It's hard to resist chocolates, no argument there. What if they're made with more cocoa butter than the regular ones? How mouth-watering could that get?

Couverture chocolate is a special form of high-class chocolate used by chocolate companies and chocolatiers.  It has a way richer and creamier consistency as compared to regular chocolate due to the fact that it contains a higher amount of cocoa butter. And with the right tempering, you get a more polished and glossier chocolate with a crisper "snap" when broken. It’s perfect for coating, molding, garnishing and dipping.

Not more than 100 firms worldwide manufacture couverture chocolate. Some of them create exclusively for their own private usage, while others market to other chocolatiers who don’t possess enough capacity to make their own couverture.

Couverture chocolate outstands the regular chocolate by its unique properties. One of which is its quality. Couverture chocolate specialized chocolate gets help from chocolate scouts who go on a hunt for the best cacao beans in the world, and meticulous research is being done in order to come up with the perfect bean blend for that very distinct flavor profile.

In order to be considered couverture, the chocolate should contain 32 to 39% of cocoa butter and the overall percentage of the cocoa butter together with the cocoa solids must reach at least 54%.

Never get couverture chocolate confused with confectionery chocolate or compound chocolate as these contain much less cocoa butter, if any. In addition to that, they may also have vegetable/coconut/palm oil, hydrogenated fats, and even artificial chocolate flavoring in them.

Couverture chocolate is normally not blended in with any other ingredients due to its high price and quality.  It is meant to stand out on its own as an ingredient. It is perfect for chocolate fountains, the cocoa butter acts as a lubricant to prevent the chocolate from getting stickier than it should.

When you plan on trying it out for taste, you can order samples from certain companies to get the flavor profile you personally like since couverture chocolates have varying tastes depending on the source of the beans and the process they undergo.

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Joanna Maligaya

Staff Writer/Content Developer at Chocolate University Online

Ever since she can remember, Joanna has always considered chocolate as the ultimate food for her soul. She believes in the saying, “9 out of 10 people love chocolate, and the 10th always lies.”

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