Who could live without chocolate? When you are in the kitchen, knowing a little about this complex food and the best brands for cooking with chocolate will help you turn your chocolate cravings into a sweet reality. You'll also be able to bask in the delight of your family and guests after you serve them these sweet treats!

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Before we get started, it's important to know the different types of chocolate as each recipe may call for chocolate in various forms.

Types of Chocolate

There may be more types of chocolate than you think. Common varieties include:

Cacao - This is the basic form of chocolate; the bean without the shell. Broken pieces of the cacao bean are called nibs and are available either raw or roasted. The bean can also be ground into cacao powder. Cacao typically has a bitter taste.

- Chocolate liquor - This is actually a paste made from cacao nibs. Almost all of the chocolate that is sold today starts as chocolate liquor. Chocolate liquor, a paste made of grinding cacao nibs, does not have any alcohol content and consists of roughly 53% fat, or cocoa butter.