writes:
>at Wed, 07 Jun 2006 03:57:08 GMT in >,
(tert in seattle) wrote :

>>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?
>
>It might be a little *too* high. Unsweetened chocolate contains around 50-
>55% cocoa butter - although the same could be said of the Hachez Arriba
>77%. Most couverture chocolates have about 36-42% cocoa butter. But it
>should broadly be OK. Guittard's unsweetened is decent although in the
>Seattle area you can get some that are better - e.g. Bonnat and Slitti. A
>few stores in Seattle have carried Cluizel's Noir Infini and Domori Puro,
>but I've not seen them locally for a while.
>
>Subbing pure unsweetened chocolate for bittersweet packs a much stronger
>wallop - far more than the difference in percentage, so be ready for that.
>As long as you like powerful chocolatiness it shouldn't be a problem,
>though. The exception is when the glaze was to be used for something milder
>that you didn't want to obscure. For instance, something flavoured with
>strawberries would probably disappear behind a pure unsweetened. You'd want
>something very mild like Domori Porcelana for that.

I'll just be using it for the sachertorte which I want to be as
powerfully chocolatey as possible. The traditional recipe calls for
either slathering the whole cake in apricot marmalade or putting a thin
layer of it in the middle. I expect apricot marmalade to mount a more
serious challenge to chocolate than strawberries would. But maybe the
marmalade's there more to provide moisture than apricot flavor in which
case the question is moot.

Thank you for the encyclopedic answers. For my next trick I will attempt
to mix water and chocolate.