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 guide
Chocolate
Understand couverture, cocoa butter, tempering, ganache and chocolate structure before choosing or changing a product.
Start here
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.
My Dark Chocolate Decorations — Tempering, Shaping and Storage
How I temper, spread, shape and store thin dark-chocolate decorations, with product-specific temperatures, practical temper checks and troubleshooting.
See the techniques in context
See it in a finished cake
Chocolate Tonka & Passion Fruit Cake — see how these techniques work together in the finished cake.
Cherry Chocolate Cake — see how these techniques work together in the finished cake.
Browse the full topic
Find the page you need
Choose a group below, then start with the recipe, ingredient or problem closest to your question.
Recipes and formulas
Start with a complete formula and follow the method in order.
How I Make Cake Sponge with Less Sugar — Vanilla and Chocolate
My reduced-sugar vanilla and chocolate sponge development formulas, and the pastry science behind keeping real sponge texture when sucrose is reduced.
Classic Alcohol-Free Tiramisu Recipe
My classic alcohol-free tiramisu recipe uses mascarpone, pasteurized yolks, coffee-soaked savoiardi and cocoa—no Marsala, rum or coffee liqueur required.
My Chocolate Brownie Recipe — Dense and Fudgy
My tested chocolate brownie recipe, with the ratios, mixing and doneness controls I use for a dense fudgy centre and clean slices.
My Opéra Cake Recipe — Joconde, Coffee and Chocolate
My tested Opéra cake recipe with thin joconde, coffee syrup, coffee buttercream, dark chocolate ganache and a smooth glaze.
Problems and diagnosis
Start with what went wrong, then narrow down the most likely cause.
Red Velvet Cake Without Food Coloring: My Naturally Mahogany Recipe
My Red Velvet cake without artificial red dye: natural cocoa, buttermilk, tender crumb, naturally mahogany colour, method and troubleshooting.
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.
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.
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.
Milk Chocolate Crémeux for Entremets: Reference Formula
A milk-chocolate crémeux for frozen entremet inserts, based on a published Valrhona formula and explained with precise temperatures, assembly guidance and troubleshooting.
Why Milk-Chocolate Crémeux Becomes Grainy, Greasy or Too Soft
My practical guide to diagnosing grainy, greasy or overly soft milk-chocolate crémeux—and deciding whether I can save it or need to begin again.
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.
Why Natural Red Velvet Is Mahogany, Not Bright Red
I explain how cocoa type, batter pH, dairy acidity and baking influence naturally coloured Red Velvet, and why bright scarlet requires a separate colouring decision.
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.
My Chocolate Mirror Glaze Recipe — and How I Keep It Smooth
My 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
My 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 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: Chocolate Éclairs with Pastry Cream
My French éclair recipe for crisp pâte à choux filled with chocolate pastry cream and finished with a thin dark-chocolate glaze, with 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.
Methods and production control
Use temperature, texture and timing to keep the process under control.
Madagascar Vanilla & Mascarpone Mousse for Entremets
My light Madagascar vanilla and mascarpone mousse for the Cherry Chocolate Cake: a pastry-cream base matured overnight, then whipped before entremet assembly.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What Is Crémeux? Meaning, Texture and Uses
Crémeux means creamy: a smooth, dense cream, often made with crème anglaise and chocolate. I explain its texture, uses and how it differs from mousse.
How I Make Baked Custard Smooth and Bubble-Free
I explain how gentle mixing, gradual tempering, fine straining, foam removal and water-bath baking prevent bubbles and coarse texture in crème brûlée.
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.
Ingredients and foundations
Understand what the ingredient does before you change a formula.
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.
Valrhona vs Callebaut: How to Choose the Right Couverture
A practical comparison of Valrhona fèves and Callebaut callets by flavour, fluidity and use, including when each chocolate needs tempering.
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.