White chocolate
 White chocolate tablet | |
| Type | Chocolate |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Switzerland |
| Created by | Nestlé |
| Invented | 1936 |
| Main ingredients | Cocoa butter, sugar, milk solids |
| Ingredients generally used | Vanilla |
White chocolate is a form of chocolate typically made of sugar, milk, and cocoa butter, but no cocoa solids. It is pale ivory in color, and lacks many of the compounds found in milk, dark, and other chocolates.[1] It is solid at room temperature (25 °C (77 °F)) because the melting point of cocoa butter, the only white cocoa bean component, is 35 °C (95 °F).[2]
Like the other two main types of chocolate (dark and milk), white chocolate is used for chocolate bars or as a coating in confectionery.
History
[edit]Recipes for "white chocolate" were published in 1869, 1871, and 1872, but these differed from how white chocolate is currently understood.[3] For example, Henry Blakely's 1871 recipe calls for "white sugar, rice flour, arrowroot powder, vanilla, cocoa butter, and gum arabic" boiled in water, which likely would produce a chewy confection.[3] White chocolate is essentially milk chocolate without cocoa solids. Milk chocolate was developed in 1875 by Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter.[4]
In 1936, Swiss company Nestlé launched the first modern white chocolate tablet: Milkybar (or Galak) in Europe.[5] Making white chocolate was a way to use milk powder and cocoa butter, which were then produced in excess.[6] From about 1948 until the 1990s, Nestlé produced a white chocolate bar with almond pieces, Alpine White, for markets in the United States and Canada.[5] As white chocolate became mainstream, white versions of popular chocolate bars appeared, for instance Toblerone in 1973.[7]
Characteristics
[edit]Manufacturers use less flavored cocoa butters to produce white chocolate, reserving the most flavored for dark chocolate.[8] Undesirable flavors in white chocolate include metal and paper.[9]
Cocoa butter can contribute a yellow color to white chocolate, which can be considered undesirable.[10]
White chocolate can smell of biscuit, vanilla or caramel, but can also easily pick up undesirable environmental smells. This can give it undesirable smells of rancidity or cheese. Undesirable flavors include metal and paper.[9]
As cocoa antioxidants that act as preservatives are mainly present in the dark cocoa material that white chocolate lacks, white chocolate has a shorter shelf life than milk chocolate. The presence of milk fats in white chocolate also mean white chocolate cannot be packed in a transparent wrapper, as the milk fat will decompose faster if exposed to light.[11]
Manufacture
[edit]| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 2,250 kJ (540 kcal) | ||||
59.2 | |||||
| Sugars | 59 | ||||
| Dietary fiber | 0.2 g | ||||
32.1 | |||||
5.87 | |||||
| |||||
| Other constituents | Quantity | ||||
| Water | 1.3 g | ||||
| Caffeine | 0 mg | ||||
| Theobromine | 0 mg | ||||
| †Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[12] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[13] | |||||
White chocolate does not contain cocoa solids, the primary non-fat constituent of conventional chocolate liquor — chocolate in its raw, unsweetened form. These are, however, replaced by milk solids. During manufacturing, the dark-colored solids of the cocoa bean are separated from its fatty content, as with milk chocolate and dark chocolate, but, unlike with other forms of chocolate, no cocoa mass is added back; cocoa butter is the only cocoa ingredient in white chocolate.[14]
As pure pressed cocoa butter has a flavor that can be considered unpleasant in some applications, before it is used in white chocolate it is deodorized. This involves steam distilling cocoa butter under a vacuum.[15]
White chocolate contains only trace amounts of the stimulants theobromine and caffeine which are present in the cocoa mass but not the butter.[14]
Flavorings such as vanilla may be added to white chocolate.[16]
Before being tempered, chocolate is kept in liquid chocolate storage. Storing white chocolate for this time is particularly difficult compared to other types of chocolate, as it tends to thicken at higher temperatures. To prevent this, the chocolate needs to be constantly stirred.[17]
Market
[edit]As of 2022, white chocolate accounted for about 10% percent of the overall chocolate market.[18] The smaller consumption of white chocolate compared to milk and dark chocolate has been attributed to white chocolate containing fewer aromatic compounds.[19]
During the 2010s, white chocolate consumption declined as consumers opted for dark chocolate in light of attention to claims made about health benefits.[20]
Variations
[edit]Sugar-free and reduced sugar white chocolate contain malitol, a sugar alcohol, instead of sucrose. As malitol is a laxative, some manufacturers combine it with a fiber blend and stevia.[21]
Blonde chocolate is made by slowly heating white chocolate, which gives it a golden color and triggers Maillard reactions, which create a range of flavor compounds, contributing to its caramel-like flavor. It was made by a French chef.[22]
Vegan versions of white chocolate chips, bars, and truffles are available from several brands, such as Galaxy and Plamil.[23][24]
Regulations
[edit]Regulations govern what may be marketed as white chocolate: since 2000 in the European Union, white chocolate must be (by weight) at least 20% cocoa butter, 14% total milk solids of which enough milk fat is contained to make up 3.5%.[25] As of May 2021, the European Food Safety Authority proposed banning the food coloring agent, E171 (titanium dioxide), used as a common whitener in some white chocolate products.[26]
Since 2004 in the United States, the Code of Federal Regulations defined that white chocolate should contain "not less than 20 percent by weight of cacao fat", "not less than 3.5 percent by weight of milkfat and not less than 14 percent by weight of total milk solids", and "not more than 55 percent by weight of a nutritive carbohydrate sweetener."[27] Acceptable dairy elements when manufacturing white chocolate in the United States include evaporated milk, skim milk, buttermilk, and malted milk. White chocolate products may not contain artificial coloring agents.[27]
References
[edit]- ^ "White chocolate". Bon Appétit. 12 November 2007.
- ^ "Physical and chemical information on cocoa beans, butter, mass and powder". www.icco.org. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
- ^ a b Wassberg Johnson, Sarah (14 February 2021). "Before Nestle: A History of White Chocolate". Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ Collins, Ross F. (2022). Chocolate: A Cultural Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 310. ISBN 9781440876080.
Milk chocolate grew to become the standard of what the public thought chocolate should be. The old quest for high-quality cocoa beans became less important. Manufacturers instead considered the quality of the milk.
- ^ a b "The history of white chocolate". The Nibble. The World's Best White Chocolate. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
- ^ Sethi, Simran (27 November 2017). "For those who think white chocolate isn't 'real' chocolate, have we got bars for you". The Washington Post. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
- ^ Chrystal, Paul (2013). Chocolate: The British Chocolate Industry. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-7478-1074-2.
Dark Toblerone was launched in 1969 with White Toblerone following in 1973.
- ^ Kamphuis & Fowler (2017), p. 64.
- ^ a b Bau (2008), p. 38.
- ^ Kamphuis & Fowler (2017), p. 65.
- ^ Beckett (2019), p. 19.
- ^ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". FDA. Archived from the original on 27 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154. Archived from the original on 9 May 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ a b Zoumas, Barry; Kreisler, Wesley; Martin, Robert (1980). "Theobromine and Caffeine Content of Chocolate Products". Journal of Food Science. 45 (2): 314–316. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2621.1980.tb02603.x.
- ^ Beckett (2019), p. 53.
- ^ Blumberg, Naomi. "Chocolate". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ^ Beckett (2019), pp. 95–96.
- ^ "White Chocolate: Consumers Take Notice". 6 October 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
- ^ Aydın, Kian-Pour & Toker (2021), p. 3182.
- ^ Afoakwa (2016), p. 37.
- ^ Beckett (2019), p. 117.
- ^ Filloon, Whitney (9 February 2018). "Caramelized White Chocolate Is for People Who Hate White Chocolate". Eater. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
- ^ Pointing, Charlotte. "Is Vegan White Chocolate a Thing? Yes! (and Here's Where to Buy It)". VegNews.com. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
- ^ Smith, Rachel (13 April 2022). "We tried Galaxy's new vegan white chocolate and it didn't disappoint!". Vegan Food & Living. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
- ^ "Directive 2000/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 June 2000 relating to cocoa and chocolate products intended for human consumption". 23 June 2000. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
- ^ "EFSA considers E171 food additive no longer safe". European Food Safety Authority. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Title 21, Chapter I, Subchapter B, Part 163.124 (white chocolate) of the US Code of Federal Regulations". United States Government Publishing Office. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
Sources
[edit]- Afoakwa, Emmanuel Ohene (8 April 2016). Chocolate Science and Technology. Wiley (publisher). ISBN 9781118913789.
- Aydın, Nurcanan; Kian‑Pour, Nasim; Toker, Omer Said (2021). "Caramelized white chocolate: efects of production process on quality parameters". Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization. 15. doi:10.1007/s11694-021-00890-1.
- Bau, Frédéric (2008). Chocolate Fusion: Chocolate in Cuisine (2nd English ed.). Montagud Editores. ISBN 978-84-7212-117-1.
- Beckett, Stephen T (2019). The Science of Chocolate (3rd ed.). Croydon, United Kingdom: Royal Society of Chemistry. ISBN 9781788012355.
- Kamphuis, Henri J; Fowler, Mark S (2017). "Production of cocoa mass, cocoa butter and cocoa powder". In Beckett, Stephen T; Fowler, Mark S; Ziegler, Gregory R (eds.). Beckett’s Industrial Chocolate Manufacture and Use (5th ed.). West Sussex, UK: Wiley. ISBN 9781118780145.
