Baking Chocolate: Reviews

Updated November 2007
 

Best baking chocolate overall

*Est. $8.75 for 17.5 ounces Compare Prices
 
Expert & User Review Sources:

Cook's Illustrated Magazine: Cook's Illustrated staffers sample 12 dark chocolate bars, each of which contains about 60 percent cacao. Callebaut Intense Dark ...

Cook's Illustrated Magazine: Though rendered outdated by Cook's Illustrated's most recent test of dark chocolate, this older report, in which 20 editors taste ...

Gourmet: Lear, a longtime food editor, discusses the Gourmet test kitchen's favorite chocolates. Callebaut is among them, although she ...

 

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Best supermarket chocolate

Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar *Est. $3 for 4 ounces Compare Prices
 
Expert & User Review Sources:

Cook's Illustrated Magazine: Cook's Illustrated staffers sample 12 dark chocolate bars, each of which contain about 60 percent cacao. Ghirardelli competes ...

Cook's Illustrated Magazine: This older report, in which 20 editors taste nine chocolate bars raw, in chocolate sauce and baked into a cake, is still useful ...

San Francisco Chronicle: Testers sample 14 widely available dark chocolate bars and taste each one raw. Ghirardelli figures among the unranked chocolates ...

Chocolate in Context: Emily Stone interviews Elizabeth Falkner, owner of San Francisco restaurant Citizen Cake, about her favorite chocolates. Although ...

 

Best gourmet dark chocolate

*Est. $4 for 2.6 ounces Compare Prices
 
Expert & User Review Sources:

Los Angeles Times: Six panelists sample 23 chocolate bars with 70-75 percent cacao content. The Valrhona Le Noir Amer (71 percent) earns second ...

San Francisco Chronicle: Testers sample 14 widely available dark chocolate bars and taste each one raw. Valrhona Le Noir earns second place.

Cook's Illustrated Magazine: Though rendered outdated by Cook's Illustrated's most recent test of dark chocolate, this older report, in which 20 editors taste ...

SeriousEats.com: Dorie Greenspan, one of the world's foremost baking experts, provides a brownie recipe and tips. She says that she keeps Valrhona ...

Food & Wine Magazine: Food & Wine polled 100 chefs on their favorite ingredients and essential tools. The majority (53 percent) use Valrhona chocolate, ...

Gourmet: Jane Daniels Lear, a longtime food editor, discusses the Gourmet test kitchen's favorite chocolate. This article explains that ...

Seventypercent.com: SeventyPercent.com is an enthusiast website. Contributors give Valrhona Manjari an average of eight points out of 10 in three ...

 

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Best unsweetened chocolate

Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Pure Dark Chocolate *Est. $9 for 9.7 ounces Compare Prices
 
Expert & User Review Sources:

Cook's Illustrated Magazine: Unsweetened chocolate is not eaten raw, so editors, with the help of four pastry chefs, bake it into brownies and prepare a ...

SeriousEats.com: Dorie Greenspan, one of the world's foremost baking experts, provides a brownie recipe and tips. She says that she prefers ...

NPR: Melody Joy Kramer and a panel of NPR employees conduct a blind test of 30 chocolate brands. Scharffen Berger chocolate bars are ...

Chocolate in Context: Emily Stone interviews Elizabeth Falkner, owner of San Francisco restaurant Citizen Cake, about her favorite chocolates. Falkner ...

 

Best chocolate chips

*Est. $2.80 for 12 ounces Compare Prices
 
Expert & User Review Sources:

Cook's Country: Editors taste nine brands of chocolate chips, which contain less cocoa butter and more sugar than bar chocolate. Guittard Classic ...

Cook's Illustrated Magazine: Twenty-two tasters, including several Boston-area pastry chefs, sampled seven semisweet chocolate chips plain and in ...

SeriousEats.com: Dorie Greenspan, one of the world's foremost baking experts, provides a brownie recipe and tips. She keeps E. Guittard on hand ...

Food & Wine Magazine: Food & Wine polled 100 chefs on their favorite ingredients and essential tools. Many use Guittard, but they don't mention whether ...

Chocolate in Context: Emily Stone interviews Elizabeth Falkner, owner of San Francisco restaurant Citizen Cake, about her favorite chocolates. Falkner ...

 

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