If you’ve recently experienced biting into an artisanal pastry or enjoyed a scoop of luscious smooth chocolate ice cream from a boutique parlour, chances are you’ve probably eaten a sugary treat made with the finest couverture chocolate. Unlike regular chocolate, couverture chocolate is ground to a finer consistency while being processed and contains a higher percentage of cocoa butter relative to other ingredients. What this does is, produce a deeper, richer flavoured chocolate that blends beautifully in cakes, bonbons, truffles and other sweets.
Quantitatively, couverture chocolate usually contains a minimum of 35% cocoa solids and around 31% cocoa butter, which may also vary in some cases being as high as 39%. If the cocoa butter content is high in a particular bar of chocolate, the more fluid it gets when melted, making it ideal for tempering and using for a wider range of culinary purposes. Ideally speaking, since this fine chocolate melts really well, using it for purposes like coating sponge cakes or dipping fruit into, produce excellent results.
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When melted and cooled, the coverture chocolate produces a good ‘snap’ when dug into. Using it in rice crispy treats, granola bars or for chocolate barks, allows it to showcase its textural versatility. Making ganache or adding it to whipped custard allows for it to be smooth and provide richness, while also having a pleasant bitterness that offsets the sweetness. Depending on personal taste or preference, various popular brands stock coverture chocolate with different concentrations of cocoa. One of the reasons why this chocolate is usually expensive, is because it is produced from a higher quality cocoa bean than most other varieties.
The fragrant cocoa solids contain delicious flavour profiles, which have noticeably better mouthfeels. The glossy smoothness of couverture chocolate is best experienced in desserts that also have similar textures – fudge, mousse, ice cream, cheesecakes. Although most places online and specialty stores stock up on this delicious and luxurious chocolate, replacing it with good quality dark chocolate or compound chocolate could also help in elevating the dessert-making process. In icings, chocolate fondues and even to stuff doughnuts and cupcakes, couverture chocolate makes for an opulent touch.