Coating

A commonly available cacao product is coating. Compound coatings may not legally be labeled as “chocolate,” but must be labeled as coatings. These are chocolate-like products that contain additional ingredients not permissible in chocolate, most commonly vegetable fats (usually hydrogenated) and bulking agents. The primary advantage of coatings is the vegetable fat they contain, which makes it unnecessary to temper them. Chocolate coatings are often less expensive than fine-quality chocolate, but they do not have the same melting characteristics or flavor that chocolate does. European varieties of coatings are labeled as pâte à glacer.