Baking Chocolate

Best dark chocolate

Dark chocolate is made of cacao, or ground cocoa beans, and sugar. According to Cook's Illustrated, the terms "bittersweet" and "semisweet" are largely meaningless, since sugar content in chocolate is not regulated and some bittersweet chocolates contain more sugar than semisweet bars.

In addition to sugar and cacao, dark chocolate may contain vanilla, emulsifiers, milkfat, and added cocoa butter or other fats for a smoother texture and richer mouth feel. Most dark chocolate contains at least 55 percent and as much as 99 percent cacao, and the greater the percentage of cacao, the lower the level of sugar. Experts say that most consumers prefer chocolate with about 60 percent cocoa, which offers a just-right balance of sweet and bitter flavors. Connoisseurs, however, claim that higher-cacao bars provide a richer experience: as high-cacao chocolate melts, flavors of coffee, nut, smoke, tobacco, vegetables and even flowers can be noticed. (High-cacao chocolate should be reserved for eating plain, since melting and baking destroy some of chocolate's volatile flavor compounds.)

Although it often takes a backseat to flavor, texture can make or break chocolate. Quality chocolate should be shiny, break with a snap, melt smoothly and taste creamy. Although manufacturers are reluctant to discuss their methods, many add milkfat for creaminess and conch chocolate in stainless steel rollers, which aerates, homogenizes and expels acids. (Conching is a process that kneads liquid chocolate thoroughly to produce a smooth taste and mouth feel.) All chocolate that is to be eaten raw is conched, but a handful of chocolatiers, including Scharffen Berger, conch their baking chocolate as well.

Callebaut (*est. $8.75 for 17.5 ounces) , a Belgian chocolate with 60 percent cacao, outperformed all other chocolates in the latest tests at Cook's Illustrated. Testers called it "complex," "creamy" and "earthy," and said that it not only had a rich flavor, but baked into "what a brownie should be." Testers liked the balance of sweetness and bitterness and picked up on a caramel aftertaste. What's more, Callebaut cost less than most other chocolates tested. Callebaut is, however, hard to find in most supermarkets (it can be ordered online or you can find it in gourmet shops).

San Francisco-based Ghirardelli, which is now owned by Lindt, manufactures a 64-percent-cacao baking bar (*est. $3 for 4 ounces) that has been both winner and runner-up in dark chocolate tests at Cook's Illustrated. Pastry chef Elizabeth Falker of Citizen Cake lists Ghirardelli among her favorite chocolates. Testers found this chocolate "assertive" in brownies and "creamy, glossy, and rich" in other applications. Ghirardelli chocolate has an advantage in that it's easy to find in supermarkets, but on a price-per-ounce basis it's more expensive than Callebaut.

In a Food & Wine poll of 100 pastry chefs, the majority (53 percent) said they use Valrhona chocolate. They specifically cite the Manjari variety (*est. $4 for 2.6 ounces), which is said to have a fruity character. Chloe Doutre-Roussel, one of the world's foremost authorities on chocolate, calls Valrhona Manjari one of her "desert-island bars." In Cook's Illustrated tests of baking chocolate, Valrhona Le Noir (*est. $4.50 for 3.5 ounces) semisweet earns a rating of "recommended" for its "well balanced" and "sharp" chocolate flavor. It bakes into "fudgy" brownies and "supersmooth" pots de crème. Some testers would prefer a longer aftertaste, however. Valrhona Le Noir is also preferred in the taste test at the L.A. Times, where testers tasted each bar raw and didn't try any baking.

We read mixed reviews of Dagoba chocolate bars. Testers at both Prevention and Cook's Illustrated praise Dagoba's 59 percent cacao dark chocolate bar (*est. $3 for 2 ounces) for its strong chocolate flavor and smooth texture. Editors at Cook's enjoyed the hints of apricot and almond they detected in this chocolate, but some found it too sweet. Editors at the San Francisco Chronicle, on the other hand, crowned the Dagoba 59 percent bar the best of the 14 chocolate bars they sampled. Prevention praised the "decadent" Dagoba Roseberry bar (*est. $3 for 2 ounces) , which contains the same 59-percent-cacao chocolate infused with rose hips and studded with raspberries.

We also read inconclusive reports about Scharffen Berger semisweet and bittersweet chocolate. Editors at Prevention say that the company's semisweet (62 percent cacao, *est. $4.50 for 3 ounces) and bittersweet (70 percent cacao, *est. $4.30 for 3 ounces) bars would please any chocoholic. In a Food & Wine article, Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery in Boston says that Scharffen Berger is "excellent and straightforward." Testers at Cook's Illustrated, however, found the fruitiness of the semisweet bar overpowering. They noted a whole range of fruit flavors, from cherry to prune, but some said the cherry tasted like cough syrup. Baked into pots de crème and brownies, Scharffen Berger semisweet was slightly "gluey" and lacked the intensity tasters craved. It's probably best to eat Scharffen Berger semisweet and bittersweet chocolate raw and use other bars, such as Callebaut 60 percent, in dessert recipes.

If you want the best chocolate bar that money can buy, reviews say you should seek out Amadei (*est. $10 for 1.75 ounces) , an Italian chocolate that has won raves from critics around the world. Unlike nearly every other chocolate maker, Amadei imports its own cocoa beans and roasts, husks and grinds them in its Tuscan factory. In a Food & Wine article, Pete Wells reports that when he bit into the Amadei Toscano Black 70 percent, he had the "sensation of getting all the deliciousness any sane person could want." The only drawback is the price, say reviews.

Unsweetened baking chocolate

A key ingredient in many dessert recipes, unsweetened chocolate is pure chocolate liquor with no sugar or flavorings added. Experts say that some mass-market chocolate manufacturers use lower-quality beans in their unsweetened bars. According to Cook's Illustrated, "The really big players in unsweetened chocolate business use a more limited mix of beans, [which] may make the flavor profile of their product less interesting."

Baker's is perhaps the best known brand of unsweetened chocolate, but according to reviews it's not a standout for flavor. In chocolate-sauce and brownie tests at Cook's Illustrated, Baker's unsweetened baking chocolate earned a rating of "not recommended" and was called "acidic," "bitter," "dry" and "mealy." In a head-to-head brownie test at SeriousEats.com, it fell flat, according to the tester. The chocolate flavor was short-lived, and the brownies were somewhat dull.

Scharffen Berger unsweetened baking chocolate (*est. $9 for 9.7 ounces), on the other hand, is "fruity" and "nutty" with a "deep, caramelized flavor," according to Cook's Illustrated. At SeriousEats.com, Scharffen Berger easily bested Baker's in a brownie bake-off. Testers found the flavor of the Scharffen Berger brownies "out of this world," with intense, lasting flavor.

Ghirardelli Unsweetened (*est. $2.25 for 4 ounces) and Callebaut Unsweetened (*est. $17.75 for 2.2 pounds) also fare well in reviews. Ghirardelli bested all other baking chocolates in the brownie test at Cook's Illustrated, and testers called it "rich and earthy." Cook's testers detected cinnamon and cherry notes in the Callebaut baking chocolate, which they said has deep flavor.

Chocolate chips

Like unsweetened chocolate, chocolate chips tend to be coarser and less flavorful than bar chocolate. Generally speaking, chips don't contain as much cocoa butter, which means they don't melt as well. They're also less creamy than dark chocolate bars because they are rarely conched (a refining process that improves smoothness).

A handful of manufacturers, however, are producing chocolate chips that rival bar chocolate for texture and flavor. Not only are they upping the cocoa-butter content, they're also turning to unorthodox techniques and ingredients. One such manufacturer, Guittard, refines and conches the chocolate in its Classic Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (*est. $2.80 for 12 ounces), resulting in glossy, creamy chips that rival chocolate used in high-end candy shops. Although Guittard's chips are flavorful and complex, these disc-shaped chips fail to hold their shape in cookies. Editors at Cook's Illustrated award Guittard the top prize nonetheless. Tasters loved the just-right balance of sweet and bitter flavors and the satiny texture of these chips. Guittard also sells oversized Super Cookie Chips (*est. $2.80 for 10 ounces), which fare slightly less well in testing. Some tasters found them rich and well balanced, while others called them bland.

Although Tropical Source chocolate chips (*est. $3 for 10 ounces) contain unusual ingredients, such as a small percentage of soy flour and unrefined cane juice crystals instead of white sugar, these chocolate chips earned first prize by a wide margin in an older 1998 test at Cook's Illustrated. Editors say that the cane juice crystals temper the sweetness of these chips and that the soy flour makes them creamier. These chocolate chips are complex, slightly bitter, and silky in texture. Tropical Source chips are only available at health food stores and by mail order.

Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (*est. $3 for 12 ounces) taste strongly of chocolate, but they lose points in reviews for being overly sweet. These chips can be gritty when tasted raw, but they melt in the mouth quickly. Ghirardelli, however, is one brand that's available in most supermarkets.

Nestlé Toll House chocolate chips (*est. $2.50 for 11.5 ounces), a perennial bestseller, earns middling reviews in two tests at Cook's Illustrated. Some testers felt that the chocolate flavor of these chips is "decent," while others call these chips saccharine, "like a marshmallow." Another Nestlé product, Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks (*est. $2.50 for 11.5 ounces) fares better in recent tests. These chunks are said to have a stronger chocolate flavor and only moderate sweetness. If Guittard chocolate chips aren't available, reviewers say the Nestlé Semi-Sweet chunks are a decent alternative.

Important Considerations: Baking chocolate

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.

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

# of Picks	Model (with Retailer Links)	Details from Amazon.com
5	Callebaut Intense Dark Chocolate L-60-40NV (*est. $8.75 for 17.5 ounces)	-
4	Valrhona Manjari (*est. $4 for 2.6 ounces)	-
4	Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar (*est. $3 for 4 ounces)	details
3	Dagoba Dark 59% Bar (*est. $3 for 2 ounces)	details
2	Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Pure Dark Chocolate (*est. $9 for 9.7 ounces)	-
1 each	Vere, Hershey's , Guittard, El Rey, Lindt , Michel Cluizel Noir de Cacao , Valrhona Le Noir Amer

Callebaut dark chocolate stands out for its complex flavor, creamy texture, and balance of sweet and bitter flavors. In comparison tests it slightly edges out Ghirardelli, which has an excellent blend of flavors and a rich, glossy consistency. We included Valrhona Manjari in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers because it has a complex flavor profile and is frequently cited as a "classic" by pastry chefs. Scharffen Berger is more expensive than supermarket unsweetened chocolate bars, but experts say it is worth the extra cost. Guittard Classic Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips don't hold their shape in baking like most chocolate chips, but taste so good that experts don't mind.

Sponsored links