Gourmet chocolates (such as those from Abdallah Candies And Gifts) are sweets that are desired all around the globe. If you are not a "chocoholic," as some chocolate addicts are, then you probably are not familiar with the many kinds of chocolate used to make gourmet chocolates. You should familiarize yourself with this multipurpose ingredient, especially if you want to work in a kitchen or bakery some day. Here are five kinds of chocolate with which to familiarize yourself.     

Pure Ground Raw Chocolate

This is cacao, taken from the cocoa or cacao beans. The seed pods are plucked when ripe, cracked open and the seeds from within are scooped out and dried either in the sun or in a hot oven. Then the beans are ground into a powder, which you can use in just about anything from wine-making to reductions over meat to desserts. There is absolutely no sugar in this raw cocoa, nor is any of the beans' natural fats removed.

White Chocolate

White chocolate is not really chocolate at all, but the fats extracted from the cocoa bean. It is pure cocoa butter/cocoa fat, which is why it is so creamy and smooth. When you use "white chocolate" in your recipes, you do so to add just a hint of chocolate flavor with a lot of texture and creaminess. It is perfect for sauces because of its rich buttery goodness.

Milk Chocolate

So named for the milk, sugar and heavy cream added during the mixing process, milk chocolate is made to be very sweet an extremely easy to melt. It lends itself well to drinks, pastries and desserts because it blends so easily and added milk, cream or sugar really are not necessary. Milk chocolate is a very common ingredient in chocolate candymaking because it is also very easy to mold and cool in forms.

Dark Chocolate

When you extract some or all of the fats/cocoa butter from chocolate and limit the amount of sugar added, you get dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is also very popular for gourmet chocolatiers because it creates an indulgent taste when mixed with fruit flavors or citrus. If you have other recipes that use fruits and citrus flavors, then you may be able to create a whole new spin on the recipe by adding accents of dark chocolate.

Chocolate Liqueur

For anyone who loves to combine alcohol and chocolate, chocolate liqueur is perfect. It takes the finest chocolate beans, squeezes them to get the liquid essence out, and ferments the essence into sticky syrup, which is then combined with a little sugar to cut the bitterness. You can drink chocolate liqueur straight or use it in truffles, main courses, drinks, appetizers, etc.