I am experimenting with making chocolate.
From the research I did, the best starting point I got for ratios for normal "70% dark" chocolate is:
- 30% Sugar
- 38.5% Cocoa Butter (55% Butter of 70%)
- 31.5% Cocoa Solids (45% Solids of 70%)
I reckon I successfully made some dark chocolate! I am happy with the result.
I do have kids though, and they are not quite there yet on "dark" chocolate.
From research, the basic idea is to add in milk powder.
I substituted half of the cocoa solids with whey powder (does it make a difference?). The taste is "alright," but the mix was very "gritty." As soon as the whey went in, it became a "porridge" rather than a "thin custard." It has yet to set, but I think it will set fine. It's just not going to be very consistent in texture.
Can you point me in the direction of the basic starting ratios for milk chocolate? I am not necessarily looking for recipes, as those that I do find vary greatly and use all sorts of different vegetable fats, etc.
I want to limit my ingredients to Cocoa butter, Cocoa Solids, Milk Powder and Sugar.
Best Answer
Like Sneftel said, whey powder is NOT milk powder. Whey powder is created using curdled and strained milk by-product. It's closer to cheese than it is to milk.
Milk powder is just evaporated milk.
With that out of the way, if I were to create a ratio by making modifications based on your ratio it would be: 30% sugar, 28.5% cacao butter, 21.5% cacao solids, 20% milk powder.
Again, make sure you are using actual milk powder, not whey powder.