Chocolate & Caramel

Real Chocolate vs. Coating Chocolate- What's the difference?

     Real chocolate is what we are used to eating in most candy bars. It is manufactured from the cocoa bean through a long process and the fat it contains is pure cocoa butter.This means that it has a rich, full flavor and the cocoa butter has a very low melting temperature. The low melting temperature means that it literally "melts in your mouth" and gives you that familiar smooth, creamy texture. The higher the cocoa butter content, the richer the chocolate. The only "down side" to real chocolate is that it takes more skill and patience to work woth it. Once you have mastered the process of "tempering" the chocolate, the rewards are worth it. See "real chocolate" page for tempering instructions.

     Coating chocolate or "summer coating" is also made from cocoa, but instead of cocoa butter being the fat, vegetable shortening is used instead. This means the process of melting and making candy is simplified since it doesn't have to be tempered. The "down side" is that it doesn't have the same smooth, rich flavor and texture of real chocolate.