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at Sat, 16 Jul 2005 01:58:23 GMT in
.com>,
wrote :

>On Fri, 15 Jul 2005 06:49:57 -0000 Alex Rast wrote:
>
>>Ghirardelli typically offsets a very bright fruity note, reminiscent of
>>cherries, against a very dark, coffeelike flavour. It's something of an
>>extreme but well-balanced mix. Another chocolate with similar
>>characteristics is Dagoba Dark 59%. The 60/40 blend is one of the most
>>common in the industry. So there's lots of variety to choose from at
>>about this percentage. Another one with similar characteristics to
>>Ghirardelli, but not such an extreme counterbalance, is Guittard Lever
>>du Soleil 61%. Guittard is very good in the 60-65% class and have
>>several chocolates to choose from. It's worth trying them just to get a
>>feel for what's out there.
>
>[Flea Bitten] I appreciate your taking the time to list your
>recommendations based on my bittersweet preferences. I will Google for
>more info. I'd like to add that I've read a few of your past posts
>extolling the perfection of Guittard Gourmet Bittersweet. I only wish
>Whole Foods or Trader Joe's would sell small chunks of it, as I have no
>use for a 10-lb block.
>
>>Can you give me the fat grams, carb grams, and protein grams along with
>>the serving size from the "Nutrition Facts" label? Then it would be
>>possible to compare against the old label without difficulty to assess
>>the changes. From a smoother mouthfeel POV, it could be that the chips
>>are conched longer than they used to be. Added cocoa butter however is
>>still a distinct possibility.
>
>[Flea Bitten] Good idea to compare nutritional labels!
>
>OLD CHIP
>Nutritional Facts: Serving Size 16 chips (15g)
>70 Calories (Calories from Fat 40)
>Total Fat 4.5g
> Saturated Fat 2.5g
>Cholesterol 0mg
>Sodium 0mg
>Total Carbohydrate 9g
> Dietary Fiber 1g
> Sugars 7g
>Protein 1g
>
>Ingredients: Bittersweet Chocolate (Unsweetened Chocolate, Sugar, Cocoa
>Butter, Soy Lecithin-an emulsifier, Vanilla). May contain trace amounts
>of milk protein.
>
>NEW CHIP:
>Nutritional Facts: Serving Size 16 chips (15g)
>80 Calories (Calories from Fat 60)
>Total Fat 6g
> Saturated Fat 4g
> Trans Fat 0g
>Cholesterol 0mg
>Sodium 0mg
>Total Carbohydrate 8g
> Dietary Fiber 1g
> Sugars 5g
>Protein 1g
>Ingredients: Unsweetened Chocolate, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Milk Fat, Soy
>Lecithin-an emulsifier, Vanilla. May contain trace amounts of milk.
>
>
>[Flea Bitten] The above is verbatim. Ghirardelli has added milk fat! Is
>that a bad thing? Eaten straight, the new chips have a similar texture
>to Dove dark chocolate bars---Smooooooth.

A (mostly) good thing. Note that the carbs have gone down, which means that
they've substituted fat for sugar. Therefore, so far, so good. Milkfat does
produce a smoother texture in chocolate, because it's a good emulsifier of
the cocoa. In baking, meanwhile, the milkfat (basically, butter) will
stabilise the chips and prevent the chocolate from going out of temper.
Ever noticed how adding a small amount of butter to melted chocolate
prevents it from losing temper? Same thing here. Butter does have a sharp
melting point, and the chips may flatten a little more, but after baking
they should retain a better temper and characteristics. Furthermore the
flavour will be fuller with the higher ratio of chocolate to sugar. Thus
overall I'd expect the performance to be slightly better. Some purists will
complain that it's not a "true" dark chocolate with the addition of
butterfat, but IMHO that's quibbling, and besides, if you want to get
ultra-purist, you should demand that the chocolate not contain soy
lecithin, and wait - there's another level - the hyper-purist wouldn't even
allow cocoa butter as an added ingredient (most chocolate at least adds
cocoa butter to that which was already in the beans being used in order to
achieve the desired cocoa butter percentage).

BTW, if you like the ultra-smooth texture of Dove, there is a chocolate
with yet better texture. Try Hachez Cocoa D'Arriba 77%. In spite of the
high percentage it's mild, like a 60%, and as for texture no other
chocolate comes close.

--
Alex Rast

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