Dark Chocolate

Dark chocolate is a glossy, deep-brown confection made from cocoa solids, cocoa butter, and sugar, usually without milk. It has a firm snap and melts smoothly, delivering bittersweet, roasted cocoa flavors. Commonly used for baking, ganache, glazing, and dipping, it is sold as bars, blocks, wafers, and chips with cocoa percentages around 50–90%.\n\nOriginating from cacao prepared by Mesoamerican cultures, modern dark chocolate developed through European processing techniques and spread globally. Cocoa is grown in tropical regions of West Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia; beans are fermented, dried, roasted, and ground before conching and tempering produce the finished chocolate.