Milk chocolate is classically made from dark chocolate of low cocoa solid content and a higher sugar content plus a milk product, which may b in the form of powdered milk, liquid milk, or condensed milk.
The overall taste of milk chocolate is altogether lighter and sweeter than dark chocolate and its texture is softer.
The first known variation with donkey milk was developed by Jordan & Timaeus in 1839.
In 1875 a Swiss confectioner, Daniel Peter, developed a solid milk-chocolate using condensed milk, which had been invented by Henri Nestlé, Peter’s neighbour in Vevey. But it wasn’t until several years later that he worked with his friend Henri Nestle and they created the Nestle Company and brought milk chocolate to the mass market. Nestlé Milk Chocolate was sold in many countries around the world, including the United States and Canada. According to Nestle, the bar was discontinued in 2016.
The Hershey Company commonly known as Hershey’s is the largest producer in the US. After an apprenticeship to a confectioner in 1873, Milton S. Hershey founded a candy shop in Philadelphia. In 1896, Milton built a milk-processing plant so he could create and refine a recipe for milk chocolate candies. In 1899, he developed the Hershey process, which is less sensitive to milk quality than traditional methods. In 1900, he began manufacturing Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars, also called Hershey’s Bars or Hershey Bars.
Cadbury is the leading brand of milk chocolate in the United Kingdom. Cadbury Dairy Milk is a brand of milk chocolate manufactured by Cadbury. It was introduced in the United Kingdom in 1905 and now consists of a number of products. Every product in the Dairy Milk line is made with exclusively milk chocolate.
Milka milk chocolates are very popular. Milka is a German brand of chocolate confection which originated in Switzerland in 1901 and has been manufactured internationally by the US confectionery company Mondelēz International (formerly known as Kraft Foods) since 1990. For more than 100 years, Milka has been primarily produced in Lörrach, Germany. Milka milk chocolates are sold in bars and a number of novelty shapes for Easter and Christmas.
Japan’s most famous confectionery company Meiji, has been producing milk chocolate since 1926. The largest box of chocolate bars weighs 2,044 kg (4,506 lb 3.97 oz) and was made by Meiji Corporation (Japan) at Koto Supporting Centre in Koto, Tokyo, Japan, on 29 January 2016. The box is a replica of a box for Meiji milk chocolate bars.
The largest milk chocolate weighed 5,792.50 kg (12,770 lb 4.48 oz) and was created by Thorntons plc (UK) in Alfreton, Derbyshire, UK on 7 October 2011. The chocolate bar measured 4 m (13 ft 1.48 in) by 4 m (13 ft 1.48 in) by 0.35 m (1 ft 1.78 in). The ingredients were sugar, dried whole milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, butter oil, emulsifier.
Although more people are choosing to eat dark chocolate, milk chocolate is still the clear favorite in the United States, with over half of adult consumers preferring this sweet variety.
By law in the U.S., a milk chocolate bar only needs to contain 10% cocoa, in the EU this number is 25% – a figure set by big chocolate companies, as the lower the cocoa contents the cheaper it is to manufacture.
Many chocolate bars are made with a milk chocolate base.