Many small and medium sized producers of chocolate products rely either on chocolate purchased from a third party or a recipe and set of ingredients which have a long history within their company. These products are often very “anonymous”, they lack character, that spark which will make the consumer remember them as an exceptional product.
That is not to detract from either product in quality terms, but in a competitive market place it is important to have a product which the consumer develops a preference for and therefore seeks out and purchases again.
A fairly anonymous chocolate can be entirely acceptable for products like assortments and filled bars and blocks, which have flavoured centres and hence tend to push the flavour of the chocolate itself into the background. However solid moulded products, those containing some inclusions and even filled products with relatively generic centres can easily lack identity and fail to excite the consumer.
There are many ways in which even a small producer of simple products such as moulded bars aimed at gift shops and similar sectors can give their product identity. For larger manufacturers this is even more important because developing an identifiable product difference will to start to establish a brand identity through consumer preference.
The aim should be to create a subtle, defining flavour note in the chocolate which will gently create consumer interest and preference rather than to produce something with a pronounced, possibly polarising, taste. The flavour has to be subtle, because if it is obtrusive and obvious the consumer will quickly tire of it and move to another product.
Milk Chocolate
Starting from the base of a good quality, well made, milk chocolate which has either been purchased or manufactured, it is not difficult to create interesting differences in your product which will differentiate it from that of competitors and start to build consumer loyalty.
It is unlikely that one single addition will provide what you want and to avoid endless experimentation it is probably wise to have an idea of the type of characteristic you are seeking some direction which is compatible with your overall aims and aspirations for the product.
Because the requirement is to enhance the flavour and establish an identity, an amount of research and tasting will be needed to arrive at a successful formulation. However do be careful that final decisions are based on more than one person’s preference – perhaps an opportunity to use social media to gather a range of opinions on your ideas.
There is an important technical consideration which should be born in mind, milk chocolate in particular is fairly “delicate” in that its structure is quite easily disrupted by the addition of materials or by processes which:-
- Disrupt the basic fat/solids systems – water or alcohols added at even very low levels can make chocolate thicken unreversibly or go “gritty”
- Have a particle size which can be detected on the palate (greater than about 30µ)
- Heat chocolate over about 60°C which will also make most chocolates become “gritty”
Another important point is that the regulations governing Cocoa and Chocolate products prohibit the use of milk or chocolate flavours in chocolate products.
Within those constraints, then, what avenues are available for milk chocolate?
Blending
Blending two chocolates together is a relatively simple approach but which, with the right selection of components can give excellent results
Very interesting products can be obtained by blending milk chocolates with a small amount of a high quality dark chocolate. This intensifies the chocolate flavour and (naturally) increases the cocoa content which is something many consumers see as an advantage. The dark chocolate used needs careful selection because blending an anonymous milk chocolate with an anonymous or poor quality dark chocolate is unlikely to give any advantage. A dark chocolate with a good strong, individual flavour with plenty of cocoa notes will give the best result and some research may be needed to find the right product.
Although the compositional change appears relatively modest in this example, the flavour effect will be significant with a composition close to a high quality European milk chocolate
Another potentially interesting approach may be to blend white chocolate and dark chocolate to create a milk chocolate with a unique flavour profile (as long as compositional standards are met there is nothing to prevent this). The potential options are considerable, particularly if both chocolates have individual but complementary flavour profiles.
Even the blending together of two milk chocolates can give useful results, particularly if one of the components has an interesting flavour profile which alone may be too polarising.
Added Ingredients
A number of ingredients can be added to chocolate at a level of up to a few percent to enhance flavour. However they must not compromise the basic product by disrupting the structure or having too high a particle size. Another danger – particularly with ingredients which contain fats and oils such as nut pastes – is that they may soften the chocolate or make it difficult to temper if added at too high a level..
The most commonly encountered added ingredients are finely ground nut pastes (particularly hazelnut) and the addition of hazelnut paste to chocolate is fairly common amongst quality manufacturers in Europe. Other nuts and varying degrees of roast can give attractive and interesting flavour notes, although this is a relatively expensive ingredient and needs to be handled with care. Typical addition level is about 0.5% but an be higher. Note that nut pastes will need to be very finely ground for this type of usage.
Other finely ground ingredients which can be added include spices, sea salt and (dried) honey. Finely ground spices need careful handling and use, as they are powerful can be variable in quality and may stale rapidly.
It is obviously important to disperse strongly flavoured, finely ground powders properly through the chocolate and this may require protracted low intensity mixing. Time also needs to be allowed for the flavour oils contained in the spices to diffuse into the chocolate as otherwise a false impression of their effect may result
Flavours
The list of flavours which can potentially be added at a trace level is really as long as the imagination, but remember the idea is a subtle, not necessarily identifiable flavour note, not a defined flavour. It is probably advantageous to use natural flavours (which can be labelled as such) rather than synthetic ones.
Flavour houses will be able to advise on suitable flavour carriers and dosage levels and even provide some suggestions.
Many (indeed most) chocolates contain some added vanilla flavour and this is probably a “must add” if not already present which it may not be in a purchased product. Although expensive, natural vanilla flavours are preferable and improve most chocolates discernibly.
Spice oils are not uncommon and at least one well-known brand has a small amount of (a closely guarded blend) spice oils added to it. Most of the spice oils which are available may be suitable to try and to experiment with at trace levels.
Floral notes are another possible line of exploration, perhaps the slightest trace of rose attar or violet would be interesting, but again this must be very subtle.
Fruit flavour traces are also possible, but acid notes should be avoided. Fig, melon or some of the more aromatic fruits such as lychee can be considered and ginger flavour – either “green” or dried – but at a low enough level to avoiding the chocolate becoming spicy is another idea. On the negative side I would certainly not recommend banana as an added flavour component.
In addition to conventional fruit flavours, derived fruit flavours such as raisin, dried fig and citrus peel notes could all prove interesting.
Nut flavours can also be used as an alternative to genuine nut pastes and are probably easier to handle.
Caramel Notes
Much chocolate in the UK and Ireland is produced by a different process to that common in continental Europe. Whereas European milk chocolate (and most chocolate produced by third party manufacturers in the UK) is generally produced from milk powders – ie the milk is dehydrated before the chocolate making process commences – in UK and Ireland the “crumb” process is used. In this process, liquid milk, sugar and cocoa mass are combined and dried to an intermediate product which can be stored and transported. The origin of this process was as a method of storing milk solids produced in seasons where it was in surplus for use at times when there was a shortage.
As a result of the crumb drying process the chocolate develops a caramel flavour note which has become a characteristic of many UK and Irish products.
Whilst this flavour profile is very popular, it is extremely difficult to reproduce by using solely added flavours because the flavour chemistry involved in the crumb process is so complex. One flavour which may work well in a bland milk chocolate is “Dulche de Leche” – a cooked condensed milk flavour
There are processes which can give milk powder based chocolates some similarity to crumb chocolates but these are complex and not generally available to small and medium sized businesses.
Adding Cocoa Products
There are three cocoa products which can be added to an existing chocolate to enhance and alter flavour
Cocoa Mass
Cocoa mass is available based on different bean sources and levels of roast. Adding a small amount to an existing chocolate followed by a protracted but gentle mixing process can add very interesting characteristics to a bland chocolate. Even some of the cocoa masses based on acidic bean (and marketed, somewhat strangely, as a premium product) can be potentially useful if added at carefully controlled levels.
The addition of only 4% cocoa mass raises the chocolate to about the same cocoa solids non-fat level as a high quality European milk chocolate and, with the right cocoa mass, a very distinct flavour profile
Cocoa Powder
Well flavoured high quality cocoa powder can be added to chocolate to enhance its flavour but care is needed because the addition and proper incorporation of the powder into a finished chocolate needs careful and prolonged mixing. Only high quality high (22%) fat cocoa should be considered for this purpose as poor quality powder will simply degrade the chocolate.
Note also that adding cocoa powder will not have the same flavour impact as adding cocoa mass, because much of the flavour contribution comes from the fat soluble components in the cocoa butter fraction, which is much lower in cocoa powder
Cocoa Butter
Most chocolates produced by third parties and many manufactured by small to medium sized companies are based solely on cocoa butter which has been deodorised – treated during processing to remove most or all of its natural flavour.
Although it is an expensive ingredient, adding high quality natural (ie undeodorised) cocoa butter to a chocolate will greatly enhance its flavour and careful selection of the cocoa butter will allow the development of an identity.
Adding cocoa butter to an existing chocolate will reduce its viscosity so this needs to be considered in subsequent usage of the chocolate. If manufacture is in house then some of the deodorised butter can simply be replaced with a natural butter.
The addition of 2% – 3% of good quality natural cocoa butter to a will improve its character significantly and there is a fair variety of different origin butters available which have different flavour characteristics.
White Chocolate
White chocolate tends to be very bland and sweet, often lacking any real character. Although this may be acceptable in the childrens’ market, for adults to appreciate white chocolate it requires something more.
Whilst some of the floral notes can be beneficial to white chocolate, the stronger spice flavours are probably not suitable. As with most chocolates, vanilla is a common and valuable addition to white chocolates.
However there are two approaches which may be able to give an otherwise rather bland product some character:-
Cocoa Butter
As with milk chocolate, the addition of a small amount of natural, undeodorised cocoa butter can improve the product, at least in the adult sector.
Caramel Flavours
There are “caramelised” white chocolates in a number of markets, notably South Africa. There has recently been an increasing interest in this type of product in European markets (sometimes referred to as fawn chocolate because of its pale brown tinge)and it appears to be a developing niche. Whilst the basis of this article is not to produce flavoured chocolates per se, merely to add character, there may be some benefit is a low level of caramel flavour if it can slightly reduce sweetness.
While added caramel flavours need great care in selection and addition to avoid harsh, obvious flavour notes, manufacturing techniques employing high temperature conching, even where this requires subsequent removal of gritty aggregates, are very promising and can produce very desirable and unique products. It is possible with care to “cook” a white chocolate gently over some time to develop flavour. There are also processes which treat the paste ahead of refining to produce interesting caramel flavours. These are particularly effective in white chocolate because the reactions essentially only involve the milk solids.
It is also possible to manufacture white crumb, but this is a slightly more complex process than even milk chocolate crumb production and really only practical for large scale and specialist producers.
Salt
Salt can be added to white chocolates but great care is needed as to some extent the sweetness of white chocolate conflicts with the sharpness which comes from salt as there is no astringency from the cocoa to counteract it as in the case of milk chocolate
Dark Chocolate
The flavour of dark chocolates depends heavily on the quality and level of cocoa mass which is used in the recipe and the conching conditions which are used during the manufacturing process. These will always be the key elements in dark chocolate which tends to have a relatively strong and robust flavour.
It is difficult, therefore, to add a subtle flavour note to such a strongly flavoured system, although vanilla is a common addition to dark chocolates as with others.
There are dark chocolates which historically have had flavours added – an outstanding example was Fry’s Chocolate Creme bar where the flavour added to the chocolate could hardly be described as subtle but was key in differentiating the product and detracting from the sweetness of the centre.
Maybe the increasing popularity of dark chocolate opens an interesting area for differentiation – but no high acid/low cocoa flavour so called “exotics” please, chocolate is supposed to taste of chocolate, not fruit.