Chocolate

Chocolate is made from cocoa beans and is probably the most essential confectionery mankind has developed till now. Briefly, the process can be described as follows:

• Harvest of the beans
• Fermentation of the pulp
• Drying
• Chocolate roasting (130-150 °C)
• Cocoa liquor (milling)
• Mixing and grinding (<50 my)
• Conching (24 hours)
• Tempering (stable cocoa fat crystals)
• Moulding
• Packaging

Chocolate is made in many varieties, but often divided into two separate groups: Dark chocolate and milk chocolate. White chocolate is a product containing only the cocoa butter and sugar. They are not considered real chocolate by chocolate lovers.

Chocolate can be made sugar-free, no-sugar-added and sugar-reduced, using of polyols and “de-lactose milk powder”.