What are the definitions of cocoa?

Cocoa is a corruption of the botanical garden name of the plant cacao. It is applied to the roasted and crushed fruit of the Theobroma from which about one-half of its oil has been expressed.
The term cocoa nibs is applied to the roasted while seeds of the Theobroma.

Chocolate is the name of roasted and crushed nibs before any of the oil has been extracted. The term chocolate is also applied to the beverage made from the crushed nibs.

Unless the above facts are clearly comprehend much confusion of ideas will ensue. It s unfortunate that the term, coco was not applied to chocolate and vise versa.

The matter is further complicated by applying the term chocolate to a highly sweetened confection containing chocolate as a base.

The sugar amounts to as much as 60 to 70 percent of the whole mass. The plain chocolate which has not been manipulated at all is often called “bitter chocolate” in distinction from confection which is celled “sweet chocolate.”
What are the definitions of cocoa?

Cocoa butter equivalent

The original vegetable fat made by Unilever and the many others that are now on the market are known as cocoa butter equivalents, as they are like cocoa butter and can be added in any proportion without causing a significant softening or hardening effect.

To ensure complete compatibility (i.e solid phase miscibility) with cocoa butter, a fat must have not only a similar melting profile but also a similar molecular size and polymorphism.

The best way to achieve this is to mimic the molecular composition. Thus, cocoa butter equivalents are designed to have triacylglycerol compositions as close to cocoa butter as possible.

They are made from fats, hard fraction (stearins) of fats, or blends of such fats that have high levels of Sat-O-Sat triacylglycerols. There are many sources of such triacylglycerols but the most common by far is palm oil.

Cocoa butter equivalent can be used in dark and milk chocolate in various proportions, with little influence in the physical properties of the fat blended when based on a normal cocoa butter; it can be used by chocolate producers with no change in process conditions.

Production of a cocoa butter equivalent would involve the purification and fractionation of a series of different naturally occurring fats to obtain the proper proportion of the desired triglycerides having the desired structure, at the appropriate levels.

These equivalents are commercially viable only when the price of cocoa bitter is high enough to justify their high costs.
Cocoa butter equivalent

What is couverture chocolate?

Chocolate and white chocolate to be used in candy making are designated ‘couverture’ chocolate. Couverture chocolate contains a relatively high proportion of cocoa solids and cocoa butter as compare with other ingredients.

The cocoa butter melts and dissipates at a low temperature, giving it a beautiful mouthfeel as well as giving shine, gloss and snap to chocolate.

The extra cocoa butter makes the melted couverture chocolate very fluid and easy to work with. Most professional chefs use couverture. It is the perfect chocolate to use for dipping truffles and candies and for molding because it makes a thin coating and it’s also great to use for baking.

Couverture chocolate must be tempered to stabilize the emulsification of cocoa solids and butterfat before it is used for dipping or molding.

Tempering gives chocolate a glossy sheen and allows it to set up quickly. Tempering process enables chocolate to be stores at room temperature for longer without loss of texture or flavor.
What is couverture chocolate?

What is breakfast cocoa?

In United States, there are three classes of cocoa:
*Breakfast cocoa. It is a high fat product with not less than 22 percent cocoa butter
*Cocoa, which is never less than 10 percent cocoa butter
*Low-fat cocoa, containing less than 10 percent cocoa butter

Breakfast cocoa is the food prepared by pulverizing the residual material remaining after part of the cocoa butter has been removed from ground cocoa nibs, containing not less than 22% of cocoa butter determined by the method specified.

Breakfast cocoa may be spiced, flavored or seasoned with one of more of the ingredients. For manufacturer of premium ice cream, they may select breakfast cocoas in order to gain the lubricating effect that cocoa butter provides as it melts in the mouth at about 33° C.

This lubricity enhances the perception of richness in ice cream.
What is breakfast cocoa?