Probably, many are wondering what this is made of. delicious sweetness like chocolate. Each manufacturer has their own recipes. But the main ingredients of chocolate are well known - cocoa butter, grated cocoa beans (cocoa powder) and sugar.
It is interesting how the process itself is built!
Stage 1. Cleansing and roasting pale cocoa beans to a chocolate color.
Stage 2. Grinding roasted beans. Cocoa beans are crushed into nibs, and then this cocoa nibs are also crushed. This stage is the most crucial, since the taste of the future chocolate depends on the degree of grinding of cocoa nibs. Most delicious chocolate obtained from cocoa nibs, the diameter of which is not more than 75 microns.
Stage 3. Getting cocoa butter. It is the most expensive ingredient in chocolate. Cocoa butter is obtained by heating grated cocoa to a temperature of 100˚C and then pressing it. The dry residue formed during the preparation of cocoa butter is used to obtain cocoa powder.
Stage 4. Receipt chocolate mass and mixing ingredients. When mixing grated cocoa, sugar and cocoa butter, a chocolate mass is obtained, which is then crushed. By the way, some manufacturers buy ready-made chocolate mass. Further, components that the manufacturers keep secret are added to the received (or purchased) mass. Then the mass is stirred at high temperature until a homogeneous consistency.
Stage 5 Tempering chocolate. The hot chocolate mass is cooled to 28˚ and then heated again to 32˚. It is this process that gives the chocolate bar its shine and smooth surface.
Finally, the chocolate is poured into molds and cooled.
What should be in dark chocolate?
For the preparation of bitter or dark chocolate, cocoa products and sugar are used. Here are the requirements for dark chocolate GOST R 52821-2007 "Chocolate". Dark chocolate contains at least 55% total solids cocoa solids and 33% or more cocoa butter. The composition of dark chocolate may include additions and fillings: raisins, nuts, coconut and waffle chips, peanuts, etc.
But what about white?
Shouldn't count White chocolate"wrong". White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar and milk. But cocoa powder is not added to it. The required percentage of cocoa products is provided due to the increased content of cocoa butter. According to Russian state standards, this is also the real chocolate.
cocoa trees
cocoa trees- sissies. They are afraid of frost and wind and grow only where all year round summer, in a warm and humid climate, can not stand drought and direct sunlight. If you create suitable conditions for them and constantly look after them, they will produce crops all year round or at least twice a year, for 30–80 years. True, even at the time of maturity, these evergreen trees, which can reach a height of 6-8 meters, bring only 30-40 fruits. They are grown in tropical countries - South and Central America, Africa and Asia, and about 70% of the cocoa crop is harvested in West Africa.
Their Latin name is Theobroma cacao. Its first part means in translation "food of the gods".
In recent years, cocoa trees have been grown in greenhouses and even at home. But there is a lot of trouble with these picky sissies: they need fertile soil, good drainage and a humid climate. Trees should be protected from direct sunlight and wind and watered abundantly. The optimum temperature for growing cocoa trees is 18–20°C; at temperatures of 5°C and below, they die.
cocoa beans
cocoa beans- these are not fruits, but seeds of the cocoa tree. The fruits themselves - yellow-green or red, having an almond-shaped shape, weigh about 500 g. Each contains from 30 to 50 oval seeds 2–2.5 cm in size, which are called cocoa beans. Such a seed consists of a hard core, which is formed by two cotyledons, an embryo (sprout) and a hard shell (cocoa shell). Seeds ripen for about four months, changing color from green to yellow, in some varieties from reddish to brown. The color of ripe cocoa beans can range from purple to gray to white. They have a bitter, astringent taste that is nothing like the taste of chocolate or cocoa powder. By origin, cocoa beans are divided into three groups: American, African and Asian. The names of commercial varieties correspond to the name of the area of production, country or port of export (eg Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, etc.).
Depending on the quality of cocoa beans are divided into two groups: noble (varietal)- the so-called elite - and consumer (ordinary), which include over 90% of the world's products.
And among the varieties of cocoa, they distinguish four groups:
Criollo, Trinitario, Forastero and Nacional.
To noble varieties include "Criollo" and part of the "Trinitario" species, which have delicate taste and a pleasant subtle aroma with many shades. Of course, cocoa beans of these varieties are more expensive than consumer, which include "Forastero" and the main part of "Trinitario", which have a bitter and tart, somewhat sour taste and a less refined aroma. If "Forastero" is 85% of the world's cocoa production, then "Criollo" - only about 3%.
Collection and primary processing of cocoa beans
To cocoa tree seeds acquired that unique taste that distinguishes real chocolate, they must pass difficult process processing.
Ripened fruits are cut with sharp machetes and then divided into several parts. The pulp is removed from the grains and left for several days so that the fermentation process takes place in them. Then they are dried in the sun or in drying ovens, after which they are reduced in size by about 50%. Cocoa beans turn brown in various shades, and their taste becomes softer. After that, they are packaged in bags and sent to factories, which are usually located "on the other side of the world" - in North America and Europe.
At the chocolate factory
Which of us in childhood did not dream of visiting a chocolate factory in order to find out “where the chocolates and sweets we love so much come from”? And also - enjoy magical smells that cannot be confused with any others, and enjoy chocolate of all kinds and varieties - as much as your heart desires. However, the factory workers themselves are not up to expressing enthusiastic feelings. The whole process of preparing the “sweet miracle” is strictly regulated and verified literally to the minute. The grains that enter the factories are first cleanse, then sort depending on their size and, finally, fry at a temperature of 120-140°C in rotating drums. Roasting is very milestone, it is no coincidence that many manufacturers keep its "secrets" a secret. After all, the quality of chocolate depends on how well the grains are roasted; as a result of this process, its aroma and taste are “revealed”. Cocoa beans of elite varieties are roasted at lower temperatures, so that they acquire a very delicate flavor.
Then the grains are ground and part of the cocoa mass is placed under a hydraulic press. This removes excess fat. If in raw chocolate it is 54%, then in cocoa powder it is already 10% or less.
As a result of this processing of cocoa beans, grated cocoa, cocoa butter and cocoa cake. The first two semi-finished products, along with powdered sugar, are used to make chocolate, and cocoa powder is obtained from cocoa cake, from which cocoa drinks and various desserts are prepared. During the next processing step, the resulting slurry is ground and other ingredients are added to it: cocoa butter, sugar and vanilla. Then this mass is crushed and subjected to conching: mix, heating to 50-80 ° C, due to which excess moisture is removed from it and the chocolate mass becomes more homogeneous. While ordinary chocolate is conched for only a few hours, the highest quality chocolate can be conched for up to five days.
Then the stage begins tempering: the chocolate mass is cooled to a certain temperature, and then heated. In this case, the formation of cocoa butter crystals of a certain type occurs, so that as a result, after thickening, the chocolate can become shiny and hard. If at some stage the preparation technology is violated, after some time the surface of the chocolate will be covered with a whitish coating, which means that the products will not meet the required quality standards.
Porous chocolate foamed before tempering, saturating the liquid mass with carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Later, they are released and form "bubbles", which can be of various sizes and shapes.
The Aztecs called this famous product "chocolatl", that is, "bitter water". They drank this same water every day and, despite the bitter taste, it was considered a real treat and was very popular. Later, the Europeans, who settled in a large area of Central America, contributed to its preparation. It is thanks to their resourcefulness that we today enjoy chocolate in all its forms.
And it's not a secret for a child that chocolate is made from the seeds of the cocoa tree- beans. To prepare just 1 kg of sweetness, you need about 500 of these small buttons. And now you should be surprised at how cheap this product is, given that in a year one tree can produce beans for only 5 kg of chocolate maximum. Add to this the fact that they are harvested only by hand. It turns out that it is worth buying more expensive products to be sure: there is still more cocoa in the tile, and not other impurities.
chocolate trees
The height of one tree reaches about 15 m, but there are smaller specimens. The plant does not like direct sunlight, so plantations are usually mixed with mango and banana trees, rubber, coconut and avocado.
If you think that it is enough to plant a tree and then collect the fruits, then this is not so: the plant is so capricious that it requires very careful care. For example, the first flowers appear only 6 years after planting, but then bear fruit from 40 to 80 years.
Pinkish-white flowers grow in bunches not only on the branches, but also from the bark of the trunk. It takes up to 4 months for the fruits to ripen, they resemble a large cucumber or a slightly elongated melon and weigh up to 600 g (30–50 beans). For the whole year, one tree can be harvested twice. But nature makes only the first one of the highest quality.
How the crop is harvested
In the modern world, where machines have almost completely replaced humans in production, there are industries where technology is not allowed to enter. All ripe fruits of the chocolate tree are cut with a machete. They are divided into parts, and the seeds are taken out only manually.
Special wooden boxes are lined with banana leaves and fruits are dried in them for up to 10 days. Why don't they do it in the sun? Then the taste will be not only bitter, but also very tart, and it is not so appreciated. At the end of the term, the seeds turn brown-purple and smell delicious.
After that, all the seeds are sorted and roasted, the shell is removed from them, crushed and ground until a thick, stretchy mass is obtained. It is she who becomes bitter chocolate. And then sugar and milk powder, vanilla and a variety of flavors come into play, creating the chocolate that we buy so often and use with such pleasure.
About the benefits of cocoa beans
They are called the source of the most useful components. The composition contains approximately 300 substances that create lipid, protein and mineral compositions. These products are very useful for a number of reasons.
- Accelerates metabolism.
- Improves the functioning of the heart muscle, as well as the condition of blood vessels.
- Replenishes the deficiency of substances such as chromium and magnesium, zinc and iodine.
- Protects the body from harmful external factors.
- Accelerates skin regeneration.
- Alleviates the form of diabetes.
- Treats colds.
- Helps in cases of intestinal inflammation.
- Eases menopause.
- Extends life.
If you eat 50 g of raw cocoa daily, you will quickly be saved from insomnia and will feel a surge of vigor and energy in the morning. In a month, the complexion will improve and the hormonal balance will return to normal.
Cocoa beans in cosmetology
Their composition tones and tightens the skin, improves the synthesis of elastin and collagen, activates metabolic processes and even eliminates stretch marks. Many mistakenly assume that products based on it can only be enjoyed in a professional salon. But cocoa face masks are easy to make at home.
Such products are called universal: they are suitable for women of all ages and even teenagers with problem skin. Cocoa relieves acne and blackheads, perfectly moisturizes, regulates the sebaceous glands, makes the skin more elastic.
And with the help of this product you can lose weight! Nutritionists say that every time you feel hungry but don't want to overeat, eat 1 tsp. cocoa or drink an unsweetened powder drink. The feeling of hunger will not appear for another 3 hours. Did you know this about cocoa? Could you think that the fruits of the chocolate tree look like this? Share the information with your friends and feel the full benefit of the product for yourself.
chocolate slices
Each of us has known the taste of chocolate since childhood, but do you know what chocolate is made of? Most will say that it is cocoa beans, and to some extent they will be right, because. the main ingredients for making chocolate are: sugar, cocoa mass and cocoa butter, as well as flavoring and aromatic additives.
Cocoa liquor and cocoa butter are the main ingredients of chocolate and are obtained from cocoa beans.
Cocoa beans of freshly picked fruits do not have the taste and aroma properties characteristic of chocolate and cocoa powder, they have a bitter-tart taste and a pale color.
Cocoa liquor is obtained by processing cocoa beans into cocoa butter. The heated crushed cocoa kernels are converted into grated cocoa by fine grinding in special mills, from which cocoa butter is squeezed out under high pressure in hydraulic presses.
Cocoa butter is a fat squeezed from grated cocoa - ground grains of the fruit of the chocolate tree, as well as the basis for the production of chocolate.
Appearance cocoa butter Types of chocolate
There are several main types of chocolate:
- dark or bitter chocolate,
- milk chocolate,
- White chocolate,
- ruby chocolate.
black or bitter
Dark or bitter chocolate is made from grated cocoa, powdered sugar and cocoa butter. By changing the proportions of powdered sugar and grated cocoa, you can change the taste of chocolate - from bitter to sweet. The more grated cocoa in the chocolate, the more bitter the taste will be and the chocolate will have a brighter aroma.
Lactic
Milk chocolate is made from grated cocoa, cocoa butter, powdered sugar and milk powder. Most often, film powdered milk with a fat content of 2.5% or dried cream is used. The aroma of milk chocolate is given by cocoa, the taste is given by the addition of powdered sugar and milk powder.
White
White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, sugar, milk powder and vanillin without the addition of cocoa powder. White chocolate acquires a peculiar taste due to the special milk powder, which has a caramel flavor.
Ruby
Ruby chocolate made from cocoa beans grown in Côte d'Ivoire, Ecuador and Brazil. No berries or dyes are added to chocolate. This variety of chocolate, which is called "ruby", has a natural pink color and a berry flavor.
So now you know what chocolate is pastry based on cocoa butter, which is a product of processing cocoa beans - the seeds of the chocolate tree.
Many people love chocolate. But not everyone knows from what and how this delicacy is made. In this article, you will learn how and what chocolate is made, what path it goes through before getting to us and giving pleasure.
What is chocolate made from?
Chocolate is a product based on cocoa beans. In this chapter, we will look at step by step how the production of chocolate begins, where the tree grows, from whose beans this sweet is made, what path cocoa beans go through before they become melt-in-your-mouth chocolate.
Cocoa is native to Central and South America. It was there, many thousands of years ago, that the ancient Aztec and Mayan tribes made a drink called "chocolatl" by mixing crushed cocoa beans with water and adding hot peppers.
Chocolate tree, as cocoa is also called, is an evergreen spindle-shaped tree with a height of 5 to 8 meters. It grows in tropical countries south of the equator.
Cacao flowers are small, pale yellowish or pale pinkish and bloom throughout the year. After pollination, fruits that are impressive compared to the flowers themselves develop, in which cocoa beans are located. One such fruit can contain 30 to 50 cocoa seeds about the size of olives. Although they can differ both in size and in smell, depending on the place where the plant variety grows.
When freshly picked, they do not even closely resemble the chocolate that we know: neither in color nor in smell.
Although South America is the birthplace of cocoa beans, today this tree is cultivated in many countries of the world for the sake of obtaining cocoa beans, where there are appropriate growing conditions for this, including the countries of Africa and Asia.
The main suppliers of raw materials for sweet products is Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia African countries. 
Collection of cocoa beans
Cocoa fruits are considered ripe when the shell turns bright yellow or orange, almost red. It is interesting that the pod does not grow on a branch, but directly from a tree trunk on a small petiole.
They are collected twice a year. As a rule, the first time before the start of the dry season and the second time before the start of the rainy season. Although, in principle, nuts can be harvested continuously all year round. Harvest times vary by country. But the process of turning the beans into chocolate is the same and begins immediately after the fruits are harvested.
After the fruits are removed from the tree (and this work is entrusted only to experienced harvesters), the fruit is cut into several pieces and immediately subjected to fermentation or fermentation.
Fermentation or fermentation
Removed and cut, the fruits are fermented under the influence of sunlight until the beans turn from cream to purple. Where there is no possibility for fermentation under the sun, fermentation is carried out in special drying ovens.
The fermentation system is different. In Africa, the "heap method" is more popular, i.e. fruits are laid out on banana leaves. In South America - in barrels.
Under the influence of heat and light, the pulp of the fruit begins to ferment. Fermentation can last from 5 to 10 days, during which the color of the beans changes, a familiar chocolate flavor and part of the bitterness that is present in the plucked fruits is lost. During fermentation, the beans are mixed several times to obtain a more even flavor of all the harvested beans.
Drying beans
The next step after fermentation is drying. Beans must be well dried. This is usually done in the sun. The beans are laid out in a thin layer on wooden or bamboo mats or decks and dried for 7 to 14 days under the scorching sun. During drying, they must be turned over several times to dry evenly and to avoid mold.
After drying, the beans can be reduced by almost half of their original volume.
Then they are sorted and placed in bags, which are then sent for export.
Watch in the video all the stages of growth and collection and drying of cocoa beans
Preparation of cocoa mass
Once the crop is dried and packaged, the role of cocoa producing countries in chocolate production ends. Further, the process of preparing the beans into chocolate products begins directly with the chocolate producers.
First step - frying
Once the beans have reached the chocolate manufacturer, they can be mixed with other beans purchased from different countries. The fact is that cocoa beans, depending on the country of cultivation, may differ in their taste and aromatic qualities.
Then the beans are placed in drying cabinets and dried at not very high temperatures. After drying, the beans are shelled, i.e. separate the thin outer shell.
The drying system of cocoa beans varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some use standard ovens, others use rotary ovens to dry the beans evenly. But at what temperature which manufacturer dries the beans is a trade secret. Indeed, in the process of drying, you can adjust the taste and aroma of the future chocolate.
Cracking
This is the name of the process in which the thin outer shell is separated from the beans, which is blown away by a fan. And only pure cocoa beans remain.
chocolate production
After peeling or cracking comes the main moment - the production of chocolate. The remaining clean beans are crushed, resulting in cocoa liquor - a semi-finished product from which cocoa butter is subsequently obtained. To do this, this semi-finished product is placed under a press and oil is squeezed out under high pressure. Cocoa powder is made from the cake remaining after pressing. The oil is used to make chocolate. Thus, after pressing, two products are obtained: cocoa powder and cocoa butter.
Some manufacturers of this sweet confectionery product are replacing cocoa butter with cheaper ones. vegetable oils. Therefore, when buying, you need to study the product label well. It can contain only cocoa mass and cocoa butter and no other oils.
Conching
Conching is one of the most important steps in chocolate production. It is during conching that the final taste and aroma of chocolate is created.
Conche is a cylindrical stirrer in which the chocolate mass is mixed, shaped like a shell.
First, all the ingredients are put into the machine exactly according to the recipe. Then they are mixed into a homogeneous chocolate mass, crushed into a fine powder, the particles of which are so small that they cannot be felt by the human tongue.
During conching, sugar is added to the mass, milk powder if it is milk chocolate and other flavoring additives: lecithin for greater fluidity of the chocolate mass, cocoa butter, vanilla. This process lasts from several hours to several days and is determined by the manufacturer's recipe.
During the conching process, the chocolate mass may be heated several times and then cooled again until the mass takes on a good glossy appearance and the desired texture. 
During conching, under the action of heat and contact with air, several physico-chemical processes occur:
Distribution of milk and cocoa fats in the chocolate mixture;
The moisture present in the mixture evaporates;
Volatile acids disappear completely or partially depending on the time of conching, which affects the final taste of the chocolate;
The caramelization process takes place, the mass becomes smooth and shiny, which also affects the final taste of chocolate, this is especially important for milk and white chocolate.
After the chocolate mass becomes homogeneous, it is fed to the next stage.
Hardening and forming
Good chocolate should make a clear click sound when broken. This is achieved through the tempering process - the controlled heating and cooling of the chocolate mass in order to form the correct arrangement of crystals in the chocolate. If you just let the chocolate mass cool naturally, then the chocolate will be soft and crumbly, and will not melt evenly in your mouth.
The hardening process can be done manually, but it is time consuming. So most manufacturers use special machines for this.
The last step in making chocolate is molding. pouring chocolate mass into molds. At large enterprises, this procedure takes place on a conveyor, on which the required amount of chocolate mass is laid out in each form. But in small enterprises, this process is most often done manually.
Package
After the final cooling of the chocolate, it is wrapped in wrapping paper and sent to the warehouse for subsequent delivery to customers.
Types of chocolate
In general, there are only three main types of chocolate:
Black or bitter;
Lactic;
The other variations of chocolate products that we see in the store are varieties of these three types of chocolate. It can be porous, vegan, kosher, for diabetics, with various fillers. The basis for these types of chocolates are the first three main types.
Bitter or dark chocolate. For its production, only cocoa mass, cocoa butter and sugar are used. Depending on how bitter or sweet it may be dark chocolate the amount of sugar varies. Usually on the labels of such chocolate you can see "dark" or bitter chocolate. This means that dark chocolate has a minimum amount of sugar. In the dark - more. This is a very hard chocolate and should melt in your mouth. 
Milk chocolate. Milk chocolate contains cocoa mass, cocoa butter, milk powder, sugar. This type of chocolate is the most common. It is more often used in cooking and confectionery for the manufacture of glazes.
