What does chocolate mean on Valentine’s Day?
Valentine is coming soon, are you ready with a present for your dear one? It is identical to chocolates, whether you’re buying them for yourself or your loved one. Various chocolate producers are competing to decorate their products with the symbols close to this Valentines Day. Why is chocolate, which is one of the favorite foods for many people, a sign of V-Day and love?
Chocolate is believed to be suitable for expressing genuine feelings because it has a symbolic meaning of love and care. The history of chocolate as a symbol of affection can be traced back to the era of chocolate’s entrance to Europe around the 1600s. At that time, chocolate was only enjoyed by members of the kingdom, but it was already a symbol of love.
The relationship between chocolate and Valentine’s Day happened entirely by coincidence. Many believe that chocolate has a magical effect, and when shared between two people, it can even make them fall in love with each other. Chocolate contains tryptophan and phenylethylamine, endorphins that provide energy and create feelings of joy, happiness, and euphoria give this “magic” effect.
It happened along with the increasing popularity of chocolate in the community and the establishment of this day as a holiday. It was 1861 when the Cadbury Chocolate company made edible chocolate and placed it in a heart-shaped box decorated with cupids and rose petals. This box is a breakthrough because when the chocolate is eaten up, the package can still be used as storage for other things. Of course, this unique box shape is an option for lovers as a beautiful gift for this romantic day. Besides chocolate in a pretty box, now we have a new trend, which is chocolate in the form of a bouquet. Not only valentine flowers Singapore, Chocolate bouquet seems perfect for anyone who has a sweet tooth, to make your day more joyful but still romantic.
How much do you know about the different types of chocolate? There are main types of chocolate: unsweetened chocolate, white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, cocoa powder, and ruby chocolate. Below, we will learn more about the compositions of each kind of chocolate.
Unsweetened Chocolate
Unsweetened chocolate or chocolate liquor is the base of all types of chocolate. Made from 100% pure cocoa, with no added ingredients, it has thick and dark brown paste, created from cacao nibs that finely ground to a smooth texture. When heated, the chocolate paste turns into a liquid that you can form into a bar or chips.
White Chocolate
Many people questioned if white chocolate is real chocolate or not because of its color. It’s made of cocoa butter, milk, sugar, vanilla, and lecithin. These ingredients give white chocolate the sweet vanilla aroma. Good quality white chocolate will have a rich, soft, and creamy texture from its cocoa butter base, high sugar, and milk content. White chocolate does not contain any cocoa solids, but it contains ingredients from the cacao bean, so it’s still counted as real chocolate.
Milk Chocolate
Who doesn’t love milk chocolate? With the light brown color, sweet flavor, and creamy texture, milk chocolate is widely known as the most popular chocolate type. This chocolate is made by combining cocoa solids and cocoa butter with sugar, milk, and sometimes an emulsifier to enhance its smoothness.
Milk chocolate has a sweeter flavor and a softer texture than dark chocolate, but not quite as sweet as white chocolate. Milk chocolate bouquet is a great choice when you want a chocolate treat or gift everyone will love. We provide chocolate bouquet Singapore for your lover with various chocolate brands, shapes, and extra items. Simply visit gift delivery Singapore website to get your chocolate present delivered to the recipient’s door.
Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate is known as the second most popular type of chocolate. Often referred to as black or semisweet chocolate, it has less sweet or some are bitter than milk chocolate. These years, dark chocolate has surged in popularity because of its health benefits.
Dark chocolate is fairly simple in composition. It is typically made from two ingredients, unsweetened chocolate and sugar. Sometimes small amounts of vanilla and soy lecithin are added. High-quality dark chocolate does not contain added dairy and can be a vegan-friendly and diet chocolate. The lack of dairy and less sugar gives dark chocolate a firmer texture than milk chocolate or white chocolate. Dark chocolate is great for baking when your recipe needs a rich chocolate flavor.
Bittersweet Chocolate
Bittersweet chocolate has gained popularity recently as people began claiming that you should eat dark chocolate with a cocoa content of 70% or more to get the most health benefits. The recent rise in healthy chocolate bar makers and chocolate craft has also led to increased awareness and popularity of higher cocoa content dark chocolate.
This chocolate, sometimes referred to as extra-dark chocolate, is typically 66% cocoa content or higher. The basic rule of this type must contain more than 35% chocolate liquor. However, they generally have at least 50% cocoa liquor, and the added sugar is usually less than one-third of the total cocoa content.
Like its name indicates, bittersweet chocolate is a little more bitter than semisweet dark chocolate. Depending on where the cacao is grown, the chocolate’s flavor profile can vary. Some can be fruit-forward or have a deep flavor, while others can have flavor notes of baked brownies.
Cocoa Powder
Unsweetened cocoa powder is essentially 100% cocoa. The powder is created when chocolate liquor is separated under high pressure, and the resulting cocoa solids are crushed into a powder. We have 2 types of cocoa powder, natural cocoa and dutch-processed cocoa. Natural cocoa is light brown and has a strong chocolate flavor that is often acidic.
Dutch-processed cocoa is natural cocoa that has been alkalized to neutralize the acidity. The dutch-process gives the cocoa powder a deep, warm color and slightly milder flavor. This type of cocoa is often used when making hot chocolate because the extra process allows the powder to blend with liquids easily.
Unsweetened cocoa powder is well known as one of the baking ingredients. It can create a delicious, deep chocolate flavor when added to the recipe. Unsweetened cocoa can be moles to give the dish a richer, more complex flavor. When stored in a proper place, unsweetened cocoa can have a shelf-life of about 18 months.
Ruby Chocolate
In 2017, a new type of chocolate, Ruby, was discovered by Barry Callebaut, a Belgian chocolate maker. With its reddish-pink hue, this distinctive chocolate is noticeably different from the other chocolate. The chocolate is not given a white color but rather a color derived from a specific cacao type. The ruby cocoa bean is a species typically grown in Ecuador, Brazil, and the Ivory Coast. Because this is a relative discovery and the exact cacao making process is developed by Barry Callebaut himself, there is no standard FDA definition.
Ruby chocolate is made from 47.5% cacao and 26.3% milk, this cacao species intense fruity-ness and fresh sour notes flavor. This trendy new type of cacao is good for creating bold, fruit-forward chocolate treats and colorful Instagrammable chocolate confections. When stored in a proper place, ruby cacao can have a shelf-life of about 12 months.
