A Palatable Sugar Free Chocolate?

[bkchocolate]

Hello. I'll be opening my very first chocolate shop this summer, and am now looking for a good -- or the best -- brand of sugar free chocolate that I can use to make molded chocolates and other products with. I need some sugar free products to sell for those that want/need them, and I know it won't taste great, but I need the best of what's available out there. Anybody know of any palatable sugar free chocolate that can be bought in bulk?
Thanks so much.

[cakerookie]

www.chocolatesource.com
www.ghirardelli.com
www.chocosphere.com
www.americanchocolatedesigns.com

These may help.
Regards Cakerookie

[bkchocolate]

Thanks, Cakerookie -- it's not so much that I can't find out where to buy the sugar free chocolate, but I'm wondering what tastes better than the others. I can buy from all and check it out myself, but I'd like to know if other people have an opinion on the best tasting of these sugar free chocolates. But thanks for the list -- I will check them out.

[cakerookie]

Sorry, sometimes I do not read the posts all the way through. I do not know about sugar free chocolate but I am sure someone here will help you..

[scott123]

It's not available in my area so I haven't tried it, but I would think the sugar free Callebaut would be your best bet. As far as taste goes, it'll be just as good as the real thing, as it's maltitol based. Maltitol in baked goods/confectionary is pretty much indistinguishible from sugar.

Maltitol does have it's downside, though. It can be laxating if consumed to excess. For some people it can be laxating, period. It's also pretty high GI (Glycemic Index). A small portion of the sugar free/low carb community avoids it. Most people reaching for sugar free desserts are not that aware. I do see this changing, though.

As far as sugar free chocolate that doesn't include maltitol or lactitol (also laxating), that gets tricky. Hershey used to make an erythritol based chocolate called 1 carb, but from what I believe, they stopped making it. If your interested in a non maltitol chocolate, I'll dig up some sources.

Otherwise, go with the maltitol. It's a carbon copy for sugar and available in bulk from Callebaut.

Btw, you need this just for enrobing, right? An excellent ganache can be made with unsweetened chocolate and artificial sweeteners.

[bkchocolate]

Thanks, yes, enrobing is what I was thinking of. Now that you mention it, though, I could use a good ganache recipe with sugar free products, if you have one.

Lucky me, Callebaut is building a 25,000 square foot production facility about 20 minutes from me. I can't wait till it's open!! In the meantime, I'll look for their sugar free chocolate.

Thanks,
Betty

[scott123]

Betty, my ganache recipe is still far from complete. Even if I had something finalized, I'm not sure what value it would be for you. I am a devout low carber of many years- strongly anti-maltitol and pro sweetener combining (4 different sweeteners in the same recipe). A lot of my ingredients can't be purchased retail. It's a fairly radical approach

There's loads of good sugar free recipes floating around the web. If you're willing to use maltitol, just buy powdered maltitol and combine it with unsweetened chocolate and cream. Callebaut makes a phenomenal unsweetened chocolate.

[bkchocolate]

Thanks for the advice. I'll check out the Callebaut. I'm a low-carber, too, but most of what I make tastes like ... well, you get the idea. I do feel, however, compelled to offer some sugar-free products in my new shop.
Thanks,
Betty

[cookieguy]

Go with Barry Callebaut if possible; the best sugar free I've seen. Maltitol has 90% of the sweetness of sucrose and one of the highest laxation thresholds of the sugar alcohols. Erythritol also has a very high threshold but it's just too expensive. The sugar alcohol you want to keep away from is Mannitol; it has a very low laxation threshold. Eat a few candies with Mannitol and walk directly to the rest room.

[bkchocolate]

Thanks, I'm going to check out the Callebaut. I'm assuming that people who want/need to buy sugar free chocolates expect to pay a bit more, so I'm not going to worry about the expense just yet. Thanks for the advice.

Betty

[chocoman]

bkchocolate,
I looked around for sugarfree chocolate for quite a while. I am using a lot of Swiss chocolate in my shop and wanted a good sugarfree chocolate for some of my diabetic clients. But it couldn't be too expensive either. For the past few years I have been using Nestle's Peter's sugarfree chocolate which is sweetened by Maltitol (like many others). In 2002 Nestle sold the Peter's chocolate line to Cargill Inc. You can check the Internet for places where you can buy it.
I made sugarfree truffles using the Peter's chocolate line (semi-sweet dark, milk, and white), treating the sugarfree chocolate just like regular chocolate and it worked out great. Most of my clients who taste the sugarfree chocolate comment that it tastes just like the "real" thing. But you know, it's a matter of taste.
As far as pricing is concerned, I am charging only a little bit more than I do for regular chocolate.
Check it out and let me know what you think.
Good luck
chocoman