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Easy Chocolate Cake

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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