Dark Milk Chocolate

[liuzhou]

Last month, I posted in the Unexpected Food Gifts topic a selection of chocolates a friend sent me from a startup company providing up-market chocolates to the Chinese market. This garnered some interest and prompted more than one person to express surprise at the inclusion of dark milk chocolate, something some people felt was perhaps a contradiction in terms.

 

Now, I am no chocolate expert or even a big fan of chocolate* of any kind, and therefore I was clueless, as usual. So, I was interested to read this in today’s Gruaniad. It is a review of some, dare I say, artisan chocolates of that description.

 

Notes on chocolate: darker bars that pack both moral and fibre

 

I know we have some chocolatiers here. How common is it? Do you make it? We also have major chocolate eaters. Thoughts? Opinions?

 

* My only real interest in chocolate is linguistic. The name has an interesting history as it passed from language to language. English took it from French  which took it from Spanish which took it from pre-Spanish Mexican which took it from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. Chinese, 巧克力, meaning 'chocolate' was borrowed from English and is pronounced something like chow-ke-lee. (Pinyin: qiǎo kè lì)

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Dark milk chocolate is pretty common these days. The big companies milk chocolate would typically have been around 25% cocoa - like the Cadbury you grew up with in the UK. 

 

When the bean to bar revolution started in the early 2000's and the little guys started making their own chocolate it was all pretty much dark chocolate, but over the past few years they have started to branch out to making milk chocolate and seem to lean towards the darker side - you see lots these days that are mid 40's to mid 50% cocoa. 

 

Some of the big companies now have darker milk chocolates in their single origin lines - Belcolade makes a fabulous Vietnam origin - the dark is 73% - the milk is 45%.

 

I tend to mix dark chocolate into milk chocolate and make my own - I like the darker milk for several of the barks I make like the burnt almond and smoked salt - less sweet just seems to work better with that combination. 

[Jim D.]

11 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Some of the big companies now have darker milk chocolates in their single origin lines - Belcolade makes a fabulous Vietnam origin - the dark is 73% - the milk is 45%.

 

Felchlin's Maracaibo line has two dark choices, 88% (which I have not tried) and 65% (the one I use), and two milk, Criolait at 38% and Créole at 49%.  I formerly used Criolait for milk, but @pastrygirl introduced me to the darker Créole.  It makes a significant difference in sweet fillings.  And, as Kerry wrote, I sometimes mix in some dark.  Customers who are militantly opposed to milk chocolate (for mostly ridiculous reasons) don't even seem to notice they are eating milk.  Some fillings work better with milk.

[pastrygirl]

I'm kind of surprised at the author's surprise at the fiber content.  That would be the cacao solids, cacao is fat and fiber like most other seeds/nuts. 

 

Agree with Kerry and Jim, dark milk is the artisan, bean-to-bar, grown-up answer to the insipid mass market milks. 

 

There's a wide range for different palates & applications.  The Felchlin 49% is really nice, only 40% sugar.  I use more of a less expensive 43% that is 43% sugar with slightly less milk fat and noticeably sweeter.  Their 36% is probably closer to classic milk chocolate with 53% sugar and way too sweet for me.

[lemniscate]

Cote d'Or 35% milk chocolate from World Market changed my view on what milk chocolate should be.  Nice big bars for ~$5 USD.   So much more fragrant and satisfying flavor depth.   I need to try the darker milk chocolates now.

[Jim D.]

I just received notice that Valrhona has released a new dark milk chocolate, Hukambi (53%), made from a Brazilian single-origin chocolate.  It sounds intriguing, and 53% has got to be close to the highest number for a milk chocolate.  If anyone has tasted it, I would be interested in your reaction.  Valrhona's marketing certainly takes a prize for over-the-topness, as in:  

 

The name “Hukambi” is a contraction of the words for black (“Hu”) and milk (“Kambi”) in Tupi-Guarani, a language spoken by one of the indigenous peoples living in Brazil’s Mata Atlantica.

 

The company has even created a new category:  "The first ever Ombré couverture chocolate"

[Becky R]

Maybe a little off topic but what brand of couverture chocolate would be closest to Cadbury?  I've been playing with my panner and really want to try to make a version of the Cadbury eggs... only mine will be round bullets because that's the only mold I could find!  So far I've done 2 cups of coffee dark chocolate macadamia nuts, and 2 cups of nuts coated in white chocolate/espresso/vanilla sugar.  Fun, but messy project!  I don't think these will last long enough to bother putting a hard candy shell on them, but if anyone has tips for that, it'll be necessary in my Cadbury type bullets attempt!

[Kerry Beal]

Closest to Cadbury would be Callebaut 665 NV if you can find it. 

 

 

[Becky R]

Thank you Kerry!

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Remember Cadbury in the US is made by Hershey.  Nothing at all like the English Cadbury.

 

[Kerry Beal]

English Cadbury is made with crumb - milk, sugar and cocoa mass cooked together in a vacuum oven - gives that lovely caramel flavour 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

18 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

English Cadbury is made with crumb - milk, sugar and cocoa mass cooked together in a vacuum oven - gives that lovely caramel flavour 

 

What is crumb?  I had never heard that term before in the context of chocolate.  Or is the definition just "milk, sugar and cocoa mass cooked together in a vacuum oven"?

 

Now I want some!

 

[Kerry Beal]

Crumb is a component of certain milk chocolates - particularly British ones. Not something you can do in your basement (easily) - though I've had some interesting discussions with a guy who consults who has used small pilot sized vacuum ovens when he has been playing with it. It's cooked together then ground up and added to chocolate during the manufacture. 

[Becky R]

On 2/14/2024 at 9:36 PM, Kerry Beal said:

Closest to Cadbury would be Callebaut 665 NV if you can find it. 

 

 

Well, as predicted, no luck finding it.  Do you have others that would be next in line?  I think I ran across a Callebaut 800 series NV... would that be anything similar at all?

[Kerry Beal]

Peters Milk chocolate Crumb formulation - here.  Not sure who sells Peter's at the retail level in the US though. Cargill if wholesale. 

Edited February 17 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Becky R]

10 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Peters Milk chocolate Crumb formulation - here.  Not sure who sells Peter's at the retail level in the US though. Cargill if wholesale. 

 

Would this be it, or close?

https://www.bakersauthority.com/products/peters-milk-chocolate?variant=7011221569595&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAz8GuBhCxARIsAOpzk8zs-ojoY-UjEcD93sWMJw3gf8bgu87bEr4FQ8PbnLP4FCwTOhUNljcaAmT-EALw_wcB

[Kerry Beal]

That’s the brand for sure