When to Use Chocolate Chips, Chunks, and Shavings
I’m just returning from my annual four-week cookie-baking holiday feast, and I’ve had time to reflect on how different types and forms of chocolate have influenced my baking. It’s a versatile ingredient to some extent, but certain forms of chocolate are better for certain things. Before you pick up a bag of seemingly versatile pieces, take a moment to think about your project.
Chips, slices or chunks?
To bake the ultimate chocolate chip cookie or banana bread, you’ll need this trusty bag of pieces in your closet. Whether it’s chips, chunks, or morsels, we’re talking about things that come in 12-ounce bags and surprisingly hold their shape at higher temperatures. This baking chocolate grade has a lower percentage of cocoa butter, so it is more likely to retain its original shape and retain its thick consistency even when melted. Use them for cookies, muffins, breads and other thick foods. They will retain their shape when baking and cooling, and will not soften or dissolve in the dough crumbs. Stay away from thin or tender dough for cakes and cookies, as they won’t hold a lot of weight and the chips will likely sink to the bottom and possibly burn.
Couverture
Couverture is a high-quality chocolate that is often sold in thick slabs at Whole Foods or in giant packets as discs , collets, or lozenges. Tempered chocolate or snack chocolate bar has a higher percentage of cocoa butter than the baked chips above and a silkier texture. The extra fat gives it a strong sheen and is well suited for making candies, tempering chocolate bars, coating fruit, or making professional-looking chocolate decorations. You can use chopped couverture in cookies and cakes, but it will likely melt. Instead of the noticeable texture of a piece of chocolate in a cake, you may end up with a chocolate “spot” – an area where the chocolate dissolves into the cake crumbs during baking and never recovers. The cookie will have puddles of liquid chocolate, and it will be a little harder to scoop it up from the tray. Is it still delicious? You bet. However, the price is much higher than the Toll House bag, so save the good stuff for tempering or snacking.
Shavings
Chocolate chips are not usually bought at the grocery store, but can be made at home from a chocolate bar. Use chocolate chips as a garnish, add to batter, or use to melt chocolate faster in a microwave or bain-marie. The increased surface area provides fast and even heating and acts as a protective grid to prevent fire. Shavings are especially good for chocolate ganache and for melting couverture blocks for tempering. To make them, use a sharp knife to cut thin layers along the end of the chocolate bar. The shavings are light, so you can add them to batters and delicate cookies, which I advised you to avoid when using chips and pieces. They won’t have a huge textural effect, but you’ll get a subtle hint of chocolate and a great aesthetic.
cocoa powder
Since there is almost no sugar, cocoa powder is probably not what you want to snack on, but it works wonders when combined with other ingredients. The potency of cocoa powder means you don’t need much. Its pure bittersweet chocolate flavor makes it flexible enough for both sweet and savory dishes . Whether you want to spice up an entire cake, cookie dough, or sauce, mix a couple of tablespoons of this powerful ingredient with other dry ingredients and watch the final product transform. Use it in recipes where you want chocolate flavor but don’t necessarily need the sugars and fats that accompany the other chocolates mentioned above. Since melted chocolate solidifies when cooled, and this can change the consistency of the batter; use cocoa powder in recipes where you want to keep the texture of the recipe intact. Cocoa powder is very fine and quite strong, so a small amount will add a lot of flavor without affecting the consistency. Stop reading, go put on your chocolate.