What Is White Chocolate? Everything You Need to Know

Plus, the white chocolate secret to your best-ever homemade frosting

Just thinking about chocolate gets our mouths watering. And while we love a good ol’ fashioned milk chocolate bar, sometimes we can’t help but crave white chocolate. There’s something uniquely satisfying about its smooth and creamy taste that really satisfies. And in the Woman’s World test kitchen, we love incorporating it in all sorts of desserts as its more mild taste blends well with so many flavors. Keep scrolling to learn more about what is white chocolate, how to use it and our best-ever recipes that are sure to become your favorites too.

White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, milk solids and sugar. Unlike regular chocolate, it doesn’t contain cocoa solids, which are what give dark and milk chocolate their color and flavor. White chocolate has a less intense, creamier taste, with hints of vanilla. And since it’s free of cocoa solids, white chocolate is also free of the caffeine that goes with them.

“White chocolate doesn’t have the richness of the pure cocoa that you can taste in dark chocolate,” says Gabriela Pollack, owner of New York-based chocolate shop Brigadeiro Warehouse, “but has a silky, sweet and smooth taste instead.”

If you need more reasons to enjoy a taste, click through to see how eating chocolate can help you live longer.

“For home chefs, the top trick is using high-quality white chocolate with a high cocoa butter content for the best flavor and texture,” says chocolatier Austin Gappelberg, co-owner of the Hampton Chocolate Factory. Look for products with at least 20% cocoa butter — the higher the cocoa butter percentage, the more likely it is that the white chocolate will have a rich and creamy texture.

With its mild taste and smooth texture, white chocolate pairs well with so many flavors. Gappelberg recommends pairing it with fresh fruit, which really complements the sweetness of white chocolate. It also works well in nutty desserts for a crunchy, creamy combo.

You can substitute white chocolate for milk chocolate in most recipes — just keep in mind that it tends to be sweeter, so you may want to adjust sugar levels accordingly.

One easy idea: “A great trick is using melted white chocolate instead of sugar to sweeten cake icing, such as buttercream,” Pollack says. “You won’t taste the ‘grains,’ the texture will feel richer and your decoration is more likely to hold shape.”

For another quick treat, click through for how to make two-ingredient chocolate mousse.

If all this talk about white chocolate has got your mouthwatering, keep scrolling for easy recipes from the Woman’s World test kitchen. We’ve got all sorts of treats that are sure to delight:

These impressive white chocolate mousse stacks are a snap to make, thanks to a quick-prep cookie crust and prepared jams.

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With just enough richness from white chocolate pudding, these light delights are melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

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Cookies and white chocolate combine for the easy crust on this rich and tangy no-bake treat.

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These dreamy white chocolate parfaits get their sweetness from fresh apricots — but you can sub in your favorite available fresh fruit.

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White chocolate stirred into the filling makes this no-bake wonder extra irresistible.

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This light-as-air fudgy masterpiece is guaranteed to melt in your mouth with its layers of white chocolate and milk chocolate.

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Tangy cranberry sauce piped into the centers make for a decadent surprise in these treats topped with white chocolate frosting.

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