Did you know that white chocolate isn’t actually chocolate at all? Nope, in fact, white chocolate contains 0% cocoa. So…
What is white chocolate?
White chocolate is a sweet confection made from cocoa butter (not actual cocoa beans), sugar, milk solids and lecithin, a fatty emulsifier that binds it. It is usually a pale ivory color opposed to stark white because cocoa butter is also a cream color.
It tastes different than actual chocolate and sometimes after people learn it comes from cocoa butter, think it tastes like lotion or sunscreen.
Regardless, even though it isn’t actual chocolate, it still has a place in the culinary world and can be used for many different things. For one, it is white, so it is a base that begs to be colored and used in many different sweets and desserts.
It melts differently and will also dry differently. White chocolate needs to be tempered just like brown chocolate.
Tempering White Chocolate
Tempered chocolate is smooth, with a shiny finish, a crunch and doesn’t sweat or bloom when left unchilled. Chocolate that is simply melted and not tempered doesn’t dry hard, sweats and can be sticky at room temperature. It might also develop spots or streaks.
Tempering prevents the cocoa fat from separating out and takes the chocolate through a temperature curve, which aligns the chocolate’s crystals. Remember, cooking is science.
For full instructions on how to temper white chocolate click here.
Can brown chocolate be substituted for white chocolate?
It really depends on the recipe since the only thing the two have in common are both being sweet. If you are just dipping something, like strawberries, white chocolate be used, but in baking or fudge, it doesn’t work as well.
Most of the time white chocolate chips can be swapped out for brown or dark chocolate chips, even butterscotch or peanut butter chips.
Recipes that use White Chocolate:
