioxidants than milk or white chocolate. These other two chocolates cannot make any health claims. Dark chocolate has 65 percent or higher cocoa content.

Chocolate Tip 4 - Skip the Nougat:

You should look for pure dark chocolate or dark chocolate with nuts, orange peel or other flavorings. Avoid anything with caramel, nougat or other fillings. These fillings are just adding sugar and fat which erase many of the benefits you get from eating the chocolate.

Chocolate Tip 5 - Avoid Milk:

It may taste good but some research shows that washing your chocolate down with a glass of milk could prevent the antioxidants being absorbed or used by your body.

Dark Chocolate Ingredients

One cannot talk about dark chocolate ingredients without talking about the health benefits of dark chocolate. So read on to take a look at the dark chocolate ingredients and how they benefit us. Dark chocolate has no milk in it, this gives it a rich brown color. The content of sugar in dark chocolate varies making it either sweet, bitter or semi sweet. We have often seen statements like 30% dark chocolate, 75 % dark chocolate or 80% dark chocolate, these percentages signify the cocoa content in the chocolate, which attributes to the bitterness in the taste of the chocolate. It goes without saying that soul of all the ingredients in dark chocolate lies in cocoa. Without cocoa, there would be no chocolate. Then we have sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla essence as the other dark chocolate ingredients. Chocolate has a substance known as lecithin, lecithin benefits our heart by breaking down the cholesterol, thus preventing heart diseases. Dark chocolate ingredients are packed with antioxidants known as flavonoids which help control blood pressure and protect the heart. Dark chocolate is known as one of the foods that lower blood pressure. Other than the body, dark chocolate also affects the serotonin levels in the brain. Dark chocolate ingredients are known to instantly uplift one's mood and induce a feeling of well being and elation. Thank god for the aphrodisiac called chocolate! This is because of the presence of alkaloids like theobromine and phenethylamine, which release the feel good hormone in the brain. Amongst the many other benefits of chocolate, it is known to have anti-diarrhea properties. Another good news for all the girls out there, acne is in no way connected to eating chocolate, so munch away on as many as you want!How to Prepare Dark Chocolate.I wish I had discovered the secret to prepare dark chocolate at home sooner, anyway, you don't miss out on this opportunity, so get in the kitchen and whip yourself your very own dark chocolate. This is how to do make dark chocolate:Ingredients

• Cocoa Powder, 2 cups
• Coco Butter, to taste
• Sugar, to taste

PreparationTo begin the process, you need to heat the sugar in a pan with one cup of water. Stir till the sugar melts, then add the cocoa powder and stir to avoid the formation of lumps. Add as much cocoa butter you like. The mixture should not be watery, if that is the case, you can add more cocoa powder. You can add a bar of a commercially available dark chocolate too. Pour the mixture into molds and refrigerate to make your own chocolate slab.More on

• Chocolate and Dessert Recipes
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The chocolate that you get from the above recipe will satisfy your urge but I suggest that you leave chocolate making to the experts. If you really want to make genuine dark chocolate, be prepared to roast the beans and remove the husk from the cacao beans. Then you have to grind them till the chocolate liquor is extracted. After about 6 to 8 hours of heating and mixing cocoa butter and sugar, you will probably get somewhere near something that looks remotely like chocolate. Instead I suggest you make the effort and walk down to the store and get yourself a bar of 75 % dark chocolate, lick you fingers clean and think about the many healthy and absolutely yummy dark chocolate ingredients.

Pure dark chocolate ingredients are chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, cocoa powder and a sweetener. That's it. That's all there is in plain, pure dark chocolate.

But there can be other ingredients in chocolate and still meet the FDA's requirements. The most common additives are dairy solids, natural or artificial vanilla, and emulsifiers like lecithin.

Learn about each ingredient and what it contributes to the making of your favorite bittersweet treat. Find out which dark chocolate ingredients are essential. 

Cocoa Beans

It all starts with the chocolate tree, Theobroma cacao. Contrary to what the name implies, it produces pods containing cocoa beans not chocolate. These precious beans are the source of that delicious chocolate taste you crave.

But it takes a lot of work to turn them into your favorite dark chocolate treat!

The first step is fermentation. It causes critical chemical changes in the beans needed to coax the chocolate flavor out. The beans have a unique flavor (believe me, I've tried them) but don't taste like chocolate, yet.

So they must be roasted. Proper roasting brings out the flavor and aroma of the chocolate and reduces the bitterness. Precise time and temperature control are crucial to get the desired taste.

Now that the beans are bursting with chocolate flavor it's time to remove the shells. Set them free to become all they can be! 

Cocoa Nibs

Break up the cocoa bean and remove the shell and your left with the nibs or flesh of the bean. These nibs contain about 50 to 60% cocoa butter.

These little nuggets can be eaten as is or added to candy or cookies, etc. They supply dark chocolate taste and a satisfying crunch.

But most nibs are ground. This causes the cocoa butter to melt producing liquid chocolate. 

Chocolate liquor

Chocolate liquor is nothing but liquid chocolate, tiny bits of cocoa suspended in cocoa butter. It's thick, brown and contains no alcohol. It's the dark chocolate ingredient that's the foundation for all chocolate products.

It's pure and can be sold as baking, bitter, or unsweetened chocolate. Or processed into other real chocolate products like chips, candy or enrobing chocolate (used for coating).

Or the liquid chocolate can be pressed to extract the fat from it. 

Cocoa Butter

The fat found in chocolate is cocoa butter and there's lots of it. Thankfully, it doesn't raise your cholesterol. But it does provide the decadent richness and texture that's part of chocolate's appeal.

Ever wonder why chocolate melts on your tongue? It's because cocoa butter's melting point is just slightly lower than your body temperature. The dark chocolate slowly melts away leaving no waxy aftertaste, just a smile.

Real chocolate has extra cocoa butter added to make it melt smoothly.

This critical chocolate butter is in great demand. It's one of the most expensive ingredients in chocolate. But chocolate ain't chocolate without it. 

Cocoa Powder

What's left after almost all the fat is squeezed out of the chocolate? A cake of cocoa. It's finely ground to make cocoa powder. This dark chocolate ingredient is rich in antioxidants and very versatile.

It's used to increase the cacao (cocoa) content of chocolate products or as a substitute when baking. Go to dark chocolate cocoa and learn why you need some in your life.

Just don't try to eat it right out of the can. It's w-a-a-a-y too bitter but it smells great! 

Sweeteners

You can't enjoy your real dark chocolate without a sweetener. But FDA rules allow only nutritive carbohydrates to be used in standard of identity chocolate (real chocolate).

That means sweeteners that supply calories. Only sugar from sugar cane and sugar beets can be used. No artificial sugar or substitutes are allowed.

Optional Dark Chocolate Ingredients

Milkfat, vanilla, and lecithin are the most common optional ingredients found in real dark chocolate.

Dark chocolate can be a little hard. So some manufacturers add milkfat. It's derived from dairy butter oil, the only other fat allowed in real chocolate in the U.S. Milkfat is made from butter that has had almost all the moisture and nonfat solids removed.

It's used to add flavor, make the chocolate softer, and reduce the chance of fat bloom. Those ugly whitish fat crystals that can form on the chocolate but don't ruin it.

Vanilla is sometimes used to add flavor to the chocolate. Real vanilla is made from vanilla beans. But artificial vanilla can be made from lignin (waste product of paper industry) or guaiacol (from the chemical industry).

Lecithin, usually derived from soybeans, is used as an emulsifier. It's added to help preserve the even distribution of the cocoa butter in the chocolate and make it flow easier.

These and other flavors can be used as long as they don't imitate the flavor of chocolate, milk or butter.

But when it comes to dark chocolate do we really need any other flavors? 

Creating dark chocolate is a long, complex process. But it's dark chocolate ingredients, combining in an almost magical way, that make it the greatest flavor on the planet. Each cocoa bean component is vital, there's just no substitution for the real stuff!