Milk Chocolate
What is Milk Chocolate?
Milk chocolate is made out of cacao butter, milk solids, sugar and cacao solids. The definition of the FDA states the following ingredients for milk chocolate:
35% cacao butter
20% milk solids
40% sugar
30% cacao
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A little bit about the history of milk chocolate:
The Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter made the first milk chocolate in 1875. But it’s said that he got a little help from his neighbor Henri Nestlé (yeah that Nestlé!). Before Peter could invent the first milk chocolate bar, Nestlé invented milk powder, which Peter used to create the very first milk chocolate.
A huge improvement of the milk chocolate made the invention of the conching machine in 1870 by Rudolf Lindt.
Conching: heating and mixing of chocolate ingredients for several hours to a couple of days. During the process cacao is partially losing its acidity, bitterness and sharp taste. The chocolate flavors are developing due to oxidation. The machine is called “conche” because the machine has the shape of a conche = shell. The shape allows volatile acids to evaporate and oxygen to get mixed in, which leads to oxidation and flavor development.
The Conche is probably one reason why there is an European style and an American style chocolate. In Europe chocolate makers used the conche and got further developed, therefore traditional European chocolates are usually more creamy and smooth.
Dark Milk Chocolate
In the past one would turn up their nose at milk chocolate, but dark milk is making milk chocolate hip again. Dark milk bars usually contain higher percentages of cacao than traditional milk chocolate bars. The texture is creamier and smoother than dark chocolate, but the complexity if dark chocolate remains for the most part.
There’s no formal definition for it (yet), but it’s under the umbrella of “sweet chocolate” which contains 12% milk solids.
If you want to get your hands on a couple of great Dark Milk Bars check out the following websites and Amazon Affiliate links: