3 Tips for Choosing the Right Chocolate for Baking

Chocolate is a versatile ingredient used in various sweet and savoury dishes. However, not all chocolate is created equal. Using the right chocolate means understanding the types and flavours and buying for quality rather than quantity. In this guide, we share three tips for choosing the right chocolate for baking. 

Understand the Chocolate Options 

The type of chocolate you use when baking can make a big difference in the taste and texture of your final product. The different forms of baking chocolate include:

• Baking bars
• Chocolate drops
• Cocoa powder

While every form works for baking chocolate-rich desserts, each option best suits certain recipes. 

Baking Bars

Many bakers appreciate the versatility of solid chocolate bars as an ingredient. You can use these bars to create chewy molten brownies or delectable chocolate chunk cookies. Depending on the recipe, you can chop or grate the chocolate bar to achieve the desired consistency. Chop the chocolate into chunks beforehand for faster and more consistent melting.

Baking bars are great for tempering chocolate, which involves melting and cooling the chocolate to create a shiny and firm finish. This technique is important for creating chocolate decorations or coating truffles.

Chocolate Drops

Chocolate drops (also known as chocolate chips or chocolate discs) are perfect for making an indulgent, creamy fondue. Some bakers also use these small, round pieces of chocolate in recipes for confections like truffles.

Cococo’s chocolate drops for baking are your best option because they are made with pure couverture chocolate. Some consumer-grade chocolate chips use waxy stabilizers to help the chips keep their shape and not melt too much in the oven. Cococo's chocolate drops are made with pure couverture chocolate. Apart from being the chocolate that professional pastry chefs use, couverture chocolate easily melts under high temperatures; use it to make chocolate chunk cookies, dipped chocolates, or sweet and gooey desserts!

Cocoa Powder

Usually, you’d add cocoa powder to a recipe for a bit of that bitter cocoa flavour rather than the sole sweetness of chocolate. Consider their specific uses when choosing between Dutch pressed and Natural cocoa powder.

Dutch pressed cocoa powder is ideal for mixing with liquids as it dissolves quickly, making it perfect for hot cocoa or homemade ice cream. This is because it contains an alkalized solution of potassium bicarbonate which helps the cocoa dissolve easier in liquids. Alternatively, Natural cocoa powder is just 100% pure cocoa and is suitable for richly flavoured chocolate cakes and cookies.

Picking the Perfect Flavour

Another tip for choosing the right chocolate for baking is to consider the flavour. Usually, recipes call for a specific option, such as semisweet or bittersweet. The difference between them is the amount of sugar that they contain. You can alter the recipe depending on your flavour preferences. For example, you might use couverture baking bars if you’re making homemade fudge, and you can reduce the sweetness by using bittersweet, semisweet, or milk chocolate to achieve your desired taste.

Shop for Quality

Most importantly, you should always use high-quality chocolate because it tastes better and melts better than alternative options. Cococo offers the finest chocolate on the market—couverture. Treat yourself to the exquisite taste and quality that our chocolate company has to offer!