Baking chocolate

It's time again to make the annual birthday dessert for my niece. She has surprised me this year with a request for something with chocolate and raspberry, moving away from her usual strawberry-based requests. I've decided on this recipe from Epicurious:

Raspberry Whipped Cream Truffle Cake

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 would just use Ghirardelli or Guittard chips. It would cost about $5 and taste great.

I really like those pound plus bars from Trader Joe's for $3.99. They have milk chocolate, dark chocolate (60 or 62%) and bittersweet chocolate (70 or 72%).

Sam's Club has huge bags of Ghiradelli 60% chocolate chips for $8 or something like that. Love those for chocolate chip cookies. I haven't used them for melting yet.

Guittard is a good choice for very good quality at a decent price. I wouldn't go for real high end like Valrhona for a frosting.

Pucca wrote:I really like those pound plus bars from Trader Joe's for $3.99. They have milk chocolate, dark chocolate (60 or 62%) and bittersweet chocolate (70 or 72%).

Good suggestion. The pound-plus bars from Trader Joe's are economical and good quality. Has anyone been able to get out of them who their source is for this chocolate?

aschie30 wrote:

Pucca wrote:I really like those pound plus bars from Trader Joe's for $3.99. They have milk chocolate, dark chocolate (60 or 62%) and bittersweet chocolate (70 or 72%).

Good suggestion. The pound-plus bars from Trader Joe's are economical and good quality. Has anyone been able to get out of them who their source is for this chocolate?

I don't think they've ever confirmed it, but I have always assumed it's Callebaut. I believe their chocolate chips are also Callebaut.

gleam wrote:

aschie30 wrote:

Pucca wrote:I really like those pound plus bars from Trader Joe's for $3.99. They have milk chocolate, dark chocolate (60 or 62%) and bittersweet chocolate (70 or 72%).

Good suggestion. The pound-plus bars from Trader Joe's are economical and good quality. Has anyone been able to get out of them who their source is for this chocolate?

I don't think they've ever confirmed it, but I have always assumed it's Callebaut. I believe their chocolate chips are also Callebaut.

That's what my unofficial guess is as well. Interesting, considering Whole Paycheck has moved away from Valrhona and is carrying only Callebaut now. Might as well buy it at TJ's (assuming it's the same, and I think it's very similar if not).

teatpuller wrote:I would just use Ghirardelli or Guittard chips. It would cost about $5 and taste great.

Thank you to all for the suggestions. I'll probably head to TJ's, but where can one find Guittard? I do like Ghirardelli chips, however.

Is there an issue with making the ganache with chips as opposed to a bar?

Thank you to all for the suggestions. I'll probably head to TJ's, but where can one find Guittard

I don't know about the chips, but Sur la Table sells the wafers/discs. I think Wliliams Sonoma does too. TJ's will be considerably cheaper than these.

Is there an issue with making the ganache with chips as opposed to a bar?

I think some lower quality chips are not pure chocolate and have some additives

Ghiradelli bars are easy to break, melt nicely and I believe are sold in both 60% and 70% bars. Whether I'm willing to splurge on Scharffen Berger, Valrhona or Callebaut depends upon the percentage of chocolate called for in the recipe - the higher the percentage, the better the quality of chocolate I want because the more prominent chocolate will be (e.g., flourless chocolate cake, ganache, etc). But also taste these high end chocolates because there are subtle differences and you might prefer one to another.

Never substitute chips - they are coated (cornstarch or flour?) and will not melt as well and will not provide the exact same flavor.

Though, I have to admit, I've made ganache with chips with no problems - but I used the ghiradelli bittersweet chips (you need a dark chocolate lover for that ganache.) I did find the quality took a dip a while back, but I've tried them and found them to be satisfactory several times since then. YMMV.

It's true, most other chips have a lot of additives, some just flavorings (like vanillin, which I don't like) some other kinds of fats, (palm oil) and they seem to have a wide range of sugar. It pays to use a brand you're comfortable with.

Ghiradelli bars are easy to break, melt nicely and I believe are sold in both 60% and 70% bars. Whether I'm willing to splurge on Scharffen Berger, Valrhona or Callebaut depends upon the percentage of chocolate called for in the recipe - the higher the percentage, the better the quality of chocolate I want because the more prominent chocolate will be (e.g., flourless chocolate cake, ganache, etc). But also taste these high end chocolates because there are subtle differences and you might prefer one to another.

Never substitute chips - they are coated (cornstarch or flour?) and will not melt as well and will not provide the exact same flavor.

I would agree with this assessment--especially about the melting part. Chips (like Nestle's) are MEANT to hold their shape under high heat. Every time I tried making ganache with chips, the heated cream was never QUITE enough to totally melt the chips (you could try chopping them into finer bits, but if you're going to do that, why not use bars anyway?), so I'd be fishing out chunks of chocolate as it cooled, instead of getting a nice, smooth finish.

Never had a problem melting Ghirardelli or Guittard chips. They are not coated with anything. Check the label. Chips are much cheaper than bars, pound for pound. Cocoa butter melts at like 95-100 degrees, there should be no problem melting unless it is made with vegetable oils.

Pucca wrote:I really like those pound plus bars from Trader Joe's for $3.99. They have milk chocolate, dark chocolate (60 or 62%) and bittersweet chocolate (70 or 72%).

I just got back from Trader Joe's and they only had bittersweet with almonds. I thought about straining out the almonds, but decided against it. I'll try somewhere else.

Food Nut wrote:

Pucca wrote:I really like those pound plus bars from Trader Joe's for $3.99. They have milk chocolate, dark chocolate (60 or 62%) and bittersweet chocolate (70 or 72%).

I just got back from Trader Joe's and they only had bittersweet with almonds. I thought about straining out the almonds, but decided against it. I'll try somewhere else.

Sometimes they just run out of the ones w/o almonds. They definitely carry them though. I just saw some two days ago and bought some two weeks ago.

Sorry to hear that they were out of stock! Hate it when that happens!

Pucca wrote:Sometimes they just run out of the ones w/o almonds. They definitely carry them though. I just saw some two days ago and bought some two weeks ago.

Interesting. They must be out because there was not even a sign for bittersweet w/o almonds. I thought of buying it just to eat it.

I like to get my baking chocolate (and my eating chocolate, and chocolate mulch for my garden) from Blommer's. High-quality chocolate at an excellent price.

Blommer Chocolate Co
www.blommer.com
600 W Kinzie St
Chicago, IL 60654-5585
(312) 492-1336

Cheers, Jen

I like Blommer's for cocoa shell mulch, but I thought their eating chocolate was average at best.

I've had good and bad from Blommer's. They make a variety of things there. The 10lb "pure dark chocolate" bar is good quality. I also bought some large chips (disks) there, I think they were labeled as Marquette. Way too sweet.

I had a few types of Blommer bars, but not the pure dark chocolate, when I went there to pick up mulch. I would have said they were better than Hershey, and I agree that the key flaw was that they were too sweet.

A good source for Guittard chocolate is Cost Plus World Market. They sometimes have pretty reasonable prices, too.

I would also strongly recommend against chips. Some melt well, some don't, but all have added ingredients (unless you are buying "callets", which are flat discs of chocolate specifically designed for even melting). They are almost always poorer quality.

It's hard to recommend Blommer for high-quality chocolate. As others have mentioned, it's very sweet: they also use artificial vanilla in all of their products for shelf stability.

ok let's do a quiz. one is valrhona 70% bar, the other Ghirardelli 60% chips. which is which?

ingredients #1: cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavor

ingredients #2: unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, milk fat, soy lecithin.

Food Nut wrote:

Pucca wrote:Sometimes they just run out of the ones w/o almonds. They definitely carry them though. I just saw some two days ago and bought some two weeks ago.

Interesting. They must be out because there was not even a sign for bittersweet w/o almonds. I thought of buying it just to eat it.

At the Trader Joe's in my area, I saw the following 1 lb bars: milk chocolate, milk chocolate with almond, dark chocolate, and bittersweet chocolate.

If you are anywhere near Buffalo Grove/Wheeling, I often buy the 2 pound blocks of dark chocolate from the Long Grove Confectionary outlet. I believe it is $12 for 2 pounds. Their dark chocolate has real vanilla, not the artificial vanillin That fake stuff was what I didn't like about Blommers. Interesting to hear about the TJ chocolate possibly being Callebaut. Will have to try the TJ stuff.

Here's the finished product.

Raspberry Whipped Cream Truffle Cake







Thanks for all the info~

What chocolate did you end up using?

Looks yummy and I'm alone in the house with about 30 pounds of leftover halloween candy....

tgoddess wrote:What chocolate did you end up using?

Ghirardelli 60% bar

Food Nut wrote:Thank you to all for the suggestions . . . but where can one find Guittard?

It's easier for me to shop at my local Jewel than the closest Dominick's and yesterday, when getting off the El at the Howard St. Station I walked over to Dominick's in the adjacent shopping center (adjacent to the station) for a couple of things to bring home with me and to my surprise I saw a display of Guittard products. I have a unused supply of chocolate chips in the cabinet but the (green) mint chips caught my eye and I purlchased three 12 oz. bags for candy-making as the holidays approach. $3.20 a bag, or thereabouts - and I'm supposing the chocolate chips are similarly priced.

shorty wrote:

Food Nut wrote:

Pucca wrote:Sometimes they just run out of the ones w/o almonds. They definitely carry them though. I just saw some two days ago and bought some two weeks ago.

Interesting. They must be out because there was not even a sign for bittersweet w/o almonds. I thought of buying it just to eat it.

At the Trader Joe's in my area, I saw the following 1 lb bars: milk chocolate, milk chocolate with almond, dark chocolate, and bittersweet chocolate.

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.