Couverture

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Dark and white couverture in block form

Couverture ( French couverture 'covering'), technically also chocolate coating mass or coating chocolate , is a chocolate for covering cakes, pastries and pralines as well as for the production of ganache and other creams and fillings and decorations. It is characteristic of couverture that it is melted and processed in a liquid state. Compared to normal chocolate bars, it has a higher fat content so that it becomes thinner and easier to process. If the couverture is to have a flawlessly smooth surface without crystals after cooling, it must be precisely tempered.

Couverture is also available as milk and white chocolate and in various qualities, from cheap mass-produced goods to single-origin chocolate. For bulk consumers, it is usually offered in blocks of 2.5 kg, in the retail trade in bars of 100 to 250 g; In addition, chips, lentils, etc. are also available for easier portioning. available.

composition

Schematic representation of the composition of couverture

The legal requirements for couverture products are regulated in the European Union by the European Cocoa Directive, implemented in Germany by the Cocoa Ordinance . The composition of couverture essentially corresponds to that of other chocolate, for details see chocolate . In short, it consists of cocoa mass, sugar and (in the case of milk chocolate) dry milk, whereby the cocoa mass is composed of cocoa butter and the other components, called fat-free cocoa solids, the milk solids consisting of milk fat and other components such as proteins, milk sugar, etc. The requirements for couverture are now giving way as follows from those of normal chocolate:

  • for simple couverture: at least 31% cocoa butter instead of 18%, fat-free cocoa solids only at least 2.5% instead of 14%
  • for milk chocolate couverture: at least 31% total fat from cocoa butter and milk fat

There are no special requirements for white couverture that go beyond white chocolate, it does not contain any fat-free cocoa solids. Overall, the following minimum requirements result (all values ​​in percent):

Type cocoa Cocoa butter Otherwise cocoa Milk powder Milk fat Total fat
Couverture 35.0 31.0 2.5 - - * 31.0
Milk couverture 25.0 - 2.5 14.0 3.5 31.0
White couverture * 20.0 20.0 - 14.0 3.5 * 23.5
Ruby couverture 47.3 26.3 35.9

(* no express requirement, arithmetic)

Mind you, these are only minimum requirements - in practice the cocoa content is often much higher, from 50 to 100%. Couverture with a high content of fat-free cocoa solids is also referred to as "dark", "bitter" or the like; According to the Austrian food book, a minimum content of 16% fat-free dry matter is prescribed for such names.

Chocolate manufacturers often state the ratio of cocoa mass to sugar and cocoa butter as a key figure in the form K / Z / B , where K stands for cocoa mass, Z for sugar and B for cocoa butter. The number for the cocoa butter content can also be missing, especially for milk couvertures.

Example: 60/40/38 → means 60 parts of cocoa mass - 38 parts of which are cocoa butter - and 40 parts of sugar.

Common types for the bakery are: 60/40/38, 70/30/42, 55/45/37 and 50/50/38 or only slightly different values.

Tempering

Above: Properly tempered dark couverture. Below: the same couverture, processed at 40 ° C at a low temperature: dull surface, fat bloom
Tempering steps in chocolate processing

When the couverture solidifies again after processing as a coating for pastries, pralines, etc., the cocoa butter crystallizes. It is necessary to control this process precisely in order to ensure the formation of the most homogeneous, stable crystal structure possible. If you neglect this and the cocoa butter crystallizes heterogeneously and unstable, this affects the appearance and bite feeling - i.e. the so-called "sensory qualities" - of the chocolate as follows:

  • The surface becomes matt.
  • Gray fat crystals ( fat bloom ) become visible on the surface after a while.
  • The chocolate breaks crumbly instead of crunchy and with an unclean break edge.

Cocoa butter is a mixture of different vegetable fats that crystallizes polymorphically , i. H. There are various possible lattice structures (technical language modifications) - only one of these modifications, usually designated with the letter β or the Roman number V, is stable and has the melting range of around 34 ° C, which is important for the chocolate taste. The solidification process of the couverture must therefore be influenced mechanically and thermally in such a way that as many crystallization nuclei as possible arise in the β-modification. Such pre-crystallization is achieved in principle by first completely melting the existing crystal structure at a high temperature (around 45 ° C); the chocolate is then cooled below its normal melting point in order to start crystallization; However, before it completely crystallizes out, the temperature is raised again to just over 30 ° C, where the unstable modifications have already melted. In the meantime, the liquid chocolate mass is mechanically treated in various ways in order to favor the crystallization of the stable modification; (For the procedures, see below). The chocolate is then processed at this temperature and then slowly cooled down again. The entire process is called tempering ; the optimal temperatures depend on the exact composition of the cocoa butter, which varies between different types, crops, manufacturing processes, etc.

Confectioners (or handcrafted hobby bakers) usually heat the couverture in a water bath and often with the help of a food thermometer. Two methods are known:

  1. Tabling method : Melt the crushed couverture in a water bath, stirring occasionally at a maximum of 45 ° C, until all pieces have dissolved. Pour two thirds of the liquid couverture onto a clean, cool marble plate. Compose with a spatula and palette : Use the palette to move the couverture from the outside to the inside and use the spatula to wipe the hardened couverture from the palette to the center. As soon as the couverture begins to set, stir quickly into the rest of the liquid couverture. Small amounts in private households can also be melted in a stainless steel kettle over steam and then tabletted on the kettle wall with a wooden spoon in a cold water bath. The couverture must be tabletted until it has cooled to 28 ° C, then reheat to 30–32 ° C in a water bath (different depending on the type).
  2. Inoculation method : Stir grated or finely chopped couverture into the warm and dissolved couverture (45 ° C). The vaccination should be done in portions. When the couverture begins to thicken and has reached 28 ° C, enough grated couverture has been stirred in. Now slowly heat up to 30–32 ° C depending on the variety.

The test with a palette dipped in the tempered couverture is the simplest control. If the couverture has been tempered correctly and the pallet has a temperature between 20 and 25 ° C, the couverture will begin to set in the thinnest point after a few minutes. For a correct shine, however, in addition to the room temperature (20 ° C is ideal), the temperature of the body to be coated is crucial, the tolerance range of which is between 20 and 27 ° C.

replacement

Cocoa-based fat icing

Instead of couverture, cocoa-based fat glaze is often used to coat baked goods . This has a similar composition to couverture, but instead of cocoa butter contains other vegetable fats, for example coconut oil or palm oil or other cocoa butter equivalents . It does not need to be tempered and can be made softer and easier to cut through a suitable choice of fat mixture. In addition, it usually costs less than couverture.

A coating made of cocoa-based fat glaze looks very similar to a coating made from couverture and can easily be confused with it by the observer, but represents a significant reduction in value in the sense of § 11 LFGB compared to real chocolate . Therefore, the use of cocoa-containing fat glaze on sweets and baked goods must be within the scope of this In this case, product designations with words such as “chocolate”, “chocolate” etc. are not permitted (unless they are justified by other real chocolate components). For household use, this type of coating is often available in retail outlets under names such as “(cake) glaze cocoa” and similar.

The German Food Book specifies in the guiding principles for fine baked goods for baked goods of special quality that “coatings that can be confused with types of chocolate” are not used. These so-called top qualities include Florentines , wafer gingerbread , Baumkuchen and macaroons . In the past, the use of cocoa-containing fat icing was not permitted in these cases, even if it was made known to the consumer; According to the current legal situation, this no longer applies: All types of baked goods may be coated with a cocoa-based fat glaze instead of couverture; appropriate labeling is mandatory. As of the version of January 23, 2003, the guidelines for fine baked goods correspond to this in that they no longer contain the wording “even if they are identified”.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Waldemar Ternes , Alfred Täufel, Lieselotte Tunger, Martin Zobel (eds.): Food Lexicon . 4th, comprehensively revised edition. Behr, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-89947-165-2 , pp. 1679 .
  2. ↑ a b c Friedrich Holtz u. a .: Textbook of the pastry shop . 5th edition. Trauner, Linz 2009, ISBN 978-3-85499-367-4 , pp. 152 .
  3. ^ Heinrich Fincke : Handbook of cocoa products . Ed .: Albrecht Fincke. 2nd, completely revised edition. Springer, Berlin 1965, p. 193, 513 .
  4. ↑ Directive 2000/36 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 23, 2000 on cocoa and chocolate products for human consumption
  5. ↑ Cocoa Ordinance of December 15, 2003 (BGBl. I p. 2738)
  6. ↑ Chocolate - Chocolate, Ramon Morató, eng. Matthaes Verlag Stuttgart 2010, page: 38, ISBN 978-3-87515-113-8
  7. ↑ Ruby - pink chocolate (47.3%) Callets Couverture Callebaut 2.5 kg. Retrieved February 23, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Austrian Food Book ( Memento of the original dated December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Codex Chapter B 15 - Cocoa and chocolate products, foods with cocoa products or chocolate, Section 2.1.1.13 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lebensmittelbuch.at
  9. ^ Overture for the couverture ( Memento from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ a b Knowledge forum for baked goods ( Memento of the original from July 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Chocolate coatings and fat glazes (PDF file; 231 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wissensforum-backwaren.de
  11. ^ German food book, guidelines for fine baked goods from 17./18. September 1991, Section I 8, II 1, III 9, III 10

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