All real chocolate comes from the cacao bean, the fruit of a
tropical tree, Theobroma cacao. Chocolate is made from roasted,
pulverized cacao beans, which are then combined with sugar, and
in some cases vanilla and lecithin. Much of the quality of the
chocolate will depend on the origin and quality of the beans.
Chocolate is labeled unsweetened, bittersweet, or semisweet
depending on the percentage of cacao the chocolate contains.
Here's a rundown of the various types of chocolate: Since most
recipes calling for bittersweet or semisweet chocolate were
developed using chocolate with a cacao percentage around 35%,
substituting some of the super-high percentage chocolates that
are increasingly available can cause cakes to be dry or ganaches
to curdle. If you want to experiment with using these higher-
cacao products, chocolate guru Alice Medrich recommends using
25% to 35% less chocolate than called for in the recipe and
adding up to 1-1/2 teaspoons more granulated sugar for each
ounce of chocolate originally cal