After posting my first question, I thought about something I wanted to
include...

When trying out new recipes and experimenting, what do you use as far as
chocolate is concerned? I ask this b/c I don't want to use a really
expensive chocolate to "play" with. Of course, I would use the best
chocolate to test the "finished" product.

Any thoughts?

SC

at Mon, 23 Feb 2004 02:12:06 GMT in ,
(Stef) wrote :

After posting my first question, I thought about something I wanted to
include...

When trying out new recipes and experimenting, what do you use as far as
chocolate is concerned? I ask this b/c I don't want to use a really
expensive chocolate to "play" with. Of course, I would use the best
chocolate to test the "finished" product.

The standard Guittard line - Gourmet Bittersweet, French Vanilla, Old Dutch
- is the ideal choice. It's cheap, has excellent handling properties, and
is in fact excellent chocolate anyway. Gourmet Bittersweet is indeed so
good I would consider using it in the finished product anyway. Price isn't
necessarily an immediate indicator of quality.

I'd fine-tune the recipe using the chocolate whose flavour profile were
most attuned to the recipe being attempted - and this is the one I'd use in
the final product. You pretty much have to do your fine-tuning using your
final chocolate selection because each one behaves slightly differently.
But as you suggest, it's best to do your initial testing and
experimentation using a "standard" chocolate, not just because it saves
money, but also because you need a neutral reference, something you test
all recipes against so that when you create a new recipe the choice of
chocolate isn't exerting a variable impact on the results.



--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

Thanks Alex!

SC

"Alex Rast" wrote in message
...
at Mon, 23 Feb 2004 02:12:06 GMT in ,
(Stef) wrote :

After posting my first question, I thought about something I wanted to
include...

When trying out new recipes and experimenting, what do you use as far as
chocolate is concerned? I ask this b/c I don't want to use a really
expensive chocolate to "play" with. Of course, I would use the best
chocolate to test the "finished" product.

The standard Guittard line - Gourmet Bittersweet, French Vanilla, Old
Dutch
- is the ideal choice. It's cheap, has excellent handling properties, and
is in fact excellent chocolate anyway. Gourmet Bittersweet is indeed so
good I would consider using it in the finished product anyway. Price isn't
necessarily an immediate indicator of quality.

I'd fine-tune the recipe using the chocolate whose flavour profile were
most attuned to the recipe being attempted - and this is the one I'd use
in
the final product. You pretty much have to do your fine-tuning using your
final chocolate selection because each one behaves slightly differently.
But as you suggest, it's best to do your initial testing and
experimentation using a "standard" chocolate, not just because it saves
money, but also because you need a neutral reference, something you test
all recipes against so that when you create a new recipe the choice of
chocolate isn't exerting a variable impact on the results.



--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)