So everyone can be a chocolate expert!

Bar chocolate: sweetened chocolate bars designed for personal consumption and not for eating purposes.

Bloom: dull, grey film that appears on the surface of chocolate. This is caused by improper storage and moisture which causes the cocoa butter to release from the chocolate.

Cacao: the pure plant and seeds that form chocolate. The cacao tree grown in the tropics, house the seeds that make chocolate. Cacao grows in humid, wet areas beneath taller trees.

Cacao beans: seeds from the fruit pods of the cacao tree. Approximately fifty seeds are encased in each fruit. The beans are fermented and dried, roasted then ground to create chocolate.

Cacao nibs: the interior meat of the cacao bean separated from the fruit, and therefore the heart of the chocolate. They are used for crunchiness and sweetness within savoury items.

Cacao pod: the large fruits of the cacao tree. The pods are usually zeppelin-shaped, and feel like textured melon. Each pod contains approximately 50 seeds. While growing the pods are a bright green, but as they ripen turn yellow, brown or red.

Chocolate: tempered food or flavouring made from the roasted seeds of the cacao tree. The word comes from the Aztec name cacahautl, meaning bitter water. Initially it was a spiced beverage used by the Mayas and Aztecs.

Cocoa butter: yellowish-white vegetable fat extracted from pure chocolate liquor with high pressure machinery. It has a melting point of 97 degrees Fahrenheit. It is both edible and nutritious, as in an important ingredient found within many cosmetics.

Cocoa powder: powder with the creamy cocoa butter removed. Made by pressing the pure chocolate liquor at a very high pressure to produce defatted powder.

Conching: technique invented by Rudulph Lindt that stirs chocolate with a rotating mixer to make chocolate into a smooth texture.

Couverture: French term for a chocolate formula with a higher cocoa butter content than a standard chocolate bar. The high cocoa butter content contributes to fluidity, the ease of handling and the appearance of high-gloss chocolate creations.

Ganache: traditional filling of many truffles. It is a simple chocolate mixture that combines heated cream and chocolate.

Gianduja: finely ground nuts, ranging from almonds to walnuts mixed with dark or milk chocolate, and often presented in small or round blocks.

Molded chocolate: hollow or solid piece that starts as liquid chocolate that is poured into a mold. Once cooled, chocolate will take the exact shape of the mold form.

Organic: method of agriculture that respects the soil in which plants are grown. Farms and plantations using organic methods do not use chemicals or sprays including pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and therefore produce clean and organically grown produce.

Praline: similar to Gianduja but is coated in milk or dark chocolate. Praline has also been a popularized term referring to Belgium chocolate.

Semisweet and bittersweet chocolate: chocolate made form a combination of chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, vanilla and sugar but containing at least 35 percent chocolate liquor. Bittersweet chocolate and semisweet chocolate are often called dark chocolate.

Single origin: chocolates made from beans from a single source, country or region. Also known as grand cru, single origin chocolates are gaining recognition as most chocolates are the results of blending several beans from different growing regions. Blending beans can balance taste qualities from mild to earthy.

Tempering: the heating, cooling and reheating of chocolate in order to stabilize the cocoa butter crystals. Liquid chocolate must stay within precise temperature to be properly tempered. Tempered chocolate, when cooled and hardened, creates shine as well as snap necessary for molding candy and coating chocolate.

Vanilla: tropical orchid plant native to Mexico that produces an edible pod used to make fragrant flavour and extract. Often used to heighten the flavour of other ingredients, the vanilla pod can be cured and macerated in alcohol for a liquid form.

White chocolate: technically, this is not true chocolate as it contains no chocolate liquor or solids. It is a product made from cocoa butter, milk and sugar. Good white chocolate contains at least 20 percent cocoa butter and 14 percent total milk ingredients, while in cheaper coatings, cocoa butter is replaced by vegetable fats.

99 Yorkville Avenue Toronto M5R 3K3
Phone: 416.961.2202 • Fax: 416.961.2252
info@morocochocolat.com