Eva Luna wrote:I haven't seen the plain bittersweet ones at the Lincoln Ave. location for more than a year. The last time I asked a cashier, he said he hadn't, either, and that there had been some kind of labeling problem at the factory, and that he wasn't sure they were going to have them in the future. I would love to be proven wrong - I will need 1 lb. for a cake recipe next week, and would rather not spend $20 just on chocolate.

I was just at the Gold Coast Trader Joe's last weekend and they had plenty of the bittersweet bars in stock.

Trader Joe's
44 E Ontario St
Chicago, IL 60611-4755
(312) 951-6369

Thought I'd post to this thread since Guittard chocolate chips were mentioned....

I discovered much to my chagrin this past week that my local Super Target (out in Algonquin) no longer carries Guittard chocolate chips, my go-to chips for cookies. Can anyone recommend a store which sells them in the city or far NW suburbs? Or near NW suburbs? Or... suburbs?

Thanks in advance.

The frosting calls for semi-sweet chocolate. I need a pound of chocolate due to some variations I'm making in the recipe.

My questions are:

Should I splurge on the best semi-sweet chocolate spending $20+ dollars on just the frosting?
If so, where can I find the best price on high quality semi-sweet chocolate?

If I shouldn't splurge, what is my best option?

i realize the cake 'crisis' has been resolved. but i just want to point out that even if trader joes is currently out of its bittersweet chocolate bar (which i think is wonderful), they do carry the 'dark' chocolate which is 54%. this is considered semisweet and would be perfect for future chocolate cakes. it is a terrific chocolate and very well priced. justjoan

Has anyone seen bags of Scharffen Berger chocolate chunks (like chips . . . but chunks) in Chicago? I'm not talking about the bars, just the small chunks for chocolate chip cookies. Thanks.

BR wrote:Has anyone seen bags of Scharffen Berger chocolate chunks (like chips . . . but chunks) in Chicago?

Recently spotted at Treasure Island (Hyde Park), both the 62% semisweet and 70% bittersweet baking chunks in 6 ounce bags.

Rene G wrote:

BR wrote:Has anyone seen bags of Scharffen Berger chocolate chunks (like chips . . . but chunks) in Chicago?

Recently spotted at Treasure Island (Hyde Park), both the 62% semisweet and 70% bittersweet baking chunks in 6 ounce bags.

Thanks for the heads up - they didn't have them at the TI on Clybourn ... also checked Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Sur La Table. Looks like a bit of a drive might be in the plans for this weekend.

BR wrote:

Rene G wrote:

BR wrote:Has anyone seen bags of Scharffen Berger chocolate chunks (like chips . . . but chunks) in Chicago?

Recently spotted at Treasure Island (Hyde Park), both the 62% semisweet and 70% bittersweet baking chunks in 6 ounce bags.

Thanks for the heads up - they didn't have them at the TI on Clybourn ... also checked Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Sur La Table. Looks like a bit of a drive might be in the plans for this weekend.

I think they were low on the bittersweet but seemed to have plenty of the semisweet.

I believe that Fox and Obel carries Valrhona disks -- they're about the size of a half dollar and you can buy them by weight. I know they have milk and dark -- I don't know if the dark is bittersweet or semi-sweet. I'm always tempted to buy them when I'm there because they look soooooo delicious. I don't know how much they run, I'm afraid. In fact, F&O has a huge supply of chocolates, mostly in bar form -- none of them cheap but it's a lovely thing to behold.

At the TI in Lakeview (on Broadway), there was plenty of the Scharffen Berger bittersweet chunks, but only two bags of the semisweet. They indicated that they'd be getting more of the semisweet in so I assume it's a regular product for them.

Thanks again for the help Rene.

earthlydesire wrote:I believe that Fox and Obel carries Valrhona disks -- they're about the size of a half dollar and you can buy them by weight. I know they have milk and dark -- I don't know if the dark is bittersweet or semi-sweet. I'm always tempted to buy them when I'm there because they look soooooo delicious. I don't know how much they run, I'm afraid. In fact, F&O has a huge supply of chocolates, mostly in bar form -- none of them cheap but it's a lovely thing to behold.

At the Wilde & Greene Market in Old Orchard, which we recently checked out, they had 4 types of Valrhona disks listed by percentage and I assume varietal: which I'm pretty sure were white chocolate, Caraque 56%, Caraibe 66% (Which we bought & I liked OK - I found the texture slightly gritty, but the flavor was excellent) and Guanaja 70%.