Any product a manufacturer makes from cacao beans may be technically defined as chocolate, but not all types of chocolate are the same. Baking chocolate, which is available in large bars or squares, tastes and feels different from a chocolate bar you may buy to snack on. The differences between these types of chocolate can be drastic, making them unlikely to be interchangeable in some contexts.
Composition
Chocolate is made by roasting cacao beans, which yield a mixture that is roughly 50 percent cocoa solids and 50 percent cocoa butter or fat. Chocolate manufacturers then combine the cocoa solids and butter with additives like sugar, milk and lecithin to produce a final product. Baking chocolate tends to have between 35 and 100 percent cocoa solids and fat. According to Cindy Mushet in "The Art and Soul of Baking," most baking chocolates have at least 50 percent cacao in them. Chocolate bars that you would buy for confectionery, also known as sweet chocolates, typically have between 15 and 34 percent cacao in them and much more additives.
Texture
Baking chocolate, particularly when it has a high percentage of cacao, can be somewhat hard. Texture will also vary depending on the quality of the chocolate. The highest quality chocolate tends to be very crisp and will shatter cleanly when broken. Chocolate for confectionery uses is softer and more pliable. However, both kinds of chocolate tend to have similar melting points because that physical property is largely defined by the cocoa butter in the mixture, which melts around 99 degrees Fahrenheit.
Taste
The more cacao in a chocolate, the more bitter and intense the chocolate flavor becomes. Confectionery chocolates may be available with up to 85 percent cacao and still be called bittersweet chocolate. Unsweetened baking chocolate with more than 85 percent cacao is very bitter and not palatable by most people straight from the package. Sweet chocolates and milk chocolate have much less cacao and more sugar in them, so they are very sweet by comparison.
Uses
A small amount of baking chocolate provides an intense chocolate flavor. You would be likely to use baking chocolate in cakes and batters where a large amount of extra liquid or sweetness would affect the quality of the final product. The lack of sweetness in baking chocolate is usually compensated for in a recipe by additional sugar or sweeteners. Chocolate with less cacao content is often eaten plain, but you can also use it for baking, as you would with semisweet chocolate chips.
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