Powdered Chocolate Compared
Michael Wilson’s recent post of Tiramisu [1] got a number of bakers excited and at the same time hungry. This extravagant delicacy has a number of strong and complementary flavors. One of which is unsweetened chocolate powder. I decided to venture out and try some of the more exotic powdered chocolates to see if I was missing anything. So, off to Amazon I went...
All powders were “Dutched”, except for the Hershey’s.
Cost of 1 ounce (25.3g)
Valrhona [2] $1.70
Callebaut [3] $0.96
Hershey’s [4] $0.37
My wife, neighbor (a very experienced cake baker that sells her goods), and myself had a blind home style hot chocolate taste comparison test. Nothing scientific about it, but taste was our focus.
- Patsy, my wife liked the Hershey the best
- The neighbor also liked Hershey’s the best, but said it took more chocolate powder to match the intensity of the other two.
- I preferred the Valrhona and found the flavor a little more complex. Callebaut was my last choice, so Hershey's came in second.
Considering the cost of 2 of the chocolates, the test was not inexpensive. But the test settled the various qualities of powdered chocolate in my mind. Even though Valrhona took first place IMO, the cost difference can no longer be justified. It looks like the good ole USA Hershey’s chocolate get the accolades at my house.
Until the exotic chocolates have been depleted, Valrhona and Callebaut will be used on specials like Tiramisu.
Hopefully others may find benefit in this post. It cost me over $65 to find out for myself. If you do experiment for yourself, please make sure to post your findings. Taste is subjective.