Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Review: Ghirardelli Gourmet Baking Chocolate Line
There was some excitement in our household when the samples of Ghirardelli's new baking chocolates arrived. Baking and chocolate: two of our favorite subjects. Unfortunately, the products themselves are never going to be top shelf in our pantry. Shipped in 10-ounce bags ($3.99 to $4.99), the chocolate came in the form of chips. Tasting the samples, because that's the real test, resulted in disappointment. The texture was waxy, and no surprise. The ingredient list included unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, milk fat and soy lecithin (though real vanilla where that flavoring was used, to their credit). Milk fat simply isn't an ingredient in dark chocolate.
At the high end of this line, the price is about $8 a pound at the suggested retail price. That seems far too low for top chocolate. If I were to pick up three kilos (6.6 pounds) of a good Valrhona couverature from Sparrow Enterprises, for example, I might be paying about $11.60, and Sparrow is one of the least expensive sources I know for good chocolate, as it's a wholesaler that will also ship to consumers. The tastes are also incomparable, probably because chocolate quality depends completely on the quality and the roasting of the beans. Having a chocolate announce 60 percent cocoa solids doesn't matter if it uses inferior beans.
If you're looking for really good chocolate for baking, go buy some Valrhona or Callebaut or El Rey. It's easy enough to break up and chop the chocolate with a kitchen knife if having small pieces for melting is important to you, and the results will be better.
At the high end of this line, the price is about $8 a pound at the suggested retail price. That seems far too low for top chocolate. If I were to pick up three kilos (6.6 pounds) of a good Valrhona couverature from Sparrow Enterprises, for example, I might be paying about $11.60, and Sparrow is one of the least expensive sources I know for good chocolate, as it's a wholesaler that will also ship to consumers. The tastes are also incomparable, probably because chocolate quality depends completely on the quality and the roasting of the beans. Having a chocolate announce 60 percent cocoa solids doesn't matter if it uses inferior beans.
If you're looking for really good chocolate for baking, go buy some Valrhona or Callebaut or El Rey. It's easy enough to break up and chop the chocolate with a kitchen knife if having small pieces for melting is important to you, and the results will be better.
