A Reader Writes, asking, “The chemistry of chocloate is a great deal more confusing beyond the basic understanding of how each type is produced. All these sites offer to tell you how semi-sweet, milk, unsweeted chocolate and coca powder are made, but none seem to explain how to minipulate and actually use these chocolates for all my chocolate desires. What I am mean is… Let say you have semi-sweet chips on hand and want to make some chocolate covered strawberries or bananas though you want a more milky sweet chocolate… what do you add? and how much of those ingrediants?[sic] will milk, butter, or sugar have an effect if added? and how does each effect the taste? These are the questions i have and after hours of searching various key words I turn up nothing. Where can i learn this?” Well, Michael, one challenge is trying to figure out where to begin ...

There is no substitute for practice and while there is a lot of chemistry involved, achieving good results is as much art as it is science. It takes practice to develop an eye and a palate, and no amount of research on the web will help you develop that.

First off, I don’t recommend using chocolate chips as your chocolate of choice. Chips are formulated specifically to hold their shape in baking and that formulation makes them less useful for such tasks as dipping strawberries. Instead, in the baking aisle of your supermarket you should find “baking bars” in bittersweet, semi-sweet, and milk chocolate (if not, try a gourmet foods store) - use those instead. If you want a taste that’s not as bitter and a little milky, add some of the milk chocolate bar to the bittersweet. How much is up to your taste, but I would start out by adding one part milk chocolate to four parts bittersweet and then taste it to see if you like it. If not, adjust by adding more of one or the other.

For the applications above (strawberries, bananas), I don’t recommend adding milk, butter, or sugar - just chocolate. The non cocoa butter fats in the dairy ingredients will keep the chocolate from setting properly and the sugar just won’t dissolve because there is virtually no water in chocolate.

There is a class of web sites I can recommend that will provide a good source of answers and that is forum sites (sites dedicated to interactive discussions) focused on food. One that I belong to is eGullet and I spend most of my time there in the Pastry & Baking forum. This is a place where anyone can ask questions about using chocolate. All levels participate from beginners to experienced professionals.

Another place to go is books, not the web. One in particular I can recommend in this respect is The Chocolate Bible by Christian Teubner (there’s a link to purchase this book on Amazon.com onThe Chocolate Co-Op - click the link above). Another good book is The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Chocolate which should also be available through Amazon.com.

I also recommend looking around locally for a non-professional program in culinary arts with a focus on Pastry & Baking. Programs for professionals are expensive and tend to last months if not years. A non-professional program should be able to introduce you to the basic information that will help you get the answers you are looking for.

Previous Questions and Answers:

1. what is the ingredient called alkali doing in a candy bar?? i am very concerned for health reasons. please
   Posted by  on  01/22  at  02:48 PM
2. Please supply me with the address ( E-mail, telephone,or fax)of a French or Belgian chocolate school. Preferred to be in Europe. A school in the Middle East would be OK. I also need help finding a supplier of a complete production line of french chocolates.
   Posted by  on  03/27  at  03:20 AM
3. Can you recomend books on the making of chocolate couveture? Can you recomend sites or places where I can hire an expert on the making of couveture and finished chocolate bars and candies?
   Posted by  on  07/25  at  04:22 AM
4. I am looking for an organic chocolate that is made in a plant free of tree nut and peanuts. My daughter is allergic to tree nuts and peanuts. HELP!!!
   Posted by  on  08/01  at  01:03 PM
5. Hi, I want to take a course( 1 week-10 days) for chocolate making in europe,which corse is the best?
   Posted by  on  01/13  at  05:25 PM