During the chocolate
making process, cocoa butter becomes a by-product of the cocoa bean. To
create white chocolate, the cocoa butter is combined with milk, sugar, and
other flavoring ingredients, but none of the cocoa bean is included. Some
would consider white chocolate not chocolate because none of the cocoa solid is
part of the end product.
However, if you were to smell cocoa beans and raw
cocoa butter, it is the cocoa butter that would have the distinct chocolate
smell. The cocoa bean doesn’t smell sweet at all. And cocoa butter did come from the cocoa bean.
In 2004, the FDA established a “Standard of
Identity” for white chocolate.
Why did FDA
establish a standard of identity for white chocolate?
FDA established a standard of
identity for white chocolate in response to petitions filed separately by the
Hershey Foods Corporation and by the Chocolate Manufacturers Association of the
United States of America. Both entities wanted to stop manufacturers
from making imposter white chocolate using only vegetable oil or other cheaper
fats instead of cocoa butter.
The FDA said to be called white chocolate, the candy must
have at least 20% cocoa butter, 14% milk solids, and 3.5% milk fat — and no
more than 55% sugar or other sweeteners. Vanilla is added for flavor, and a
fatty substance called lecithin is in there as an emulsifier.
Because it contains no cocoa solids, white chocolate contains
only trace amounts of the stimulants theobromine and caffeine. If prime pressed cocoa
butter is used, it has natural anti-oxidant (vitamin E), but if deodorized it
has none, as the deodorizing is a steam stripping step, often at 180 °C
(356 °F). Deodorizing is a process of “whitening” the chocolate. High quality white chocolate is not white, it
is ivory, pale yellow or a light tan. A good white chocolate may even contain small particles
of the vanilla bean used to flavor the chocolate.
The quality can be determined visually due to the high cocoa
butter content, which should allow for a shiny and smooth appearance. The flavor
of white chocolate is delicate and buttery.
The mouthfeel should be absent of any granular texture.
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