What Is The Best Baking Chocolate? (Slideshow)
Callebaut chocolate came in seventh place. The chocolate provided a cake-like brownie that was a little on the dry side, with a slightly blander chocolate flavor and a lighter color.
Valrhona Chocolate
Valrhona chocolate came in sixth place and yielded a very cakey brownie, and although the chocolate flavor was better than Baker's, the brownie was much drier and therefore not as good. Valrhona isn't available in most mainstream grocery stores; it had to be purchased from specialty shops (that buy chocolate in bulk, then portion them for purchase) or found online. It's also the most expensive of all the chocolate.
Baker’s Chocolate
Baker's chocolate provided a cakeier brownie, but one that was also a bit dry. The brownies made with Baker's were lighter in color than the others, and lacked visual appeal. Baker's came in fifth place.
Nestlé Chocolate
Surprisingly, the Nestlé pre-melted chocolate yielded a perfectly fudgy brownie, with a decent chocolate flavor. Nestlé pre-melted baking chocolate is one of the most basic baking chocolates available and can be found in most grocery stores in America. (Note: the Nestlé chocolate has some oils in it — coconut and soybean — that keep it in liquid form.) Nestlé came in fourth place.
Scharffen Berger Chocolate
In third came Scharffen Berger. The brownies were a little less fudgy and lighter in color, but they had a distinct flavor — an almost nutty, very dark chocolate taste. Scharffen Berger is one of the hardest mainstream brands of baking chocolate to find, as it's sold only in gourmet grocery stores and online.
Ghirardelli Chocolate
Ghirardelli came in second place, creating a very chocolaty and fudgy brownie. However, the flavor was slightly too dark and the texture slightly too dense to take the top spot.
Lindt Chocolate
In first place is Lindt, which won by a long shot. This brownie was intensely chocolaty but had a well-balanced, not-too-dark flavor. It also had a fudgy texture, without being overly dense. It also had the nicest looking crumb and color, just how a perfect brownie should be.