What’s currently your favorite type of chocolate (for consuming, not so much for cooking with) and please say why, be it something that’s commercially mass produced, or a more expensive gourmet variety you love, despite it costing more, or something you might even make yourself.
my ex used to make chocolate truffles with a tiny pinch of ceyenne pepper mixed in. those were OUTSTANDING! nowdays, my favorites are truffles from Teuscher and chocolates from Recchiuti here in the bay area.
I like those Pistoles. I am sure you have seen them. They come in the 5# boxes all Pastry Chef's have them in there shop. Small chips bigger than what the Nestle company makes.
Lake Forest has choc. covered fresh raspberries in the month of July...ummmm
I mix it up, Valrohna pistolles....scharffen berger bars....butterfinger crips....
there are probably 40 different varities in my choc. stash. I do not care for the funky new age herbal bars with "health" benefits and weird addins.
Bitter choc with orange ranks pretty high on my list.
Whole Foods 365 truffles are pretty great too....interestingly Trader Joe's are not.
I like Scharffenbarger's dark bar with cocoa nibs if I'm in the mood for a treat. I enjoy Dove dark (but not milk), too. I love caramel and nuts in chocolate, but find most of the commercial brands to be too sweet or chemical-tasting (Nestle's milk chocolate is one).
One of these days I'd like to go to Vosges Chocolate in Chicago. Ever since I heard about their combination of spices like curry and paprika with chocolate, I've been intrigued. :lips:
Whole Foods carries some of Vosage bars...the cinnamon/chili one is good the wasabi one is not high on my list. I've had a couple of their truffles and they are FINE. Some of the combos are alittle too far out there.....
****, give me any type of chocolate and Im a happy guy! From Hershey's Milk Choc. bars to chunks of Callebaut bittersweet cut right off the block. Though my true choc. loves are my unbearablly rich hot chocolate and my choc. ice cream made with a mixture of cocoa powder, bittersweet choc. and milk choc.
Baskin Robbins has a flavor called World Class Chocolate.. it's a blend of White chocolate, milk chocolate and dark chocolate ice cream.. (or maybe the dark part is just swirls of fudge, I forget). It's heavenly. Makes a great milk shake, too.
Other than that.. I'm a fan of chocolate and peanut butter together. Be it a fancy blend, or just a reeses peanut butter cup.
Having a mother working for Nestle and currently working for them too, milk chocolate or even chocolate in general isn't very high on my list of indulgences. But I enjoy any dark chocolate in just about anything from it's block form to truffles to mousse cakes. I enjoy making eclairs either drizzled or topped with tempered couveture and filled with pastry cream flavored with the same chocolate.
I usually get a dark truffle bar from Trader Joe's. I'm usually particular about my chocolate, I don't care for ANY milk in my chocolate. I want the dark stuff, with a little vanilla in it. Usually 71-73% is good for me.
I worked there in high school. I think it's just white and dark chocolate, but ****. It's made with milk, right? However, there are far too many ingredients to be sure....
I remember I had to make an ice cream pie with world class chocolate. I loaded it up with the darker part of the ice cream because it was a little short on the white chocolate. I put a little white on top so it looked good, and then they called me back and bitched me out that there wasn't any white chocolate. I'll remember that forever.. Oh the many tales of Baskin Robbins. Once the front door glass shattered into the store, and I was the only one there. People walked OVER the glass with their kids to get some ice cream so I couldn't clean it up. Bastards.
I love dark chocolate. No special kind. No filling. Just pllaaaainnn dark chocolate. I think that "sweet candy" stuff is for sissies. Give me BITTER highly concentrated chocolate.
If I had unlimited $$$$$, for plain chocolate I'd mainly go with Scharffenberger, the darker the better. Or a Russian brand I've only tasted at food shows, which is very smooth and very rich. Or if I wanted bonbons, Chocolat Moderne, which has some really great fillings and flavors.
But for everyday, I find that bars of Perugina Bittersweet are just fine.
I'd still love to experience some of the worlds better chocolates.
My favorite bar so far? Lindt
We have a Polish grocery store that I drive to sometimes...and they have a decent selection of imported foods...including imported chocolates.
They've also got some nice sausages. But my favorite is their beef, pork, chicken, lamb and veal. They've got a good selection of different lamb and veal cuts(and bones) throughout the year.
Chocolate - proof enough for me that there is truly a God that loves us...
I grew up with a Mother that would horde and hide chocolate. In her home right now I could guarantee that there is chocolate hidden in every single room, no joke. Last year for Christmas my Dad bought her over 50lbs of chocolate. She will pretty much only eat milk chocolate and loves a hint of mint. I started a website selling my Father's caramels CardonCaramels.com and will soon be selling some homemade chocolate bars. One of them I created for my mother, Mother's Mint. It is not milk chocolate, it's a 53% from Callebault (in my opinion the best chocolate you can buy...) with mint oil, dried mint flakes, and macadamia nuts. Sounds weird but even I like it and I usually cannot stand nuts. She loves this chocolate bar and if it weren't such a pain to balance out she'd have a larger stash of them...
Personally I love a dark chocolate, around 73%, again only from Callebault. One of my favorites has the addition of lavender oil, dried lavender blossoms and freeze dried raspberries. This bar will also be sold on the website soon. This combination in particular is one of the most soothing and truly enjoyable treats I have ever enjoyed. It is delicate with the lavendar, the raspberry adds a contrasting texture and surprise, but the whole experience is wonderful.
Like I mentioned, I will be selling chocolate bars on my website soon. If any of you would like to suggest truly gourmet chocolate bar recipes feel free, and please use your imaginations. The first time I heard of dark chocolate with chopped up chiles in it I about gagged, but I was addicted at the first taste. Incredible combo that I most likely would never have paired in my mind.
When at home, any dark chocolate bar that easily breaks off into small pieces when refrigerated, so I can open the refrigerator door, snap off a little piece, smoosh the foil back around the bar, and be on my way with a quick chocolate fix. Lindts does this nicely.
When on the road for business, grabbing a good cup of coffee, returning to the hotel room where I have stashed a package of Le Petit Ecoliers (70% cocoa, sinfully dark) is just the ticket to make it a bit more like home.
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