Types of Chocolate: Dark, Milk, White, Couverture and Compound
How I choose between dark, milk and white chocolate—and why cocoa percentage, couverture, baking chocolate and compound coating are not interchangeable.
Pastry Journal subject hub
Chocolate
Understand couverture, cocoa butter, tempering, ganache and chocolate structure before choosing or changing a product.
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Key pages
Dark Chocolate Couverture: Composition, Fluidity and Selection
A documented guide to how cocoa mass, cocoa butter, sugar, emulsifiers and product-specific fluidity determine dark couverture performance.
Tempered Dark Chocolate Decoration: Reference Formula & Method
A source-backed reference method for thin dark-chocolate decorations, with product-specific temperature limits, temper checks, shaping, storage and entremet placement.
Applied pastry knowledge
See it in a finished cake
Chocolate Tonka & Passion Fruit Cake — follow its seven components from finished cake to formula, ingredient, method and troubleshooting.
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Red Velvet Cake Without Food Coloring: My Naturally Mahogany Recipe
My Red Velvet cake recipe without artificial red dye: natural cocoa, buttermilk, a tender crumb, naturally mahogany colour, precise method and troubleshooting.
Is Chocolate Lactose-Free? How I Read the Label
Why dark chocolate may contain no milk yet is not automatically safe for every dairy restriction, and how lactose-free, dairy-free, vegan and milk-allergy claims differ.
Why Tempered Chocolate Becomes Too Thick While Working
What I check when tempered chocolate starts to thicken, how I decide whether it is too cold or over-crystallised, and when I stop and temper it again.
Thin Chocolate Decorations: Spreading, Shaping and Clean Release
A source-backed practical guide to how acetate, couverture fluidity, thickness and crystallisation timing control thin flat and curved chocolate decorations.
Cocoa Butter Crystallisation and Polymorphism
A peer-reviewed, pastry-focused explanation of cocoa-butter crystal forms, nucleation, crystal growth, gloss, contraction, snap and bloom.
Cocoa Butter in Chocolate: Structure, Melt and Function
A peer-reviewed guide to cocoa butter as chocolate’s continuous fat phase: triacylglycerols, melting, crystallisation, snap and substitution consequences.
Chocolate Crémeux: Emulsion and Temperature
How I build a smooth chocolate crémeux emulsion: custard control, compatible temperatures, progressive mixing, immersion blending, cooling and troubleshooting.
Cream in Pastry: Fat, Temperature and Aeration
How I choose and use dairy cream in pastry: fat percentage, temperature, whipping, emulsions, chocolate mousse, crémeux, substitutions and troubleshooting.
How I Use Tonka Bean Without Letting It Take Over
A practical method for controlling tonka aroma in chocolate pastry, testing it in the complete dessert and documenting legality and dose without guessing.
Dark Chocolate & Tonka Bean Mousse for Entremets
A gelatin-stabilised Guanaja 70% mousse for frozen entremets, with controlled emulsion, folding temperature, metal-ring assembly and safe tonka dosing.
What Really Changes When I Substitute an Entremet Ingredient
A practical substitution method for chocolate, fruit purée, gelatin, cream, pectin and neutral glaze—focused on consequences, controlled trials and exact product records.
Why Dark-Chocolate Mousse Becomes Grainy, Dense or Collapses
A practical diagnosis for grainy, heavy, over-firm or collapsing dark-chocolate mousse, based on when the failure first appears.
How I Balance Chocolate, Tonka and Passion Fruit in One Cake
How I make dark chocolate, tropical fruit and a restrained aromatic accent taste like one composition—and how I correct the balance when one part takes over.
How Serving Temperature Changes the Flavour and Texture of an Entremet
My practical method for finding the serving window in which chocolate melts, fruit stays vivid and every layer of an entremet keeps its intended texture.
Milk Chocolate Crémeux for Entremets: Reference Formula
A professionally sourced milk chocolate crémeux formula for frozen entremet inserts, with precise temperatures, emulsion method, assembly guidance and troubleshooting.
Why Milk-Chocolate Crémeux Becomes Grainy, Greasy or Too Soft
A practical diagnosis for grainy, split or soft milk-chocolate crémeux: how to identify where it failed, what may be repaired and what must be remade.
How to Incorporate Fat into Aerated Batter
My professional method for adding melted butter, chocolate or another fat phase to egg foam without streaks, separation or unnecessary loss of aeration.
Cocoa Powder: Natural vs Alkalised in Pastry
How I choose cocoa powder for cakes and pastry: natural vs alkalised cocoa, fat content, colour, flavour, hydration, leavening and substitutions.
Chocolate Sponge for Entremets: My Almond and Dark Chocolate Formula
My flourless chocolate sponge formula for layered entremets, with French meringue, almond flour, cocoa and dark chocolate, plus mixing, baking, cooling and troubleshooting.
Why Chocolate Sponge Becomes Dense, Dry or Collapses
A practical diagnosis for a thin chocolate entremet sponge that turns out low, heavy, greasy, brittle, wet or soggy after assembly.
Valrhona vs Callebaut: How I Choose Chocolate
I compare Valrhona and Callebaut couverture by flavour, fluidity, format and application, then explain when either chocolate needs tempering.
Pain au Chocolat Recipe: My Classic Chocolate Croissants
My pain au chocolat recipe using laminated croissant dough, with chocolate batons, sheeting, shaping, proofing, baking and troubleshooting explained.
Valrhona vs Cheaper Chocolate: What Are You Actually Paying For?
My honest comparison of Valrhona, professional couverture and cheaper chocolate products—flavour, cocoa butter, consistency, technical performance and when the extra cost matters.
My Chocolate Mirror Glaze Recipe — and How I Keep It Smooth
Tanya Novak's chocolate mirror glaze formula, method and practical troubleshooting for bubbles, heavy coverage, poor flow, condensation and a dull finish.
Why Mirror Glaze Is Too Thick and Leaves Ridges
A practical diagnostic from Tanya Novak for mirror glaze that pours heavily, sets too quickly or leaves ridges: how to separate temperature, gelatin, chocolate and concentration problems.
Why Mirror Glaze Runs Off or Looks Transparent
Tanya Novak's practical diagnosis for mirror glaze that will not stay on a cake or gives weak, transparent coverage: temperature, cake condition, gelatin and chocolate opacity.
Chocolate Mousse: Structure, Emulsion and Aeration
A professional guide to chocolate mousse: how chocolate, water, fat, temperature, crystallisation and aeration determine texture, stability and lightness.
Chocolate Ganache Recipe: Ratio, Emulsion and Texture
My professional dark chocolate ganache recipe, with a reliable 1:1 formula by weight, progressive emulsification, texture control and troubleshooting.
French Éclair Recipe: Choux, Cream and Glaze
My French chocolate éclair recipe with pâte à choux, chocolate pastry cream, a thin glaze, precise baking guidance and practical troubleshooting.
Classic Profiteroles Recipe: Choux, Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce
My classic French profiteroles recipe with crisp pâte à choux, vanilla ice cream and warm dark-chocolate sauce, including piping, baking, make-ahead and troubleshooting guidance.
Soy Lecithin in Pastry: Emulsification, Texture and How to Use It
I explain what soy lecithin does in cakes, chocolate, creams and doughs, how powder and liquid forms differ, and when lecithin genuinely improves a pastry formula.