What Is Ruby Chocolate and How Do You Use It?
If you stay on top of food trends, you’ve probably seen new ruby chocolate products being launched left and right, but what is ruby chocolate? How does it compare to the traditional chocolate varieties that chocoholics have been using for years? And how do you use it in your baking recipes?
Ruby chocolate behaves similarly to white chocolate in the melting and cooking process but has an added sweet tang and, of course, a unique pink color. If you love trying new ingredients and want to answer the question: “What is ruby chocolate?” then keep reading! This guide will tell you all about the origins of this chocolate product, how to use it and where to find it.
Jump to Section
- What Is Ruby Chocolate?
- How To Use Ruby Chocolate
- What Ruby Chocolate Recipes Can I Try?
- Is Ruby Chocolate Healthy?
- Where To Buy Ruby Chocolate
What Is Ruby Chocolate?
Chocolate has been adding sweetness and texture to desserts for centuries, but ruby chocolate first appeared on the scene around 2017, making it a newcomer to the dessert world. Pioneered by a Swiss chocolatier named Barry Callebaut, ruby chocolate is a pink-tinted chocolate product that was launched into the market after Callebaut spent years refining the idea and the process to create this new type of chocolate. Since launching, ruby chocolate has become incredibly popular and its use features on many annual lists of food trends.
What Does Ruby Chocolate Taste Like?
One of the main things that sets ruby chocolate apart from other types of chocolate is its taste. Ruby chocolate has a sweet taste, but added to that sweetness is a little bit of tart, berry-like flavor.
Like white chocolate, ruby chocolate has high amounts of cocoa butter added in, which makes it smooth and creamy. However, unlike white chocolate, which is all sweet, ruby chocolate has a bit of a tang to it that has been described by some as a fruity yogurt flavor. You might pick up on hints of raspberry or strawberry but all of that flavor is completely natural to the ruby chocolate bean.
What Is Ruby Chocolate Made Of?
Ruby chocolate is a relatively new type of chocolate that originated in Europe. The ruby cocoa bean, which gives ruby chocolate its name and unique coloring, is grown in a few African nations as well as Brazil and Ecuador. Like other types of chocolate, the cocoa beans are fermented and then roasted and ground into a paste, which is added with other ingredients, including sugar and cocoa butter, to create the sweet chocolatey taste we all know and love.
Why Is Ruby Chocolate Pink?
Because ruby chocolate is made from a specific type of cocoa bean, the ruby cocoa bean, that unique pink coloring you see is all natural. The bean itself has a pink coloring that, after fermentation and roasting, remains in the finished chocolate product. Besides its coloring, ruby chocolate is also unique in that no extra flavors or colors are added during the production process.
How To Use Ruby Chocolate
Ruby chocolate is perfect for lots of different recipes that call for chocolate. A few things to keep in mind with this unique ingredient are its flavor and texture. Remember that ruby chocolate has a smoother, creamier consistency than milk, semisweet or dark chocolates. It also has a different, more berry-like flavor that could impact your recipe.
Be sure to take the texture and sweetness into account so that the ruby chocolate you incorporate doesn’t overpower your dish. Generally, ruby chocolate works well in a lot of recipes that use white chocolate. However, due to the tartness of ruby chocolate, you may want to avoid mixing it with tart and slightly sour fruits that work well with white chocolate, such as passion fruit.
How To Melt Ruby Chocolate
You can follow traditional chocolate melting techniques with ruby chocolate, just be sure to keep stirring it to avoid burning the chocolate. To melt in the microwave, make sure you take the chocolate out in brief intervals and stir it. You can also melt ruby chocolate on the stovetop in a pan or over a double boiler.
As with white chocolate, ruby chocolate can burn quite quickly, so don’t put it over too high of a heat and keep stirring it. If it begins to get thick and slightly lumpy instead of smooth, you’ve probably overheated the chocolate and will need to begin the melting process again with new chocolate
Melting Ruby Chocolate With a Double Boiler
To make a double boiler, fill a pot with two to three inches of water and bring it to a low simmer. Then, add a heat-safe bowl that completely covers the top of the pot. Next, add the chocolate to the bowl and the heat from the simmering water will gently warm up and begin to melt your chocolate. Simply keep stirring until it is completely melted. Just be sure you don’t accidentally splash any water into the chocolate, as that will ruin it.
How To Temper Ruby Chocolate
Tempering chocolate is a process by which you heat chocolate in slow, incremental stages, always keeping an eye on the temperature. Doing this ensures that the cocoa butter and chocolate are evenly melting. The end result is a shinier, more stable chocolate that actually has a higher melting point and will have a perfect snap when cracked.
You can temper ruby chocolate just like any other type of chocolate. For this method, it’s best to use a double boiler and ensure that your chocolate is chopped into fine, uniformly sized pieces. First, add about three-quarters of your chocolate to the double boiler and heat until it reaches 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius).
Then, remove from the heat and add in the unmelted quarter of your chocolate, stirring often until the chocolate reaches 80.6 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius). Next, put the whole bowl back on the heat and melt until the chocolate reaches what is known as its “working temperature.” For ruby chocolate, this is between 85.1 and 88.2 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 29 to 31 degrees Celsius).
You do not want to let the temperature rise any higher. If you do, the chocolate will lose its temper. You can test the temper of chocolate by putting some on the back of a spoon and letting it harden for five minutes. Correctly tempered chocolate will harden in that time and be shiny and cool to the touch.
Working with chocolate can be a tricky business, so if you’d like to learn more about how to work with ruby chocolate, be sure to check out cooking classes near you or even online cooking classes that you can participate in from home. These expert-led sessions will help you learn how to work with a variety of unique ingredients, such as ruby chocolate, and effectively incorporate them into your recipes.
What Ruby Chocolate Recipes Can I Try?
Wondering what goes with ruby chocolate and what ruby chocolate recipes you can enjoy? One great idea is pairing ruby chocolate with other types of chocolate — like bitter cacao nib or dark chocolate. The tart fruitiness of the ruby chocolate goes well with other chocolates, mimicking a chocolate-berry combination that many enjoy.
You can also match ruby chocolate up with ingredients that have a similar fruity, berry-like flavor profile. For example, try using it as a topping for strawberries or even in conjunction with herbs like basil that match the tart, somewhat sour flavor well. You could also try it melted over popcorn, as a donut or cookie frosting or as a covering for cake pops.
Another idea is adding ruby chocolate in recipes that call for other types of chocolate, like white chocolate chip cookies. Instead of using white chocolate chips, use ruby chocolate chips and serve your guests unique ruby chocolate chip cookies!
Adding ruby chocolate to any recipe that calls for other kinds of chocolate, especially white chocolate, will add a fun new colorful twist. For example, try chocolate chip blondies with ruby chocolate chips or chunks. Making some quick and delicious chocolate-covered pretzel rods dipped in ruby chocolate or combining ruby chocolate with yogurt to make tasty yogurt bites are also great options.
Is Ruby Chocolate Healthy?
Like all varieties of chocolate (and really all foods), it is best to consume ruby chocolate in moderation. While ruby chocolate should always be considered a treat, it does offer a few health benefits. For example, it contains antioxidants that have been shown to help with inflammation and even improve heart health.
Where To Buy Ruby Chocolate
Ruby chocolate is not always the easiest chocolate product to get your hands on due to it being newer to the market. However, there’s a chance you will find ruby chocolate in your local grocery store. If not, specialty chocolate and baking shops should sell the product. If you want to enjoy some squares of ruby chocolate as a treat, prioritize getting it from chocolate shops. If it’s for baking, the quality available at a baking retailer should be sufficient.
Ruby chocolate can also be found in ready-to-eat products, often available in grocery stores or specialty snack shops. These include things like ruby chocolate Kit Kats and Magnum ice creams.
Is Ruby Chocolate Expensive?
Because purchasing options of ruby chocolate are somewhat limited, you might find that it has a higher price point than other chocolate products. For example, you can find ruby chocolate chips on Amazon for about $0.75 an ounce, compared to $0.57 per ounce for standard chocolate chips. However, do not let these prices deter you from trying ruby chocolate in your next recipe! The sweet and tart chocolate makes a great addition to dishes, including those made for special occasions like anniversaries, date night dinners or Valentine’s Day.
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We hope this guide to ruby chocolate has given you some ideas about how to use this sweet treat. Whether you use it in home baking, enjoy some on its own or try one of the many ruby chocolate products on the market, adding a different kind of chocolate to your baking or snacking rotation is always a good idea!
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