Which type should you use?
Compound Chocolate: Compound chocolate substitutes the two main ingredients found in real chocolate. Instead of chocolate liquor, it has cocoa powder, and replaces cocoa butter with an oil. This means, for candy making, this chocolate can be melted down and dipped and will set up fine. It tastes a little different. Most people can’t tell the difference in flavor. When tasted next to a couverture chocolate, then the difference can more easily be seen. We recommend compound chocolate for applications where the chocolate is not the “star” of the recipe, but an accent flavor. Here’s a list of examples: caramel apples, pretzel rods, dipped fruit: strawberries, raspberries, grapes, chocolate bark.
Compound Brands: VanLeer Snaps, Guittard A’Peels, Merckens Buttons
Couverture Chocolate: (Real Chocolate) Real chocolate has cocoa butter and chocolate liquor as main ingredients. This means that it requires more attention and preparation when being melted down. Unlike the compound coating, it cannot just be melted down. It has to be tempered. If it’s not, then the chocolate will bloom, or may not set properly- leaving it cloudy, soft to the touch and melts easily. When it is tempered correctly, it sets up with a glossy shine, has a snap and melts in your mouth.
Couverture Brands: Callebaut, Ghiradelli, Guittard, Peter’s, Mercken’s
Photo courtesy of: http://blog.gygi.com/blog/2019/11/14/chocolate-101/
