writes:
>at Mon, 05 Jun 2006 22:46:39 GMT in >,
(tert in seattle) wrote :
>
>>I'm using a recipe from a cookbook written in German and I suspect it's
>>important that I use the right type of chocolate. The recipe is for a
>>chocolate icing ("glasur") that uses powdered sugar, water, and
>>"kochschokolade."
>>
>
>Cooking chocolate. However, and this is especially true given that you're
>doing icing, do *NOT* buy "baking chocolate" as is packaged in the US - the
>stuff that comes in 1-oz roughly square chunks wrapped in paper and then in
>a cardboard box. The most common brand, Baker's is as I've said numerous
>times, so bad I wouldn't even use it to kill the neighbour's dog, and
>virtually all the other brands are also quite poor, not to mention low in
>cocoa butter which will give your icing a poor texture.
>
>Instead, buy a decent-quality bar chocolate - and you can pick your
>intensity to suit. As a general guideline, 50% cocoa solids is mild and
>sweet, 60% is strong but sweet, 70% is strong and powerful, 85% is strong,
>and aggressively un-sweet, and of course 100% is very strong indeed. None
>of these, btw, need be bitter.
>
>If you wanted to stay German, Feodora's 75% is an exceptionally good
>chocolate, delicate in flavour and smooth in the German style. Hachez'
>Arriba 77% is also not too bad, although for its percentage decidedly on
>the mild side. However, it will give an extremely smooth texture to your
>icing. Both you can buy at http://www.chocosphere.com.

Thanks Alex. I've looked around and found another recipe I'd like to
try. This one calls for couverture.

http://fred.zimmer.name/vap/4/Db/p34...herglasur.html

I bought a lot of Guittard unsweetened chocolate disks for making the
torte ... I'm not sure what the cocoa butter content is but is it safe
to assume it's high enough to use for the melted couverture?