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I've noticed 3 ingredients in all dark chocolates:

  • cocoa mass
  • cocoa butter
  • cocoa powder.

This made me wonder if someone could have different ratios of these ingredients (like more cocoa powder than cocoa mass) and still have "dark" chocolate with X% of cocoa while being inferior to some other chocolate.

Another thing I've noticed is that many chocolates have approximately the same mass and amount of cocoa while having very different amounts of sugar (from 15g to 45g), if they have approximate amount of cocoa and mass, how did they stuff additional sugar in it?

Fabby
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JoeDough
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1 Answers1

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There's just a ton of different types of dark chocolates out there that cater to all kinds of needs:

  • Chocolatiers
  • Bakers
  • Gourmets
  • ...

To answer your questions:

Yes, it's rather easy to have a "more fluid" dark chocolate that still contains a high % of pure cocoa and cocoa mass by adding more cocoa butter.

Cocoa mass is a raw ingredient that comes straight out of the beans and cocoa powder and cocoa butter are the separated products from cocoa mass, so to add more sugar, Chocolate producers use the same amount of cocoa mass and powder but a bit less cocoa butter.

One additional factor to consider is the chocolate bean roast and quality. Like coffee, the roasting process can affect the taste.

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Fabby
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  • How does the ratio of cocoa mass and powder affect the chocolate and it's nutritional value? – JoeDough Sep 12 '18 at 12:46
  • @JoeDough I'm a chemist by education and a chocolatier by hobby, not a nutritionist. What you're asking me now is a [totally different question](https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/ask)... **;-)** – Fabby Sep 12 '18 at 23:05
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    I always groan when I'm reminded of twice being in a chocolate shop and hear someone say, "Here. Eat this. It's good for you cause chocolate has X for nutrition!". Almost every food has nutrition in some form. Using nutrition as an excuse to eat a sweet treat is no excuse. – Rob Oct 23 '18 at 11:18