Have you ever wondered what this mysterious stuff called ‘couverture’ is? Essentially, couverture is a special form of chocolate, which is richer, creamier, and of a higher quality than regular chocolate. Its high quality comes predominantly from the sourcing and usage of better cacao beans, which are ground very finely to achieve a smooth and uniform flavour.
Couverture also contains higher cocoa butter content, making it ideal for moulding, coating, and dipping, and its glossy appearance signifies its higher price and quality. This professional-quality chocolate is well-suited to delicate designs, and due to its luxury status in the world of chocolate, you won’t find it everywhere… although we do sell it here at Ganache, available in milk, white, 60% dark, and 75% dark varieties:
http://www.ganache.com.au/pantry-products/couverture-chocolate-3kg.html
You’ll find this high quality couverture used in our products at Ganache, which is just one of the reasons for why they taste so good!
Let’s take it back to basics and explore how chocolate is made…
1. Cacao beans are harvested from the cacao tree. Specifically, the beans are found inside pods hanging from the trees, which are most frequently found within 20° north and south of the Equator.
2. The beans are hand-cleaned in preparation for fermentation. They are then either heaped in piles on the ground or in cascading boxes, and then covered with banana leaves for 2-9 days to ferment.
3. The fermented beans are dried on wooden boards or bamboo mats under the hot sun for 7-14 days, whilst being continually raked and turned over. Once dry, the beans are graded, checked for quality, packed, and shipped.
4. The beans may be kept separate or blended with other origins, then after cleaning, are roasted at low temperatures. The shells are separated from the ‘nibs’ of the bean (i.e. the interior), then the nibs are finely ground into cocoa mass.
5. Under high pressure, cocoa mass develops into cocoa powder and cocoa butter. If combined with cocoa butter and sweetener through a process of mixing, grinding, and kneading, chocolate is formed. This process also involves heating and aeration, and is known as ‘conching.’ This step is responsible for the consistency of the chocolate, as well as its aroma and flavour. The type of chocolate being made defines the required ingredients.
6.The chocolate is refined until smooth, with a longer conching resulting in a smoother chocolate.
7. The chocolate is ‘tempered,’ meaning that the cocoa butter reaches its most stable form through a process of being brought to a certain temperature. From this point, it can be moulded into many other forms.
