Here are some pointers experts say to consider when purchasing chocolate for baking:

  • Don't bake with the best. Chocolate is full of flavorful chemical compounds that are diminished by cooking. The best way to savor an expensive dark chocolate is to eat it raw, a little at a time. A good way to compare chocolates is to purchase a few bars with the same percentage of cacao and taste each one, noting the flavors that emerge.
  • Consider your recipe. Certain preparations can mask a chocolate's flaws. Inexpensive Baker's chocolate is unpalatable when sampled plain and in pots de crème, but brownies made with it were acceptable in tests.
  • Melt carefully. Experts recommend that you place chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and microwave at the lowest setting until melted. If you don't have a microwave, you can melt chocolate in a bowl set atop a pan of gently simmering water.
  • Decrease the dust. For easier, neater chopping, Cook's Illustrated recommends warming thick bars of chocolate on a microwave-safe plate in a microwave set on the lowest setting for one minute, turning halfway through.
  • Chop semisweet or bittersweet bar chocolate into "emergency" chips. You can use bar chocolate in cookies, which won't look as nice but will taste just as good. Chopping won't be a problem if you warm the bar slightly first. If all you have is quality unsweetened chocolate, you can melt it in a double boiler, add sugar to taste, pour circles of chocolate out onto a cookie sheet, and freeze them into discs. The improvised "chips" will be somewhat grainy but will taste fine.
  • Accept no substitute for unsweetened chocolate. In a recipe, you can't replace unsweetened chocolate with bar chocolate or chocolate chips, which contain sugar.

Back to top