Have you ever wonder what does the cocoa percentage on chocolate represents?
The cocoa percentage refers to the amount of cocoa mass (or cocoa liquor) and cocoa butter present in a chocolate. As such, cocoa percentage are commonly used for dark chocolate as it is easier for chefs to distinguish them apart.
To illustrate, a 70% dark chocolate is made up of 70% cocoa mass and cocoa butter with the remaining 30% being other ingredients such as sugar. Depending on the recipes and cocoa mass origins, two 70% cocoa percentage dark chocolate can have a total different taste profile as the other.
The next question would probably be: With so many percentage and composition, which is the perfect dark chocolate?
Well, there is no perfect chocolate! Everything depends on your desired taste and preference. Hence, choosing chocolates can be a complex process of tasting and trials. Ultimately, the chocolate have to complement other ingredients used in your creations.
Next week, we will go in depth into understanding the different taste profile of chocolates which we have discussed in this series.
Cheers
Chef Jacques Poulain