Meryl...searching through the archives, I found your post for Chewy Chocolate Brownies. YUM!

Traca, since I first posted it in 06, I've made them many times and have reposted it several times.

(They're also in T&T). They're my favorite brownies. So glad you liked them!!! Which chocolate did you use, and how long did you bake them? I always bake them for less time than the recipe indicates, about 32 minutes in a metal pan.

 
LOL! Well, up until now I **thought** I had the perfect brownie recipe...

What can I say? These were delish!

My timer was messed up (who knew it could count up?) so I have no idea exactly how long I baked them.

As for the chocolate...my friend is a pastry chef and she suggested I try the Pound Plus chocolate at Trader Joe's. She's very particular so I thought I'd give it a whirl. It turned out great...and I'll be tapping out Trader Joe's for more chocolate soon.

 
Thanks Traca. I saw that site a few months ago and saved a few of the recipes. I agree about the

Chocolatier ones - They sound great, and I've always had success with their recipes.

 
Good to know about Chocolatier recipes. I've let my subscription lapse and unfortunately, now

they don't have the wealth of recipes online anymore. I just may have to renew my subscription. smileys/smile.gif

 
Yowza. So that's what's the deal about Tish Boyle. I see her name pop up a lot. I have so

many chocolate books...I'm not adding any new ones to my collection for a while.

I wonder if you can weigh in on any of the other books I've got. I have the majority of my books in storage while I had my place painted, so off the top of my head, I have:

Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme
Chocolate Obsession by Michael Recchiuti
Pure Chocolate by Fran Bigelow
Death by Chocolate by Marcel Desaulniers
Chocolate Holidays by Alice Medrich (I *think* I have this one...)
Celebrate with Chocolate by Marcel Desaulniers

There are more but I can't remember. Basically I haven't done justice to any of these books. I'd really like to cook my way through Pierre Herme, but I have no special attachments to the others. Michale Recchiuti deals a lot with making truffles, if I remember right.

Love to hear your thoughts and recommendations for recipes to try if you have any of these books. smileys/smile.gif

 
I don't have that Alice Medrich book, but I do have "Bittersweet,.." which is a must

for any chocolate lover/baker. Not only does it have great recipes (I've only tried a few, but they all sound excellent, and I've heard great results from others), but even more importantly, she explains the hows and whys of chocolate, and how to adjust each recipe according to various cacao percentages. Very few authors do that, plus she shows how it's not enough to just increase or decrease the sugar and chocolate proportionately, but also one needs to adjust the amount of fat in the recipe accordingly. Some recipes I've made by Medrich are:

Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Cream (very good, but I prefer Dorie Greenspan's with my adjustments)

Chocolate-Pecan Bourbon Cake (lowfat, but tastes rich and chocolatey - haven't made this in years, but I really liked it).(Here's a case where the nuts play a small role and are finely ground).

Chocolate Wafers (good, but a PITA - I prefer Judith Sutton's).

Sicilian Chocolate Gelato (excellent for lowfat).

I've heard that her Classic Brownies are excellent, as well as many of her other recipes, such as Tiger Cake, Queen of Sheba, etc.

I have "Chocolate Desserts" by Pierre Herme, but haven't made anything from it - one reason is they sound too involved, and I'm too lazy. Also, some of them sound too sweet - I like stuff VERY bittersweet. Other reasons are I generally don't like fruit flavors mixed with chocolate, I'm not a big fan of tons of nuts in baked desserts, and I'm not wild about caramel - that covers a lot of his stuff. You've probably seen it, but there's a whole thread on his recipes at egullet.org

As far as Marcel Desaulniers, none of his recipes have ever really interested me - another case of sounding too sweet. They sound and look impressive at first glance, but when I read the proportion of sugar to chocolate, etc., I lose interest. (Again, I'm generalizing, since I don't have the book, and have only viewed several of his recipes online).

I'm not a fan of Fran Bigelow's, to say the least, but I've only tried her chocolates with caramel and nuts - haven't tried any of her recipes. Leaving aside the fact that I'm not really into caramel, I peeled off the chocolate part to test the quality, and as far as I'm concerned, it was mediocre. Very, very weak chocolate taste. I know she has a lot of fans, but I consider her highly overrated (as are so many people and products). But, needless to say, it's all how one's palate interprets tastes.

I don't have Chocolate Obsession by Michael Recchiuti, but I've read that his brownies and many other recipes of his are excellent.

So, those are my very opinionated opinions! Let me know what other books you have when you unpack them.

 
Said like a true chocolate lover!

I'm inclined to agree with you.

I think Alice Medrich is required reading...exactly because she does describe what the ingredients do and how they function in a recipe. I totally need to dig out her book again and commit to studying it. You're right...to few bakers detail that...and I wish more would.

I bought the Marcel books sight unseen (off Amazon) and I wasn't really impressed when I got them. I had no real desire to make anything out of them.

You're spot on about Fran Bigelow. And truthfully, I feel the same about Theo's Chocolates. Marketing & branding can do wonders for you, which is unfortunate if you can't deliver the goods. But it's weird because the strength of the brand makes me question myself...instead of them. I almost felt guilty admitting that I wasn't crazy about Theo's. Fran's is okay and she's got some chocolates that are impressive, but on the whole, they're not my favorite.

Theo's truffles are delicious, but those originally weren't their recipes. A partner who pulled out developed those recipes. Which is why the bars taste so dramatically different than the truffles. I'd take a pass on their bars...

Your comments about looking at the sugar to chocolate ratio is good. I need to improve my skils in that area. I still don't have enough experience to look at a recipe and be able to expect the outcome. You know? I do in a general sense based on technique, but not in ingredient quantity. Does that make sense?

 
You're right on about marketing - that's the whole story. Look at Godiva and Haagendazs, and of

course, Fran's, and countless others that are so successful, mainly because they have tons of money behind them and brilliant marketing. Don't even get me into this, because it's a real sore point with me, and hits home directly and very deeply, due to my own depressing involvement with the "arts," ie, the music business, which has very little to do with music and real talent, but everything to do with business, plus other unsavory things I can't mention (yes, I'm bitter), but all I can say is, if more people and products with quality had the money and marketing expertise behind them, well, we'd have more people and products of quality in the mainstream. Period. Or maybe I'm being naive and it has to do more to do with the mainstream's opinions of what's good and what isn't so good, as opposed to the minority, which will always lose out. Probably a combination, but I still think most of it has to do with marketing and hype. If the general public is told enough times that something is great, most of them start to believe it.

As far as feeling guilty about admitting you don't like Theo's, etc., you know, everything is so subjective, so why should one feel guilty about anything? There really is no reality to most things - very little is fact, most is opinion, and we're all entitled to ours, as long as we don't degrade anyone for voicing theirs, and as long as those who voice their opinions don't insult anyone else. Easier said than done, right? I find Europeans much better at healthy dissonant discussions. (By the way, I've admitted this to very few, since I'm afraid I'll be lynched, but I have never liked Julia Child. Shhhhh).

Anyway, I've never tried Theo's, so I can't give an opinion. I will say, however, that I hate Valrhona, El Rey, E. Guittard, and Michel Cluizel, which are some of the top chocolate producers. I respect those who like these producers, but I refuse to hold back about the fact that I don't like them, so I will mention it when appropriate at egullet, and in the same breath, I'll admit (and this is a "disgrace") that I LOVE Ghirardelli bittersweet 60% and semi-sweet for baking, (although, I don't like them to eat out of hand), and that I've had consistently great results baking with them, and making ganaches, etc. The egullet people probably think I have a peasant's palate, but who cares? I know my palate is sharp, and I respect my own taste, even if no one else does. LOL. I tend to like a darker roast when it comes to chocolate (and coffee), etc., so I go with it. Some chocolates I love eating out of hand are Santander Columbian 70%, Chocovic Guaranda 71% (Ecuador), and Fiori Sera 65%. I've tried other chocolates by these producers (with lesser percentages or from different cacao bean sources), and wasn't impressed. For example, Chocovic Ocumare (Venezuela), tasted like dirt to me, but the Guaranda was delicious. Many, if not most people seem to prefer the Ocumare. As usual, I'm in the minority. I generally, though, dislike chocolate from Venezuela - again, in the minority. After all, it's considered the "best in the world," isn't it?

A good way to check on the chocolate/sugar ratios, is to look at several recipes that you've made, which have a deep chocolate taste, and compare them to new ones you're considering. If you bake enough chocolate stuff, eventually you'll recognize what's going to be more chocolatey and what's going to be too sweet for you. I can generally tell, but sometimes I've made BAD mistakes, and ended up throwing out the whole mess, wondering why I chose it in the first place. Sometimes the technique and ingredients look right on, and the end result is a disaster. Who knows why?

I'm sure there are many chocolates which you like and I don't, and vice versa, but who cares? It makes for an interesting conversation. Same thing with wine - I've had people recommend so many wines that they've loved, and many times when I tried them I hated them. It's amazing how everyone's palate is so different.

Meanwhile, too bad we can't speak in person - we could go on for hours - or days!

Later,

Meryl

 
Oh, that's so funny...

In many ways I'm still educating my palate.

I grew up in a household where you weren't allowed to say you didn't like something...you ate what was in front of you and that was that. So when I got a box of chocolates and I thought they were only okay, it's funny...I had a hard time actually saying that.

Theo's, Fran's, Fiori are all local chocolatiers (Seattle). When I first became a publicist, Theo's was just getting off the ground and we participated in several events together. In fact, I was there the day they made their very first bars. While they're popular in this area, I'm not crazy about thier chocolate bars and I just couldn't understand the hype. I'm very fond of several of their truffles (burnt sugar, basil, etc.) but not their bars.

I haven't tried many of the chocolates you've mentioned. Guess I'll have to eat more chocolate!

There is a benefit to eating different brands side by side. I once went to a fabulous chocolate tasting put on by Lee of Fiori chocolates. It was incredible and I learned so much.

He's another one with a rediculous amount of talent...and no real idea how to market himself. We've talked several times about it. He's determined to do it his way...and still trying to figure things out.

I find that a lot. Small business owners thinking too small. They want attention for their product but hope those in the know will find them. While that's entirely possible, it's kind of a crapshoot. People get busy and the companies that get the attention are...often the ones with product sitting on your desk. For better or worse, if someone journo is doing an article on chocolate and they've got 15 kinds of chocolate on their desk...are they really going to seek out that one last artisan maker? Or just roll with the options at hand? In a perfect world, sure, they'd seek out the artisan maker but deadlines are deadlines and sometimes you just need to move forward.

Many times I find the small business owners are struggling to put one day in front of the other and have difficulty stepping back and taking a broader look. Often times small business owners don't have the money for PR or don't value the service...whatever. So they stay small and often blunder their way through.

And talking with the owner of Fiori, it's been interesting to hear about the significant impact of seasonality on their business. Summer is summer and it's tough. I've noticed some of the other chocolatiers don't even bother shipping to some states. But demand is low in the summer and financially, that's another struggle. You work your brains out as a chocolatier for about 6 months and after then, you better be diversified. That's why many of them go into ice cream and such. Chocolate only pays the bills for part of the year. And during that peak? They work their brains out.

After looking at the business from that vantage point, it makes sense why some of the chocolate companies make the decissions they do. And when it works? Mmm...Godiva dark chocolate ice cream is amazing! But see...they do the liquors, chocolate, and ice cream.

LOL! Can you tell I've worked as a small business analyst?

 
Very interesting - you really know your stuff! Where were you when I needed you when I was very

active in the music business? I could have used some intelligent guidance! (Of course, that business is run by sheer lunatics, and it's the sleaziest business around, so one has to be insane to be in that business in the first place, but that's another story). After all, my talent is in music, not marketing. I find that most of the successful people/companies are not usually (of course there are exceptions), the best at their "craft," but are the best at packaging/marketing/promotion, whether they do it themselves or hire someone else to do it. They spend more time honing their marketing skills and/or finding/financing a qualified promoter than honing their talent. That's why so many top quality people and small businesses, as you mentioned, have a hard time making it, and unfortunately, usually don't.

By the way, if you want to try Chocovic Guaranda, Trader Joe's sells it. I don't have a TJ's in my state, but I have someone from FK send me a care package occasionally, which includes the Chocovic, plus TJ's Swiss Bar 71%. As far as Santander 70% is concerned, the World Market sells it. (I'm lucky that my local health food market usually carries it). You're really lucky Fiori is local - I have to order it online!

I've never tried Godiva dark chocolate ice cream, and can't seem to find it here. I heard it may have been discontinued. Will have to check it out - maybe their site has some info.

Oh, by the way, about the Chewy Brownies from Fine Cooking - have you tried them chilled? They get more fudgy that way, but not overly fudgy. I like them at both room temperature and chilled, but I like them chilled the best.

 
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