Unsweetened chocolate or baking chocolate is made from ground cocoa nibs that contain cocoa solids and cocoa butter. It does not contain any of the milk solids, vanilla and extra ingredients commonly found in white, milk and dark chocolates.
Smoother chocolates will contain more cocoa butter, but unsweetened varieties generally have a cocoa butter content of 51-55%. The cocoa butter liquefies from the heat during the grinding process, turning into cocoa liquor.
Unsweetened chocolate is dark and bitter, made without sugar, and is 100% percent pure cacao. It is made from ground cacao beans and has a chalkier, crumbly texture. Unsweetened chocolate, when chopped finely and melted, helps to balance out the sugar in recipes.
All baking chocolate– whether that is unsweetened, bittersweet, semi-sweet, etc– is tempered in factories before customer buy it. Tempering is a matter of heating and cooling melted chocolate to certain temperatures so that the finished chocolate will have a glossy surface, a smooth texture, and snap when break it.
Unsweetened chocolate will be mixed into batter when baking, and the sweetness comes from elsewhere in the recipe, bringing out the flavor of the chocolate. Unsweetened chocolate is best used for brownies, chocolate cake, and chocolate mousse.
Unsweetened chocolate
