Texture Matters Most
Textural differences turned out to be more important than flavor differences. Sampled plain, the real white chocolates were described as “smooth,” “rich,” and “creamy.” They melted faster than the white chips, both on our fingers and tongues, but we didn’t mind. However, when we sampled them in bark, their soft textures were deemed unacceptable. The real white chocolates didn’t truly solidify after being melted and left to harden. Instead, they remained “squishy” and “too soft,” lacking the expected snap and exhibiting textures that were more like fudge than bark.
The white chips performed differently. Straight from the bag, they all were firm and crunchy, but some were described as being a little gritty, chalky, or waxy. Once melted and hardened, though, these white chips gave us barks that were “snappy” and “smooth,” garnering them higher ratings than the barks made with the real white chocolates.
Why did imitation chocolates perform so much better in bark? It comes down to the presence—or absence—of cocoa butter. When real white chocolate is melted, the crystal structure of the cocoa butter changes. Unless you temper the chocolate—a challenging process of heating and cooling that reestablishes the cocoa butter’s structure of triglycerides—it remains soft, even when it’s fully cooled. Conversely, white chips, which contain a refined fat in place of some or all of the cocoa butter, don’t need to be tempered to retain their structure. This means that in addition to being crunchy when eaten plain, they are also crunchy when melted and cooled. Plus, the refined fats used in white chips are cheaper than cocoa butter.
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