Most of us have an opinion about the type of chocolate we like. Some like their chocolate very bitter, and for them, bittersweet is the best. For others, semi-sweet is the perfect blanace between bitter and sweet. The only caution we give is to buy the best chocolate you can find. We like Ghirardelli, Guittard, and Lindt. Never use chocolate candy bars for baking.

Unsweetened or bitter chocolate has a lot of flavor but no sugar. We use it to add depth of flavor to a few of the recipes that already have enough sugar to compensate for its bitterness.

Chocolate chips can only be used when they are specifically called for and cannot be substituted for other types of chocolate. Chocolate chips contain more fat (to help them keep their shape when baked) and, as a result, are not good for most other uses.

Unsweetened cocoa powder is used when the addition of solid chocolate would not work in a pastry. However, we find that cocoa powder does not give the best chocolate flavor when it is the only type used in a pastry, so we combine it with a little semi-sweet chocolate to achieve a more complex chocolate flavor.

Return to Recipe Box