White porous chocolate. Porous chocolate. A Brief History of Chocolate
Properties of White Porous Chocolate
The history of chocolate began several thousand years ago when the ancient Aztecs prepared the first xocolātl or chocolatl. Of course, that first ancient chocolate bore little resemblance to the modern form. However, both the ancient Aztecs and modern confectionery manufacturers use cocoa beans in the chocolate production process.
In Europe, chocolate became known thanks to the brave Spanish conquistador, namely Ernest Cortez. It is noteworthy that the Aztec chocolate recipe failed to impress the sophisticated European public at first. The chocolate required significant improvement. The best culinary experts in Europe were able to modify the recipe, as well as the consistency and taste of chocolate.
Sugar, as well as milk or cream, began to be added to the product. In a very short period of time, chocolate gained unprecedented popularity in Europe, and then throughout the world. Currently, there are no types of chocolate. However, among the most common and widely demanded types, it is worth paying special attention to aerated chocolate.
Many believe that aerated chocolate differs from regular chocolate not only in its consistency, as well as taste and consumer parameters, but also in composition. However, such a statement is fundamentally untrue. The thing is that aerated chocolate differs from regular chocolate only in the production method.
There are perhaps three main varieties of the product: black or bitter, milk, and white aerated chocolate. People first started talking about white chocolate at the beginning of the last century, when technologists from Nestlé, the famous Swiss company producing sweets and confectionery products, introduced a new type of chocolate to consumers.
A few decades later, confectionery manufacturers began to produce white aerated chocolate, which quickly gained popularity and began to be in steady demand among customers around the world. The composition of white aerated chocolate remains the same, but the manufacturing process of the product differs significantly from the production of regular white chocolate.
To make white aerated chocolate, cocoa butter, sugar, and milk or de cream are used. At the initial stage of preparing white porous chocolate, confectioners form the so-called dessert mass. It is worth noting that, as a rule, the composition of the dessert mass for the production of white aerated chocolate contains no more than 20% cocoa butter, 3.5% milk fat, as well as 55% sugar and 14% dry cream or milk.
The resulting dessert mass is placed in special containers, which are sent to industrial ovens. For several hours, the dessert mass for white porous chocolate is kept at a temperature of 40C in a vacuum environment. As a result, the dessert mass is saturated with oxygen bubbles and white porous chocolate acquires its original appearance.
It is noteworthy that white aerated chocolate is one of the food products that can be consumed without harm to their health by people suffering from individual intolerance to theobromine, as well as caffeine. These compounds are found in milk or dark chocolate.
How much does white aerated chocolate cost (average price for 1 piece)?
Moscow and Moscow region.
The history of chocolate began several thousand years ago when the ancient Aztecs prepared the first xocolātl or chocolatl. Of course, that first ancient chocolate bore little resemblance to the modern form. However, both the ancient Aztecs and modern confectionery manufacturers use cocoa beans in the chocolate production process.
In Europe, chocolate became known thanks to the brave Spanish conquistador, namely Ernest Cortez. It is noteworthy that the Aztec chocolate recipe failed to impress the sophisticated European public at first. The chocolate required significant improvement. The best culinary experts in Europe were able to modify the recipe, as well as the consistency and taste of chocolate.
Sugar, as well as milk or cream, began to be added to the product. In a very short period of time, chocolate gained unprecedented popularity in Europe, and then throughout the world. Currently, there are no types of chocolate. However, among the most common and widely demanded types, it is worth paying special attention to aerated chocolate.
Many believe that aerated chocolate differs from regular chocolate not only in its consistency, as well as taste and consumer parameters, but also in composition. However, such a statement is fundamentally untrue. The thing is that aerated chocolate differs from regular chocolate only in the production method.
There are perhaps three main varieties of the product: black or bitter, milk, and white aerated chocolate. People first started talking about white chocolate at the beginning of the last century, when technologists from Nestlé, the famous Swiss company producing sweets and confectionery products, introduced a new type of chocolate to consumers.
A few decades later, confectionery manufacturers began to produce white aerated chocolate, which quickly gained popularity and began to be in steady demand among customers around the world. The composition of white aerated chocolate remains the same, but the manufacturing process of the product differs significantly from the production of regular white chocolate.
To make white aerated chocolate, cocoa butter, sugar, and milk or de cream are used. At the initial stage of preparing white porous chocolate, confectioners form the so-called dessert mass. It is worth noting that, as a rule, the composition of the dessert mass for the production of white aerated chocolate contains no more than 20% cocoa butter, 3.5% milk fat, as well as 55% sugar and 14% dry cream or milk.
The resulting dessert mass is placed in special containers, which are sent to industrial ovens. For several hours, the dessert mass for white porous chocolate is kept at a temperature of 40C in a vacuum environment. As a result, the dessert mass is saturated with oxygen bubbles and white porous chocolate acquires its original appearance.
It is noteworthy that white aerated chocolate is one of the food products that can be consumed without harm to their health by people suffering from individual intolerance to theobromine, as well as caffeine. These compounds are found in milk or dark chocolate.
Making aerated chocolate is almost no different from the recipe for regular cocoa sweets without bubbles.
The only difference is the presence of a special unit for foaming the chocolate mass.
First option: while the chocolate is being whipped, gas is added to it. The result is delicious, porous chocolate with bubbles.
The second method: chocolate is poured into a mold and placed in a vacuum boiler without air for several hours. And the air that is in chocolate forms the desired bubbles.
Types of aerated chocolate
The tempting dessert is made from white, milk and dark milk chocolate. The most popular of them is milk. Like other chocolate desserts, this sweet can be of several types: with or without filling. And some types contain two types of chocolate: white and porous milk.
The benefits and harms of chocolate with bubbles
Chocolate has no special contraindications unless a person has diabetes. Also, sweetness is not recommended for people with metabolic disorders or obesity. Aerated chocolate can be harmful due to its calorie content and high sugar content. In moderate doses, this sweetness is beneficial: chocolate improves brain activity, helps prevent depression, improves mood and performance, is good for the heart and blood vessels, and is effective in preventing caries (dark and bitter chocolate).
Which chocolate is the healthiest?
The less sugar in a chocolate bar and the more cocoa beans it contains, the more healthy the sweetness is. It turns out that dark dark chocolate has more benefits.
Chocolate norm
Airy porous chocolate is healthy if you eat no more than 25 grams every day.
How to choose healthy aerated chocolate?
The main component of this dessert is cocoa mass and cocoa butter. If the composition includes cocoa powder or palm, cottonseed, soybean oil, then this sweetness cannot be called chocolate: it is a cheap confectionery bar that is not only unhealthy. And it can even do harm.
Cocoa butter is considered an expensive ingredient that cannot be found in cheap aerated chocolate. Instead, the sweet contains vegetable fats. Scientific studies have shown that these substitutes accumulate in the body and (in the case of regular consumption of inexpensive chocolate) can cause the development of cancer.
To choose good domestic porous chocolate (and experience the benefits of chocolate that Wikipedia writes about), pay attention to the document according to which it was made. If the cooking technology is in accordance with GOST, you can buy such sweets without fear. If, according to the Technical Specifications (TU), doubts arise about the quality of chocolate: the state standard obliges the manufacturer to comply with the requirements and use only approved and safe products. The specification also gives the right to use ingredients and technologies that are available to the manufacturer. The quality of chocolate according to specifications, as a rule, leaves much to be desired.
Interesting Facts
In 2007, fans of Wispa aerated chocolate (which was especially popular in the 80-90s of the last century in Russia) demanded that manufacturers resume production of their favorite sweet. As a result, the British were able to buy Wispa. True, the party was small. In the same year, the brand owners gave the opportunity to purchase one of the most expensive Wispa Gold chocolates in the world and wrapped it in edible gold packaging. This dessert could be bought in jewelry stores and supermarkets.
Chocolate contains flavonoids. These substances are powerful antioxidants, have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the nervous system, and calm.
Among all the varieties of chocolate products, aerated chocolate is the most intriguing sweet dessert with delicate bubbles that burst on the tongue. He is especially loved by women.
Chocolate production
Many people wonder how aerated chocolate is made, what technology is used to produce it with such characteristic bubbles? There are several technologies for producing chocolate.
A special low-speed turbine, located between the liquid chocolate mass and the temperature machine, creates high gas pressure inside itself in operating mode, foams the supplied mass, saturating it with nitrogen, carbon dioxide, the release of which leads to the appearance of those very voids in the tiles, which are commonly called pores. The technological parameters of the machine and its foaming units are located so that the bubbles are evenly distributed throughout the chocolate bar. Each manufacturer produces chocolate according to its own recipes and using different operating modes of the turbine device.
According to another technology, the chocolate mass is first poured into special molds (3/4 of their area). The molds are placed in vacuum boilers and left for 2 - 3 hours in an airless space at a temperature of 40-45 ° C. Under the influence of such a vacuum and temperature conditions, air bubbles in the tiles expand, forming voids or pores.
Aerated chocolate must meet certain quality standards. The product must be:
- tasty;
- fragrant;
- saturated;
- with a pronounced structure and homogeneous mass.
Like the type of chocolate, the color must also comply with the established regulations. Milky should have a light brown color, white porous should have a cream color, dark porous should have a dark brown color. The surface should not have a white coating or spots. When adding nuts, only a slightly dull surface is allowed. The recipe of this type does not involve the addition of cocoa butter or other fats.
What are the benefits of aerated chocolate?
Aerated chocolate is quite popular today, although in terms of beneficial qualities it is significantly inferior to other types. The product is high in calories and contains a lot of sugar. Sugar is necessary to improve brain activity, but eating chocolate in large quantities is still not worth it, especially for people who are overweight, suffer from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes or allergies to such sweets. The flavonoids contained in the composition have a calming effect on the human nervous system.
Cocoa butter is not a cheap ingredient. Porous chocolate is made from vegetable fats; cocoa butter is practically not used for it, so the product is inexpensive and available for mass consumption. Scientists have proven that substitutes can accumulate in the body and lead to the development of cancer. You cannot regularly consume aerated chocolate; you can eat no more than 25 g of the product per day.
What is included in the porous treat?
England is considered the birthplace of aerated chocolate, where the first “bubble” version was made at the beginning of the 20th century. The bar weighed not the usual 100 g, but only 70 g. The first domestic porous chocolate was “The Little Humpbacked Horse” and “Slava”, produced by the “Red October” factory in 1967.
What is in milk chocolate?
Milk aerated chocolate consists of milk, sugar, cocoa. According to GOST, the composition includes:
- dry cocoa products (25%);
- milk powder (products of its processing -12%);
- milk fats (12%);
- total fats (25%).
The basis for the production of milk chocolate is a dessert, crushed mass, placed in chambers to saturate it with gases, which contribute to the appearance of bubbles and an increase in volume. It is milk chocolate that is larger in volume and weight, unlike other monolithic types. It is available in pure form or with additives of dried fruits, nuts, and puffed rice. Sometimes vanillin or lecithin is added. The most common aerated milk chocolates on the shelves are “Alenka”, “Russian Chocolate”, “Soyuznaya Marka”, “Air”, “Pobeda”.
What is included in white aerated chocolate?
White aerated chocolate is slightly different in composition from other types. It includes sugar, vanillin, cocoa butter, and milk powder. No cocoa powder is added, which is why the bars have a white appearance. White chocolate is suitable for those with a sweet tooth for whom dark or milk chocolates are contraindicated due to allergies (it is the theobromine content in cocoa powder that often leads to unpleasant consequences).
White chocolate is caffeine-free, making it safe for children, which also adds to its appeal.
In any case, the product is high in calories, and it is not recommended to eat it in unlimited quantities. 100 g of chocolate contains 541 kcal. The energy value of protein in the bar is 17 kcal, fat – 274 kcal, carbohydrates – 249 kcal.
Many gourmets do not like the cloying taste and low nutritional value of this product. But he still has a lot of fans. Many people like the taste of hardened condensed milk.
White chocolate is often used in cooking to add to desserts. This type of chocolate can also be bought in liquid form in tubes. You don’t have to melt it and can safely add it to your culinary delights and sweet pastries.
Is it possible to prepare a porous treat at home?
Chocolate is made using high-tech special equipment, so it is impossible to prepare it at home. At home, you can only melt it in the microwave (in defrost mode for 2 minutes) or in a steam bath to prepare chocolate glaze. To get a good glaze, it is better to choose chocolate with a large amount of cocoa butter and without fat.
To melt the bar in a water bath, you need to heat the water to 80°C, reduce the heat and place a bowl of chocolate mixture on top. To avoid condensation, do not cover the bowl with a lid. When the last piece melts, remove the bowl from the heat. It is not recommended to melt more than 200 g of chocolate at one time. If necessary, the procedure can be repeated.
In any case, it is better to eat this delicacy in its whole form. Many manufacturers produce high-quality products, and the delicacy with air bubbles will certainly bring pleasure while drinking tea to both adults and children.
Everyone makes a choice in favor of one type of chocolate or another. You need to eat it, it is useful: it develops memory, gives strength, confidence, vigor, inspiration. But you shouldn’t overuse chocolate: excessive consumption of it puts a strain on the heart, leading to weight gain and diabetes.
Airy chocolate is a favorite treat for many, but this sweet product is especially popular among the fair sex. Aerated chocolate differs from other types of chocolate in its light structure, thanks to air bubbles that burst so whimsically in the mouth. So what is the secret to making an airy dessert, and can you make it at home? We'll talk about this in our article.
Unlike the regular variety of chocolate, air chocolate is considered a higher quality product and has a richer aroma and taste. This is explained by the fact that only natural ingredients are used for its production - cocoa beans and butter, as well as milk. But in the production of other types of chocolate, some manufacturers use cheap substitutes.
If chocolate is natural, it can be beneficial.
- Thus, eating an airy dessert has a positive effect on brain function, since it contains magnesium.
- Thanks to the presence of serotonin, a person experiences a surge of vitality and energy.
- Also, the “airy” delicacy is rich in beneficial microelements and antioxidants.
Any product, even the most useful one, can have its drawbacks, although in the case under discussion there are not many of them.
Chocolate should not be purchased by those in whom such a product may provoke an allergic reaction. It is also not recommended for people who suffer from diabetes and are trying to protect their figure, because 100 g of product contains 543 kcal.
Types of air chocolate
Today, consumers are presented with several types of air chocolate:
- Milky porous. It contains milk and dry cream, which make the dessert so tender, as well as cocoa beans, which for the most part determine the taste and aroma of the finished delicacy.
- Dark porous. In its production, nothing is used except cocoa beans, cocoa butter and a sweetener in the form of sweet powder.
- White airy chocolate. This type is different in that it does not contain cocoa beans, but only dry cream, which is mixed with vanillin and cocoa butter. Due to the absence of the main component, such a product can hardly be called chocolate.
Popular brands and manufacturers
The very first and most successful brand producing air chocolate is the Kraft Foods Rus company.
It produces one of the best products in this segment and offers its customers milk, black and white airy desserts. There are also options with different flavors, for example, with cream liqueur, creme brulee or Italian tiramisu. Plus the usual sweet products for our consumers with hazelnuts and puffed rice.
In 2009, the company introduced a new product - rice balls in milk chocolate. And in 2010 she released a line of porous products with raspberry filling, with blackcurrant and cranberry filling.
The company produces chocolate products under the trademarks Milka, Alpen Gold, and Toblerone.
How to make aerated chocolate
Who invented such an airy delicacy remains a mystery today. It is known that the first products were tried in 1935 in England and Czechoslovakia, and they appeared there at the same time. On the territory of the Soviet Union, people started talking about porous chocolate in 1967, when the Red October factory began producing Sava and Little Humpbacked Horse chocolates.
Of course, all lovers of sweets are interested in the question of how it is possible to make such air bubbles that simply melt in the mouth and create a unique taste. However, each manufacturer has its own secrets that it tries not to reveal.
To make a porous dessert, the same chocolate mass is used as for a regular product. Simply, to make chocolate with bubbles, additional equipment is required in the form of special units and vacuum units. They are installed between the machine that tempers (heats) the mass, and between the assembly machine.
The size of the bubbles depends on the technological settings of the special unit. The manufacturer keeps his own equipment settings secret.
The unit is equipped with a turbine that foams the sweet composition and at the same time saturates it with carbon dioxide and nitrogen. This saturated mass is sent to a vacuum unit and remains there for four hours at a temperature of 40 degrees. During this period, the bubbles begin to increase and spread throughout the composition. Next comes the usual chocolate casting, the process of which is no different from the distribution of a regular product.
The only thing you can do is enjoy the taste of the finished product or, if necessary, melt the airy chocolate.
Many people believe that such a product is not suitable for making glaze, but this opinion is wrong. If you are unsuccessful, it means that you bought a product of poor quality, so to prepare ganache, buy chocolate only from a trusted manufacturer and pay attention to the composition, which should not contain any plant or chemical components, only cocoa butter.
You can melt this chocolate in the microwave. Simply break the tiles into pieces, place them in a glass container and place them in the unit set to defrost mode for two minutes.