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Alkalinisation - See Dutch or Dutching
Ballotin - The traditional packaging of chocolate assortments. The term comes from Belgium and has been in use since
around 1912. The Ballotin allowed chocolates to be given as attractive gifts.
Bitter - To be classified as Bitter chocolate the chocolate must be at least 85% chocolate liquor. Used primarily for
cooking. Also known as Brut.
Bittersweet Chocolate - Dark chocolate that contains a minimum of 35% "chocolate liquor". Sometimes called semi -
sweet chocolate.
Black Pod (Phytophthora Pod Rot) - A fungal disease the operates in humid areas. It attacks the whole plant leaving
lesions that damage the plant.
Blending - Mixing of beans after roasting and before grinding. Crushed beans are blended, determining the flavor.
Bloom - See "Fat Bloom"
Bon Bon - A French term to describe a filling enrobed in chocolate.
Brut - Also known as Bitter Chocolate.
Cacoa Bean - See Cocoa Bean.
Caraque - A small square piece of chocolate.
Chocolate Liquor - The basis of chocolate. This is the ground up "nib" of the cocoa bean.
Cocoa Bean - These are the seeds of the Theobroma tree. Originally found in South and Central America. The seeds
were spread around the earth by the Spanish in the 16th century. Now the trees can be found growing in Africa and Asia
within 20 degrees of the equator.
Cocoa Butter - The fat of the cocoa bean.
Cocoa Mass - See Chocolate Liquor
Cocoa Pod Borer - A tiny insect that lays an even tinier egg on the surface of the cocoa pod. When the egg hatches
the larvae burrows into the pod and ruins the beans inside. The hole that the Borer made also allows infections to enter
furthering damaging the plant.
Cocoa Pods - The fruit of the cocoa tree. Between six and twelve inches long. Each fruit carries between 30 and 40
beans which are approximately a half inch each.
Cocoa Powder - The solid material that results from pressing the cocoa butter out of the liquor. Used to dust truffles or
to make drinks.
Compound - The mixture of cocoa powder, sugar and vegetable oils that is then turned into chocolate. As the
percentage of vegetable oil is adjusted the compound becomes easier or more difficult to melt. Also the more vegetable
oil the less expensive the chocolate is to produce. The more vegetable oil the lower the quality of the final product.
Conche - Conching is the constant agitation and aerating of heated liquid chocolate over a period of time. Bitter
particles and water vapor evaporate during the process.
Confectionery Coating - The same as compound coating.
Couveture Chocolate - Chocolate that contains at least 32% coca butter. The extra cocoa butter makes it the right
consistency for dipping chocolates.
Dutch or Dutching - A treatment used during the making of cocoa powder in which cocoa solids are treated with an
alkaline solution to neutralize acidity. Getting rid of the acid makes the eventual chocolate sweeter tasting. The process
also turns the cocoa a darker color.
Enrobing - The process by which a filling is coated with chocolate. It can either be dipped in chocolate or the filing can
be passed through a chocolate shower.
Enrobing Chocolate - See Couveture Coating.
Fat Bloom - Bloom can occur one of two ways. It can occur when the chocolate was improperly tempered or the more
common way which is the chocolate is exposed to heat. This is a fairly common occurrence and if you purchase enough
chocolate bars you will find some with a white film and sometimes a slight change in texture. Although not pleasant to
look at it is a tasteless and harmless defect.
Fineness - Measurement of the particle size of the coating solids. Frequently expressed in ten thousandths of an inch
or in microns.
Fondant Sugar - Syrup taken from sugar where the crystals are removed. This leaves a whitish cream which can be
mixed with alcohol.
Frosty Pod (Moniliophthora Roreri) - Fungal disease that attacks young, still growing cocoa pods.
Ganache - The inside of chocolates that is made from mixing semi - sweet chocolate with cream and then beating it.
Gianduja - A paste that is made by grinding hazelnuts and mixing them with sugar. They are then mixed in with cocoa
butter or chocolate. This process was invented in Turin, Italy and remains popular to this day.
Grinding - Smashing the roasted cocoa bean nib until it turns to a liquid state known as liquor.
Interior - The center of an enrobed chocolate.
Lecithin - An emulsifier used in chocolate to help its flow.
Low Fat Cocoa - Cocoa Powder that contains less than 10% cocoa butter.
Medium Fat Cocoa - Cocoa Powder that contains between 10 and 22% cocoa butter.
Milk Chocolate - Chocolate with at least 10% chocolate liquor and 12% milk solids. Can be combined with different
proportions of sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin and vanilla.
Molinillo - Used to whip chocolate drinks. Frequently referred to as a Mexican Molinillo.
Nib - The meaty center of the cocoa bean. The Nib is ground up to create the "chocolate liquor".
Nougatine - Sugar that is heated until it is carmelized and finely ground hazel nuts or almonds.
Press Cake - What is left after most of the cocoa butter has been pressed from the chocolate liquor. It is then crushed
to make cocoa powder.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate - See Bittersweet Chocolate
Sugar Bloom - Similar in a lot of ways to fat bloom. This is caused when the cold chocolate sits in hot, humid conditions.
The resultant temperature change forms condensation which leaves the same dull white finish on the chocolate. The
difference in appearance is that "Fat Bloom" might lead to a softness in the interior of the chocolate whereas "Sugar
Bloom" makes the chocolate harder and dryer. The chocolate is perfectly fine to eat and even though the texture of the
chocolate may change a bit the taste is the same.
Sweet Chocolate - Chocolate that is at least 15% chocolate liquor with a variety of sweeteners and cocoa butter mixed
in.
Swollen Shoot Virus - Mealybugs spread this disease. It appears first as the veins on the leaves change color. The
roots and stem of the plant eventually swell up damaging the plant.
Tempering - Cocoa Butter makes up 50 - 60% of the chocolate mass. The cocoa butter crystals are in suspension with
the solid chocolate until the chocolate is heated. When the chocolate is cooled the crystals rise to the surface creating
white dull dusty streaks. Although harmless and not affecting the tasted they are unappealing to the eye. To return the
crystals to their original state you must temper the chocolate, remelt the chocolate at a certain temperature to return it to
its glossy original state.
Truffle - A chocolate enrobed filling that is often dusted with cocoa powder.
Unsweetened Chocolate - The basis of chocolate. This is the ground up "nib" of the cocoa bean.
Vascular Streak Dieback (Oncobasidium Theobromae) - A fungal disease found in Southeast Asia. Green spots
appear on yellow leaves and eventually the whole branch becomes effected. The leaves fall from the tree and white
spores form which can then be transfered from tree to tree by rain.
Viscosity - A unit of measurement of liquid chocolate pertaining to its ability to flow.
White Chocolate - White Chocolate does not contain cocoa solids and is not really chocolate. It is primarily sugar
mixed with cocoa butter, milk solids, lecithin, and vanilla.
Witche's Broom (Crinipellis Perniciosa) - A fungal disease that infects trees. This is a particularly virulent fungus
that damaged Brazil's crop severely but has yet to spread from South America.