Chips and Nibs: Details on Chocolate Vocabulary

Now that you’re serious about chocolate, you may have noticed a few peculiarities in how things are labelled.  For example, "Belgian chocolate" most certainly does not contain cocoa grown in Belgium.  And a treat labelled "white chocolate" probably does not contain cocoa solids.  So, in order to continue our chocolate adventure, let’s get down to the chips and nibs of some basic chocolate vocabulary.



COCOA VS. CACAO
The word cocoa might bring to mind a steaming cup of hot chocolate, but it is simply the English translation of the Spanish word cacao.  Cacao refers to the beans that grow encased in the hard-shelled pod of the Theobroma cacao tree.

CHOCOLATE CHIPS VS. COCOA NIBS
The main difference between these two is the cocoa content-- chocolate chips, while we find them in all sorts of baked goods and ice-cream, are probably high in sugar and low in cocoa content.  Cocoa nibs, on the other hand, come directly from the Theobroma cacao tree; they are little, unprocessed pieces of the cocoa bean, that have been roasted and then de-shelled.
 

COCOA BUTTER VS. COCOA SOLIDS
Once the cocoa bean is roasted and in the form of nibs, the next step is the separation of the oil from the solids.  The pale yellow, edible vegetable fat that is extracted from the nibs is called cocoa butter, or theobroma oil.  (It is used to make health products, and is also the only cocoa ingredient found in white chocolate). Cocoa solids are what remains after the cocoa butter has been extracted, which is often sold as cocoa powder.

TRUFFLES VS. PRALINES
A truffle is usually round or cone-shaped, and typically consists of a ganache filling and outside coating of cocoa powder, shaved nuts, or coconut.  Pralines, in most cases, differ greatly from truffles. In general, a praline is a confection made with nuts and sugar syrup.  In France, it usually includes almonds and caramelized sugar; in the United States, milk or cream is often added so it resembles a nutty fudge. It only gets tricky when we talk about Belgian pralines-- they resemble a truffle in that they have a soft filling.  The give-away is that Belgian pralines usually have a hard outer-shell.



GANACHE VS. FONDANT
Ganache is a soft filling or glaze made from chocolate and cream.  Fondant is quite similar, although it does not necessarily contain chocolate.  For example, a truffle is usually filled with ganache, where the Cadbury Creme Egg is filled with poured fondant.

FUDGE VS. HOT FUDGE
Fudge, although it might bring to mind a mouth-watering bite of chocolate confection, actually does not include cocoa by definition-- it is a combination of sugar, butter, and milk, heated to 240 degrees and then whipped to get a smooth creamy consistency.  (Of course, chocolate is one of fudge’s many flavors, along with peanut butter and penuche).  Hot fudge, on the other hand, has come to mean a chocolate-flavored topping in syrup form-- essential to the hot fudge sundae.