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Mexican Chocolate is a Type Of Chocolate which is prepared with an assortment of spices for a very distinctive and rich flavor. It is available in many markets, especially those which stock basic Mexican foods, and it can be found in the form of bars and discs of solid Chocolate, along with powders and syrups. In addition to being used to make hot Chocolate, Mexican Chocolate can also be used in traditional Mexican dishes like mole, and it can be used in baking for an unusual Flavor.

Chocolate has a very long history in Mexico and Central America. The Theobroma Cacao plant, which produces the Cacao beans used to Make Chocolate, is native to South America, and archaeological evidence suggests that Mesoamericans made dishes with Chocolate for centuries before the arrival of Europeans. Although many people associate Chocolate with sweetness today, the original Mexican Chocolate was actually rather sour and intense, and it was highly prized. When the Spanish were introduced to Chocolate, they brought it back to Europe, popularizing it among the upper classes; for quite some time, hot Chocolate drinking was rather trendy.

Typical Mexican Chocolate is made with roasted and ground cacao nibs, sugar, and cinnamon. Other spices such as nutmeg and allspice may be added, along with nuts, and chilies are sometimes used as well. Mexican Chocolate tends to be rather granular in texture, with a creamy finish from the Cocoa Butter. The natural sweetness from the sugar makes the addition of extra sweetener unnecessary.

In Mexico, Chocolate is often used to make a hot beverage, as it has been used for centuries. Traditional Mexican hot Chocolate is foamy; originally, this was accomplished by pouring the drink back and forth between vessels, but today it is foamed with a molinillo, a specially designed whisk. These tools can also be used to foam other drinks to taste. Many people in the United States along the Mexican border have developed a taste for Chocolate Mexicano, and it is often available at shops as a result.

Some people develop their own techniques for preparing Mexican Chocolate, including special ingredients which they like to add. Mexican Chocolate right out of the package is, of course, perfectly usable for whisking with water or milk to create a hot beverage, but you may also enjoy experimenting with additions and toppings like Whipped Cream. Mexican Chocolate can also be used to make desserts like puddings and flans, and some people enjoy eating it straight, savoring the rich and sometimes intense flavor.

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Baking Chocolate is Chocolate which is intended for use in baking. It is unpalatable in plain form, but when combined with other ingredients to make things like cakes, cookies, and brownies, it imparts a very intense Chocolate Flavor. Many markets carry Baking Chocolate in their baking supply sections, with the Baker's Chocolate brand being especially well-known and widely used. It is also possible to order specialty Baking Chocolate directly from Chocolate producers.

The production of Chocolate is a long and involved process. It starts with the harvesting and fermentation of the Cacao beans. The beans are slowly ground, causing the Cocoa Butter in the beans to Melt while the chocolate solids are broken down. The result is a thick mass which is known as Chocolate Liquor. Chocolate liquor can be blended with cocoa butter, milk, sugar, and other ingredients to make a wide assortment of Chocolate products. In the case of Baking Chocolate, the chocolate liquor is packaged as-is, with no additions, making Baking Chocolate a very pure form of Chocolate.

In addition to basic Baking Chocolate, it is also possible to find bittersweet and Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, Baking Chocolate which has been blended with sugar. Many bakers prefer to use unsweetened, because the flavor is stronger, and because some recipes call specifically for unsweetened Baking Chocolate. Semisweet varieties in an unsweetened recipe may throw the balance of sweetness off, causing a fundamental alteration in the recipe.

The advantage to using Unsweetened Chocolate is that the baker has total control over the level of sweetness in the finished product. Baker's chocolate also has a concentrated chocolate flavor, since it has not been blended or adulterated, with a more pure taste. Parents often find that Baking Chocolate carries another advantage: young residents of the household will not nibble away at it, because it tastes extremely bitter when eaten plain.

A number of specialty chocolatiers make gourmet Baking Chocolate, often with a very high price tag. The value of this Chocolate Varieties considerably, and bakers who are considering the purchase of fancy Baking Chocolate may want to do a taste test before they commit. The key determining factor in terms of quality is the source of the beans and the way in which the beans are handled. Cocoa beans have a range of flavors which can be easily identified in chocolate liquor form. If you like Dark Chocolate and Bittersweet Chocolate products produced by the company, you will probably enjoy their Baking Chocolate, but if you find an off taste or flavor in their chocolate, it is likely to be even stronger in the Baking Chocolate, gourmet or not.

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Couverture Chocolate is a special form of Chocolate used by chocolate manufacturers and professional bakers. This Chocolate is richer and creamier than basic bar or eating Chocolate, with a very high Cocoa Butter content which makes it ideal for things like molding, coating, and dipping. Less than 100 firms around the world produce the bulk of the world's Couverture Chocolate. Some of these firms produce only for their own private lines, while others sell to chocolatiers who lack the facilities and ability to make their couverture in-house.

Several characteristics distinguish Couverture Chocolate. The first is the quality. Companies which manufacture this specialized Chocolate use Chocolate scouts who scour the world for the best Cacao beans, and researchers work to refine the perfect bean blend to ensure a very specific Flavor profile. Huge Chocolate companies like Hershey and Mars actually invest substantially in the cacao industry to breed specialized beans to meet their needs, while smaller Chocolate companies seek out exotic and interesting crops to make their chocolate unique.

The beans used in Couverture Chocolate are ground especially finely for an extremely smooth and uniform flavor, and additional cocoa butter is added to make the Chocolate richer and creamier. The higher cocoa butter content also means that Couverture Chocolate has a distinct glossy appearance, a very crisp snap when broken, and the ability to be melted and tempered with ease. Couverture Chocolate's unique properties make it ideal for Chocolate fountains, with the cocoa butter acting as a lubricant to keep the Chocolate from gumming up the fountain.

Chocolatiers use Couverture Chocolate to come up with their own Chocolate formulations, and they also use it to cover truffles, mold Chocolate garnishes, coat fruit, and perform a variety of other tasks. Couverture Chocolate is generally not mixed in with an excess of other ingredients, because of the high price and quality; it is designed to stand alone as an ingredient. It can also be used to prepare Chocolate shells, glossy coatings for cakes, and so forth.

Although Couverture Chocolate is used to cover Chocolates and other sweets, it should not be confused with covering or coating Chocolate, an inferior product which has much less cocoa butter. It is also not the same thing as baking or cooking Chocolate. When seeking out Couverture Chocolate for cooking projects, your best source is probably a store or company which supplies wholesale products to bakers and cooks. You can also source couverture directly through some Chocolate companies; you may want to order samples from several companies to seek out the flavor profile you prefer, as couverture can taste radically different depending on the source of the beans and how it is handled.

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Cocoa Powder is a powder which is obtained from Cocoa Solids, one of the two components of Chocolate Liquor. Chocolate liquor is a substance which is obtained during the manufacturing process which turns Cacao beans into Chocolate products. Cocoa Powder can be added to baked goods for a Chocolate Flavor, whisked with hot milk or water for hot chocolate, and used in a variety of other ways, depending on the taste of the cook. Most markets carry Cocoa Powder, often with several options available.

Before delving into the specifics of Cocoa Powder, it may help to explain the process through which cacao beans are turned into Chocolate. These beans are harvested in large pods which are split open and then allowed to ferment, mellowing the natural bitterness of the beans. After fermentation, cacao beans are roasted and then hulled to expose the cacao nibs, which are then ground to produce Chocolate liquor, a gritty, runny paste which is the first step in creating a dizzying array of chocolate products.

Once cacao nibs have been ground into Chocolate liquor, the Chocolate liquor is pressed to squeeze out the rich Cocoa Butter. Without pressing, the Chocolate liquor would be greasy, fatty, and very unpleasant, even with the addition of sugar and spices. The pressing separates the Chocolate liquor into two components: cocoa butter, and Cocoa Solids. To produce Cocoa Powder, the Cocoa Solids are pressed again, ensuring that around 75% of the original cocoa butter has been removed, and creating a substance called press cake. The press cake is dried, and then ground into Cocoa Powder.

There are two main types of Cocoa Powder. Natural Cocoa Powder is produced using the process detailed above, and it is naturally very strong, slightly acidic, and very dark. Dutched Cocoa Powder or Dutch cocoa is produced by adding an alkali to the press cake to mellow the flavor and make the color less intense. Because Dutch cocoa is alkalized to remove the natural acidity, it is important to read baking recipes which call for cocoa carefully, as replacing natural with Dutch cocoa can cause a baked good to rise poorly or unevenly.

Pure Cocoa Powder is very intense and bitter. To make it usable, most people add sugar to temper the chocolate flavor, and other spices such as Vanilla may be added as well. There are all sorts of ways to use Cocoa Powder, ranging from cold drinks to icing, and many people find it handy to have a tin of cocoa around the house.

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Cocoa Butter is the natural fat extracted from the Cacao bean. Also known as oil of theobroma, cocoa butter is slightly yellowish in color, and while it is extracted from Chocolate, it has a bland taste and only a faint chocolate smell. It is edible and is used in making White Chocolate and certain confections, but has many uses beyond the kitchen.

The most desirable quality of cocoa butter is its stability as a fat containing natural antioxidants that also preserve it well. Cocoa butter has a melting point just below average body temperature, which is what causes chocolate to remain solid at room temperature, but Melt in the mouth. It gives a smooth texture to many confections containing chocolate and is often used by culinary experts in a baking capacity.

Cocoa butter is also used in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. In the pharmaceutical industry, cocoa butter is used in the making of suppositories and oral medications in capsule form. It has the ability to retain a molded shape while containing commonly used medicinal chemicals without unstable reactions. The use of cocoa butter as an inactive ingredient in capsules and suppositories is equally desirable because it is safe.

Cocoa butter is often found as an additive to cosmetics, shampoos and soaps, but it is also a natural emollient making it ideal for lotions and lip balms. The moisturizing abilities of cocoa butter are frequently recommended for prevention of stretch marks in pregnant women, treatment of chapped skin and lips, and as a daily moisturizer to prevent dry, itchy skin. The fact that is a natural preservative and has a faintly pleasant aroma further lends benefits to its cosmetic uses.

Though many believe that cocoa butter has the ability to reduce or diminish the appearance of scars, this is a theory that is yet unproven. It does however, promote elasticity in the skin and will aid in the healing of chapped skin if it is used regularly. Cocoa butter is often mistakenly used by people to expedite a suntan and while it will enhance a natural tan, it does not have a sun protection factor (SPF). To prevent the harmful effects of the sun, use a suntan lotion with an SPF of at least 15 that contains cocoa butter.

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Cacao is used to describe both the unprocessed beans that are used to Make Chocolate and the tree they come from. The word "Cacao" comes from the Olmec civilization that preceded the Mayans in the southern Gulf of Mexico. The common synonym "Cocoa" is actually a misspelling of the original word. The Theobroma Cacao tree is found in the Amazon forests as well as in other tropical regions. It produces three types of beans, which are the Criollo, Forastero and Trinitario. All are used to create chocolate and offer distinct health benefits.

Theobroma Cacao is native to South America, growing naturally in the Amazon River Basin as well as the Orinoco River Basin. It is also farmed in other areas such as Ghana, Indonesia and the Philippines. The tree grows from 10 to 30 feet (3-9 meters) in height and usually starts to bear fruit four years after being planted.

The Theobroma Cacao tree's fruit is known as Cacao pods. When ripe, they are a hearty yellow or orange and weigh just about a pound. Each contains many seeds referred to as Cacao beans. These seeds can be extracted and made into cocoa butter. This butter is a pale-yellow vegetable fat that is used to not only make chocolate but also pharmaceuticals, ointments and toiletries.

The nib is found at the center of the bean. This is what is used to make chocolate. Nibs are rich in antioxidants as well as good fats and minerals such as calcium, zinc, iron and potassium. They have a byproduct similar to caffeine and produce a natural MAO inhibitor that can suppress overactive appetites.

The Criollo species of the bean is the rarest and most costly with only 10 percent of chocolate cultivated from this type. The taste isn't as bitter as other types of beans and the scent is more aromatic. This species is harvested mainly in Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

Forastero beans are used in 75 to 90 percent of the world’s Chocolate. They are often referred to as bulk beans because of their predominant use in chocolate production. The term Forastero means foreign in Spanish. Trinitario beans are a hybrid of Criollo and Forastero and are used in about 10 percent of chocolate.

Fermentation of the beans takes three to seven days. This is necessary to develop the beans' flavors and prepare them to be roasted. In the process, sugars in the beans get converted to alcohol and germs are killed.

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