Thanks for your answer. It is more than I ever expected.
My appreciation.
Dee

"Alex Rast" > wrote in message
...
> at Tue, 14 Dec 2004 20:22:49 GMT in >,
> deedoveyatshenteldotnet (Dee Randall) wrote :
>
>>What brand of 70% bittersweet (dark) chocolate would make a good
>>truffle/ganache/chocolate sauce?
>>
>>I have tried Scharffenberger, but am looking for a less fruitty
>>chocolate, not more than $11 a pound.
>
> Almost any chocolate will be less fruity than Scharffen Berger, but FWIW I
> agree that, in general, a fruity chocolate doesn't make for the best
> truffles, or sauce, for that matter. Actually, you want something a little
> different for truffles and for sauce. In the truffle range, you can get by
> with a more nuanced, mild flavour, because there's much more chocolate in
> the mix. With sauces, OTOH, you want a powerful flavour because the higher
> dilution means you need the strength to make the chocolate flavour stand
> out. With sauce, however, you can also get by with a lower cocoa butter
> content, because you've got so much more fluid, generally at a lower fat
> content anyway, to smooth out the mixture.
>
> For low fruitiness, you want a darker roast. Now, if a roast is *very*
> dark, it can make truffles seem a little "flat", but definitely you want
> the roast to be darker than the (underroasted?) Scharffen Berger.
>
> The $11/lb restriction makes your choices *very* limited. Most of the
> better chocolates are more than that, even if only a little bit more.
> At the $11/lb price, you're more or less limiting yourself to domestic
> producers. And that pretty much means you're limiting yourself to Guittard
> and Ghirardelli, if you want quality chocolate. Guittard is superb overall
> - IMHO far better than Scharffen Berger, but their best chocolates come in
> the 60-65% class. Ghirardelli doesn't list their cocoa solids percentage.
> The Bittersweet chocolate they produce is very good, but so nearly
> identical to Callebaut that it's hard to tell them apart. So if you really
> do want to stay under $11/lb, for truffles, yet want a different flavour,
> perhaps the only option you have left is Guittard Coucher du Soleil 72%.
> Be
> aware that there's still some fruitiness to it.
>
> If you can accept a loss of actual cocoa solids percentage, then an
> outstanding choice is Guittard Gourmet Bittersweet. It's 63% cocoa solids,
> but possesses an unusual intensity for that percentage that really makes
> it
> a lot stronger than typical chocolates in its range. I use it as my
> "standard" ganache chocolate - it's incredibly versatile, being excellent
> across the entire range from truffles to sauce.
>
> For sauce only, you have another good choice : El Rey Gran Saman. This has
> a low cocoa butter content, and for that reason isn't the best for
> truffles, but for sauce it has knockout power and a great, tropical/earthy
> flavour.
>
> Now, if you want to expand your horizons into the $20/lb range, your
> options open up immensely. Michel Cluizel, perhaps the best single
> chocolatier in the world (at least IMHO) has a world-class entry in Amer
> Brut 72%. Cote D'Or and Dolfin each make chocolates that are almost as
> good, although with the Cluizel available for a lower price thanks to the
> fact that you can get it in a bulk format as opposed to the other 2, only
> found in bars, it sort of begs the question as to why. Valrhona's Araguani
> is good for truffles, with a delicate flavour, not so fruity as the
> typical
> Valrhona either. I wouldn't recommend this one for sauce, though.
>
> There are other chocolates that offer various balances of flavour and
> roast
> , if you're ready to spend the big bucks, but of course prices quickly get
> out of hand and I'm with you - when it comes to truffles and sauces,
> *some*
> cost control is desirable, especially when the extra price doesn't really
> buy you better quality, just different, generally more characterised,
> flavour characteristics.
>
> --
> Alex Rast
>
> (remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)