I am wanting to make some of the recipes I have found in Karen Barnaby's new book. She recommends using higher quality baking chocolate as opposed to just the Bakers type typically used. I'm having a very hard time finding them!! These are the ones in particular: Callebaut, Valrhona and Scharffen Berger - does anyone know where they might be found? I've looked at a few different stores with no success! Help please! I have some awesome recipes to try! Thanks!!

hi there,

In general, you'd most likely find these products at a gourmet foods shop or perhaps a Belgian chocolatier in your area. Try your local yellow pages for such stores. You could also try online sources.

p.s. - if you put your location in your profile, perhaps someone in your specific area would be able to recommend a local shop .


Doreen

I saw some at a good cooks store in San Diego. It was incredibly expensive stuff! However I saw Alton Brown was able to purchase stuff in enormous slabs. I bet that would be a lot cheaper.

Whole Foods sells unsweetened Callebaut. If you don't live near a Whole Foods, unsweetened Ghirardelli is available in many supermarkets and is fairly close in quality.

Hey thanks!! I live in Portland, Oregon and we do have a Whole Foods here. I went shopping before any replies were made and ended up buying unsweetened Ghiradeli so I am set! I'm making some awesome (sounding anyway) dessert type bars. If they turn out decent enough I will post the recipe. Thanks again!

One thing that I will add, is that although the Ghirardelli is fairly close in quality, it won't have the same intensity of flavor as the Scharffen Berger. For that matter, neither will the Callebaut. The Callebaut has a lot more cocoa butter than the Scharffen Berger.

The less intense the chocolate, the less bitter it will be so I would compensate by using a little less sugar.

Whole Foods carries 99% Scharffen Berger for baking. They also carry Valrhona baking chocolate but not all the time and frequently only in white. I do have some Valrhona cocoa powder that is amazing!

I struggle to find this in the UK apart from a few sources.

A while ago I posted a question to Karen asking what you could do to substitute unsweetened chocolate. Here's here reply from the post:

Substitute 3 Tbsp. (18 grams) cocoa plus 1 Tbsp. (14 grams) unsalted butter for every 1 oz. (28 grams) of unsweetened chocolate. Dissolve the cocoa in at least 2 Tbsp. of liquid in the recipe to bring out the cocoa's flavor. Look for a cocoa that says "Dutch" or "Dutch Process(ed)" on the label.

This works well for baked goods. For things like a mousse or pudding where you need the "strength" of the chocolate to give the mousse body, it doesn't work as well. If you can find cocoa butter anywhere, use it instead of the butter.

The Ghirardelli sure does make a difference! I am going to continue searching for even higher quality chocolate now. My son (16) is also eating low carb with me & he, still being like a kid, wants candy at times. I will NOT be buying the ready made ones with sugar alchohols for him again as I see his cravings go up after he eats one. The ones I make now, totally sugarfree (I've been using Stevia) taste SO MUCH better anyway! Thanks for all the information!