Let's Talk About Theobromine - that means Chocolate.

[podbaydoor]

So we gave the 90% Lindt bar to a chocolate-lovin' friend. He sat there and snarfed half the bar down over the course of the evening. O_o

[Zohar]

I just had my first bite of 99% Lindt chocolate. I've never had 99% before, the highest I tasted was 85%. It was interesting. I'll take another bite soon, after dinner. There's a strange salty aftertaste, I'll see if this repeats itself.

[Moo]

I was on a course in London last week. There's a Hotel Chocolate on the way between the station and the course centre*. SO MOTHEREFFIN HAPPY. Finished the last of my capacino truffle cups last night; the best chocolate I've had in aaages.


*if I take a slight, totally worth it, detour

[Jorpho]

It just occurred to me today that what Hershey's bills as "cookies and cream" in the namesake candy bars (and Hershey's kisses) is really just an excuse to pass off white chocolate as something palatable. What do you think?

[Nath]

White chocolate is perfectly palatable. It's not chocolate, mind you, but it's a perfectly palatable mixture of sugar and fat.

[Thesh]

It's not chocolate, mind you

That's debatable. I personally believe that white chocolate is a type of chocolate, since it is made from cocoa butter.

Hershey's Cookies n' Creme, however, does not actually contain real white chocolate. I still find it palatable.

[mystic_aura]

I just had my first bite of 99% Lindt chocolate. I've never had 99% before, the highest I tasted was 85%. It was interesting. I'll take another bite soon, after dinner. There's a strange salty aftertaste, I'll see if this repeats itself.

Woah! 99%? I honestly believed the darkest chocolate Lindt made was 85%. Sadly, I can't seem to swallow anything over 70%. I hold those who can in high regard =)

I love KitKat Dark! It's so awesome, I can't eat the regular one anymore >_>

[the_bandersnatch]

I love KitKat Dark! It's so awesome, I can't eat the regular one anymore >_>

I'm with you here, the KitKat Dark is a glorious thing. And it goes extremely well when dipped into tea or coffee.

[Thesh]

I've had some Belgian chocolate that was 90% cacao, which I liked. I've had bakers chocolate, which is 100% pure cacao, which is disgusting IMO (it's not intended to be eaten like that).

[mystic_aura]

And it goes extremely well when dipped into tea or coffee.

I've never tried it that way. Mostly because I'm a little uncomfortable with dipping anything in my beverages =/ I'm sure it tastes lovely; should give it a shot sometime ^_^ [Maybe skip the dipping, but I'll try the two together]

[CleverNamePending]

I used to live across the street from a Lindt outlet store, but after I dropped about thirty dollars on my first visit never let myself go back. This is probably for the best for both my waistline and wallet.

There is however a from scratch truffle shop within walking distance of my current apartment that does hot chocolate with actual chocolate available in different densities. The 85% was like drinking a cup of ganache. I'm trying the 70% next time.

[Роберт]

I just had my first bite of 99% Lindt chocolate. I've never had 99% before, the highest I tasted was 85%. It was interesting. I'll take another bite soon, after dinner. There's a strange salty aftertaste, I'll see if this repeats itself.

Lindt dark chocolate sucks. Seriously. It's not bad, but I don't know how they manage to remove that much awesomeness from the chocolate. I don't think I've managed to have a worse tasting dark chocolate. Godiva doesn't do dark chocolate well either. I would recommend loads of other brands over them. Ghirardelli is a fairly well known one that does consistently good job. I've enjoyed their 100% on occasion, because I like all sorts of chocolate. Green and Black's does an excellent 85% percent that is surprisingly sweet for that darkness.

Edit: Lindt does good truffles and other chocolates well, but their straight chocolate is lacking.

People!
Endangered Species Chocolate
Buy some.

Yes, it's pretty good.

[AntonGarou]

Really?I love the Lindt dark chocolate- especially the 85%. but then, the only other big name brand I have easy access to is Cote D'Or, so I don't have a lot of things to compare it with.

[Роберт]

Really?I love the Lindt dark chocolate- especially the 85%. but then, the only other big name brand I have easy access to is Cote D'Or, so I don't have a lot of things to compare it with.

I'm dead serious. The Safeway Select "brand" dark chocolate easily beat out Lindt and Godiva. I've never heard of Cote D'Or, so I can't make a judgement on that. Alter Eco makes a pretty good 85% as well.

[psykx]

Over Christmas, my dad gave me some amedei chocolate, he also apologised for the amount of money I will now spend on dark chocolate. It is truly glorious, deep mellow yet intense flavour and a hard but not waxy easily melting to a silky smooth finish. I also tried another kind I can't remember the name of beginning with V. I'm currently sitting at my desk with a 70% green and blacks chocolate bar which is pleasant. I also like the 85% with vanilla seeds but the texture isn't as good.

I'm interested in the 100% cacao bars, has anybody tried them?

[PictureSarah]

I also tried another kind I can't remember the name of beginning with V.

Vosges, perhaps?

[poxic]

Valrhona?

[PAstrychef]

Pure cocoa liquor, which is what the mass of unsweetened cocoa solids+cocoa butter is called, is interesting but not really palatable. If you've ever eaten a bit of unsweetened baking chocolate you've tried 100% cocoa.

[poxic]

I've had some interesting 100% cacao bars. They're not for enthusiastically stuffing into one's face, of course, unless one really likes a facefull of bitter and more bitter. (One friend described the experience as "all of the saliva vanishing from my mouth".) Pure cacao bars can be quite nice when a tiny piece is left to melt on the tongue, though. It's like tasting pure-but-yes-bitter chocolate essence. Something like the experience of a chocolate-covered coffee bean.

Actually, I take that last part back. Eating raw cacao nibs is much more like eating a chocolate-covered coffee bean, and comes equally highly recommended. Do find good-quality cacao nibs because cheap ones are kind of crap. The good ones taste like ... beans, a bit, but like chocolate, but also like something botanical and bloody interesting. And yes, they will make your heart race and your head spin if you eat too much. (Try a dosage about like you'd dose yourself with choccy-coffee beans, around a teaspoonful maximum the first time.)

[psykx]

Ah it was Valrhona. You can get in 1kg bars for chefs, also for noming as it's much cheaper. I once ate a bag of chocolate covered coffee beans about the size of two fists before I realised how much caffeine I had ingested. I didn't stop shaking for about two days.

has everybody seen this? http://www.williescacao.com/ I'm in the UK and there is a couple of series about willie making the best chocolate possible on 4OD, I'd highly recommend them. I was thinking about buying the 6 pack of 100% cacao bars to make brownies from, my dad has an amazing recipe which was invented by accident when we had a power cut when cooking in an electric oven. You start them on a high heat and the outside cooks to crispy chocolaty-ness, then you turn the oven off, but leave the brownies in for another hour or so until the oven has completely cooled down. The brownie cooks through but the centre is still slightly soft and gooey. I can get specific directions if wanted.

[PAstrychef]

Ooooh, please! New trickses for brownies are always appreciated!

[psykx]

Code: Select all

5oz dark chocolate
125g butter
4-6 oz caster suger depending on how sweet you want them to be
2 eggs
tsp vanilla essence (optional)
3/12 oz plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
10" x 12" tray

Melt choc and butter in bain marie, then mix in everything else
35-40 mins at 180C (for double quantity in one tin
or
20 mins at 180C for 12 fairy cake size


This is a pretty classic recipe, just remember to leave them in the oven until it's cooled down. My dad actually had a layer of his wedding cake make out of them, it's that good.

edit: just got an email from my dad, apparently he doesn't do the half cook and leave in the oven thing any more because it's too different between ovens. So I guess experimentation is the order of the day, I'd start with just over half the cooking time on full temp and leave in the oven.

[M1k3_Nix]

had one of these sitting on my desk for around a week, was gunna get around to eating it at some point

Spoiler:

nice 1/2kg of chocolately goodness.

new puppy beat me to it.
onto the bed, bedside table, over the chest of drawers and leapt onto the desk. little swine ate the lot in under the 90 mins i was out.
tracked her path via the tiny claw marks.
and then the piles of sick.....nice


-Mike

[PAstrychef]

Given that chocolate is very bad for dogs, it's better that she sicked it up.
It was a pretty bar though.

[M1k3_Nix]

its the high theobromine content, which luckily is as high in milk chocolate, and practically non-existent in white.
that and a few charcoal tablets (which she actually enjoyed) and she was fine after a few days thank god