While working on a chocolate recipe for this afternoon, we realized that we generally keep on hand two to four different brands of semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate.
Why so many? Rather than sticking loyally to one brand, we use several different ones, depending on what we're baking. (Please note - this is entirely different from our favorite chocolate for eating. We keep a separate stash box, ready for late night chocolate cravings. Don't worry.)
We often turn to Scharffen Berger. Developed by a former champagne maker, it has a full, fruity flavor that helps it to pair with wine. With dense chocolate cakes, mousses, or truffles, this fruitiness is a welcome note that we think makes things fudgier.
But when making a classic chocolate chip cookie, or other old-fashioned desserts, we find that fruity note distracting. It just doesn't make things taste like Mom made them. So instead, we turn to Callebaut. In chocolate chip cookies, it melts in your mouth smoothly and creamily. You can buy it in huge chunks, and its flavor is richly chocolaty without any bitter aftertaste.
Price is part of the reason why there are sometimes other brands in our house. Ghirardelli can be a bit waxy, but it's sold in our regular grocery store, and it's far more affordable than any of these other brands. When making large quantities of desserts, or when the budget's a bit tight, Ghirardelli works just fine.
And when we want to make that one spectacular dessert, where price isn't an factor, we'll occasionally buy Valhrona. Its depth of flavor is unparalleled, and we love that it's available in many different percentages.
Other than these four, there are other brands we've used and liked, such as Dagoba, and E. Guittard. But they aren't available as readily and in quantities suited for baking.
What chocolate do you use for baking, and why? Are you a multiple chocolate household?
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Hmm, I like this post. It's interesting to hear your reasonings. I suppose my views are similar, but I'd just never put them into words.
view brittanykate's profile
Haven't tried it yet, but I recently got a huge 2-pound bar of Trader Joe's dark chocolate to use for baking purposes...I'm mentioning that just to give people the chance to warn me about "no, it tastes like feet" if this is the case.
view empresscallipygos's profile
Mmm...this post is giving me a hankering for some cocoa. I've used Scharffen Berger, Valhrona, and Ghirardelli chocolate for baking, and let's be honest, I don't have a problem with using Nestle chips in my chocolate chip cookies. I think that the type of chocolate that you use is more of an issue when you're making something like chocolate truffles, where the only ingredients are chocolate and cream, and you need to use something with less sugar in it so that it melts a little more evenly.
view sarahbest's profile
I was stressed out about showing up to dinner at a friend's house without dessert last Friday and then my eyes lit upon the stash box of chocolate that I keep in the kitchen. I selected two very different, but totally delicious bars (a Theo and a Chuao) and was out the door! My husband gave me a hard time when I realized that not every has a stash of chocolate, including different bars for different things. I have to admit that I often use Trader Joe's chocolate chips when making recipes that call for chips. I am partial to Scharffen Berger for cakes.
view leannemdavis's profile
I liked El Rey too - it's around the same price as Scharffen Berger and Callebaut and it's sold in various chunk sizes at Whole Foods.
view faith's profile
Oh also, I've baked with TJ's el cheapo and it's fine for big batches of things. Just use it quickly after you open it; mine went stale and then it was indeed bad.
view faith's profile