White chocolate should contain cocoa butter and no vegetable fats. It doesn’t contain cocoa solids or chocolate liquor, but should still have cocoa butter for flavor. Look for products that list cocoa butter as a main ingredient and avoid those with vegetable or animal fat. “Pastry coating” products are not true white chocolate.
When choosing white chocolate, you should typically look for one that is made with cocoa butter and contains no vegetable fats. Despite its name, white chocolate isn’t actually a chocolate, as it doesn’t contain any chocolate liquor or cocoa solids that come from cocoa beans. This is what allows such chocolate to have a pale, almost white color and allows some people who may have negative reactions or allergies to chocolate to still eat it. Cocoa butter is still often used to make this type of chocolate, although some cheap products may look similar to it but use vegetable fats.
The name “white chocolate” is something of a misnomer, since this type of food isn’t actually chocolate. One of the defining characteristics of chocolate is the presence of chocolate liquor, which is a combination of oils and solids from the cocoa beans. This is what gives milk and dark chocolate its characteristic chocolate flavor and aroma, although various other ingredients are added to different types of chocolate. White chocolate, however, contains no cocoa solids or chocolate liquor; although it should still contain cocoa butter which is essential to the distinctive flavor of this particular confection.
While you’re looking for the best white chocolate, you should be sure that everything you buy and use lists “cocoa butter” among its main ingredients. It’s not unusual for it to be the second ingredient listed, even for high-quality white chocolate, as sugar is usually the first ingredient. Some brands even indicate exactly how much cocoa butter is in the blend they use, which you might also find on the product packaging. In the United States, a product typically must contain at least 20 percent cocoa butter to legally be called white chocolate, often mixed with milk and vanilla.
There are a number of other products that may appear similar to white chocolate, but don’t actually contain cocoa butter. These are often marked “pastry coating” and have a texture somewhat similar to that of chocolate, but the taste lacks the richness of chocolate. Imitation vanilla is typically added to these types of toppings to give them some kind of flavor, and vegetable fats are commonly used to give them a chocolate-like texture and melting point. You should avoid any chocolate that contains vegetable or animal fat instead of cocoa butter; keep in mind, however, that “soy lecithin” is often added to chocolate as an emulsifier and does not indicate poor quality.
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