Couverture should be made from at least 31% cocoa solids - but by law eating chocolate needs only either a) 20% as reflected in most of our British products - and 20% milk solids and the rest is sugar; or b) 25% cocoa solids and 14% milk solids, which is favoured by the Continent. The taste will vary according to production methods and also to the way the milk is treated before it is added. In Europe, most of the manufacturers use a condensed milk similar to that invented by Nestlé and used by Peter in the first milk chocolate products. In the more commercial chocolate countries like America and the UK, we use dried milk powder, often caramelised and known as ‘crumb’, which gives the UK milk chocolate its familiar caramel flavour 95% of the chocolate sold in Great Britain is milk and Cadbury has the largest share of that market. I know that there are millions who will disagree with this, but I think that unlike the continental milk chocolate, which has a well-defined cocoa flavour and smooth finish, we are used to a cloyingly sweet product with an unclean aftertaste and barely any hint of cocoa.
