Have you ever wondered what certain chocolate terms you have heard mean or what the chocolate product you purchased contains? Here is a listing of popular chocolate terms to reference.
Cocoa Beans: the seeds that grow inside a cacao pod. The words cacao and cocoa are often used interchangeably.
Nibs: the inner part of the cocoa bean after it is shelled, used to make chocolate.
Cocoa Mass (aka cocoa liquor, chocolate liquor, or cocoa paste): the mix of solids and cocoa butter that remains after the cocoa beans are winnowed and the nibs ground.
Cocoa Solids: the substance largely composed of protein and starch, that is separated from the cocoa mass to make cocoa powder.
Cocoa Butter: the fat that forms part of the cocoa mass. Like other fats, it is composed of triglycerides (three fatty acid molecules joined to a glycerol molecule); these triglycerides solidify or crystalize at different temperatures depending on the particular mix of fatty acids.
Cocoa Content: the total amount of cocoa solids and cocoa butter contained in a piece of chocolate given as a percentage.
Cuvee: a blend of different kinds of cacao beans.
Cru: a term borrowed from wine (French for 'growth') applied to cacao beans that come from a specific region.
We'll publish a Part 2 to this handy guide of chocolate terms with our next post. Meanwhile, if you'd like to learn more about all things chocolate, stop by our chocolate and coffee shop in St Paul. We'd love to teach you some more about chocolate. And we bet you'd like to sample some of our homemade treats!
