Baking Chocolate

2009 CHEFSBEST® AWARD FOR BEST TASTE WINNER

Claim Language: The ChefsBest Award for Best Taste is awarded to the brand rated highest overall among leading brands by independent professional chefs.

Ghirardelli

What Makes a Great Baking Chocolate?

It's been half-jokingly said that you shouldn't trust anyone who doesn't enjoy chocolate — especially anyone who doesn't enjoy home-baked chocolate confections. After all, nothing can bring a smile to a loved one's face like a homemade cake or batch of cookies nudged along by the best baking chocolate.

A bar of great semi-sweet baking chocolate begins with a rich brown color. Additionally, it may have a sheen or matte appearance — either type is acceptable.

Look for moderate aroma intensity in high-quality semi-sweet baking chocolate, with notes of vanilla, nut, fruit, earthiness, and of course, chocolate contributing to its complexity.

A medium level of both sweetness and bitterness should be the bedrock of baking chocolate's taste profile, with a trace of sourness also present in the mix.

Building on each of the aroma notes listed above, the flavor intensity of great baking chocolate will increase to a pronounced level from the aroma. Its flavor character should be similarly bright to its aroma.

The best baking chocolate will have a smooth texture; once bitten, it should feel creamy and dissolve fairly quickly in the mouth. Expect a moderately long, somewhat bitter aftertaste.

When used to bake a flourless chocolate cake, great semi-sweet baking chocolate should offer moderate flavor intensity, with plenty of nuance brought by its notes of fruit, nut, vanilla, and earthiness.

We know what makes a great baking chocolate, but what makes a bad one?

Try to avoid brands of semi-sweet baking chocolate whose aroma and flavor intensities fall flat. These inferior brands will generally render cakes and other confections that offer little more than simple cocoa powder flavor, which doesn't pack nearly the same punch as great baking chocolate.

Why is Ghirardelli the best baking chocolate?

Our chefs were pleased with the way Ghirardelli's semi-sweet baking chocolate lent bright flavor to flourless chocolate cake. Its smooth, rounded set of aromas and flavors were each distinct within the cake, while also offering a pleasantly creamy texture.

This judging was for baking chocolate, not including white chocolate, solid or filled chocolate candy bars, or chocolate morsels or chips.