Couverture Chocolate

What is Couverture Chocolate?

Couverture chocolate is the “top drawer” of chocolate, the true art of the seasoned professional. Couverture chocolate is fine gourmet chocolate with a noticeably glossy sheen, made so by its high cocoa butter content (31-35%) and the use of the highest quality and finely ground cocoa beans. The result is a product that is smooth and thin when melted and therefore perfect for covering, in fact the word couverture is a French word meaning ‘cover.’ Its thin consistency works well with molds and when used for hand dipped candies, covers well and sets to form a thin, crisp coating with a distinctively creamier taste than regular chocolate. Due to the unique characteristics of cocoa butter, a technique of heating and cooling (known as tempering) is required to stabilize its crystalline bonds thus enabling it to set in its best form. This process is especially delicate with couverture chocolate due to the large quantities of cocoa butter. Couverture chocolate is available as dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate and sometimes pastry chefs and candy makers will use couverture blends from different chocolate makers to produce particular flavours. Some covertures are better for baking while others may be more desirable for enrobing. Whatever its application may be, you can be assured that great skill and care will have been exercised throughout its production. From bean selection and blends, conching (the chocolate liquor refinement process) to tempering and packaging, couverture just says quality.

Uses of Couverture Chocolate:

 

Cake/candy decoration and chocolate molds. Its fine state allows for complex, detailed decorative designs and molds thus giving master chocolatiers oppurtunity to demonstrate their creative chocolate making skill and finesse.