Trader Joe’s has ruby chocolate

[tikidoc]

I have no basis for comparison - never tried another ruby. It’s very smooth, sweet, and a little tart. I prefer darks, so not something I would eat a lot of but it’s better than most white chocolates. It’s ok. Has anyone who has tried higher end versions tried this? How does it compare?

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

3 minutes ago, tikidoc said:

I have no basis for comparison - never tried another ruby. It’s very smooth, sweet, and a little tart. I prefer darks, so not something I would eat a lot of but it’s better than most white chocolates. It’s ok. Has anyone who has tried higher end versions tried this? How does it compare?

 

 

I think this is the higher end version. Apparently Trader Jo's and Vogues are getting Ruby ahead of all the other folks in North America which is causing a tempest in a tea pot.

[Pastrypastmidnight]

I think it’s the real deal. I was, eh. It’s interesting but not something I’m super excited about. It’s pretty. 

[tikidoc]

The flavor is decent so I could see making one bon bon out of a box with the ruby chocolate, for visual appeal. Maybe just a spattering of colored cocoa butter in in the mold to make it look interesting. I’m assuming I’d have to add some cocoa butter to decrease the viscosity and make it useable as a couverture? Not sure on the filling though. My first impulse was something fruity, but I don’t know if the fruitiness of the chocolate might compete with the filling. The chocolate almost gives me a hint of strawberry, so maybe a strawberry lemonade ganache with a fairly neutral white?

 

I was thinking of making some chocolates for gifts for friends and relatives this month (since I was too busy with work to do much for Christmas), so I might play with it a little. It comes in 5 oz. bags, but it was a reasonable price as I remember, so not cost prohibitive to pick up a couple pounds to play with.

[tikidoc]

11 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

I think this is the higher end version. Apparently Trader Jo's and Vogues are getting Ruby ahead of all the other folks in North America which is causing a tempest in a tea pot.

 

Makes sense I guess. Isn’t Callebaut rumored to be the source of TJ’s branded chocolates? 

[Pastrypastmidnight]

21 minutes ago, tikidoc said:

The flavor is decent so I could see making one bon bon out of a box with the ruby chocolate, for visual appeal. Maybe just a spattering of colored cocoa butter in in the mold to make it look interesting. I’m assuming I’d have to add some cocoa butter to decrease the viscosity and make it useable as a couverture? Not sure on the filling though. My first impulse was something fruity, but I don’t know if the fruitiness of the chocolate might compete with the filling. The chocolate almost gives me a hint of strawberry, so maybe a strawberry lemonade ganache with a fairly neutral white?

 

I was thinking of making some chocolates for gifts for friends and relatives this month (since I was too busy with work to do much for Christmas), so I might play with it a little. It comes in 5 oz. bags, but it was a reasonable price as I remember, so not cost prohibitive to pick up a couple pounds to play with.

That’s what my husband and kids and I were brainstorming about. My husband suggested an inside out chocolate covered strawberry—strawberry covered chocolate ganache, but I’m not sure the Ruby is strong enough to carry it. We also talked about strawberry lemonade. That’s basically what it tastes like to me. White chocolate strawberry lemonade. 

12 minutes ago, tikidoc said:

 

Makes sense I guess. Isn’t Callebaut rumored to be the source of TJ’s branded chocolates? 

I remember reading that, here actually, years ago when I first got interested in chocolate. Long before I actually got up the guts to join all of you suuuuuuper intimidating people   

[tikidoc]

2 minutes ago, Pastrypastmidnight said:

That’s what my husband and kids and I were brainstorming about. My husband suggested an inside out chocolate covered strawberry—strawberry covered chocolate ganache, but I’m not sure the Ruby is strong enough to carry it. We also talked about strawberry lemonade. That’s basically what it tastes like to me. White chocolate strawberry lemonade. 

I remember reading that, here actually, years ago when I first got interested in chocolate. Long before I actually got up the guts to join all of you suuuuuuper intimidating people   

 

Ha, great minds think alike, right? My daughter just tried the ruby, and she really loved it, so I guess I'm going to have to go buy a bunch of it. She's more of a milk chocolate girl than I, so not surprised. I think it's mildly interesting and an improvement on white (which I dislike, other than in select highly flavored ganaches), for eating out of hand anyway, but give me a good 70+% dark any day.

 

And I'm not part of the cadre of the super intimidating people. I'll leave that to Kerry and Rob and others. Intermittent chocolate hobbyist here. I just play with chocolate, and not nearly often enough.

 

[rotuts]

I wonder what ' Ruby " would taste like w/o the citric acid and natural ( i.e. raspberry ) flavor ?

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, tikidoc said:

The flavor is decent so I could see making one bon bon out of a box with the ruby chocolate, for visual appeal. Maybe just a spattering of colored cocoa butter in in the mold to make it look interesting. I’m assuming I’d have to add some cocoa butter to decrease the viscosity and make it useable as a couverture? Not sure on the filling though. My first impulse was something fruity, but I don’t know if the fruitiness of the chocolate might compete with the filling. The chocolate almost gives me a hint of strawberry, so maybe a strawberry lemonade ganache with a fairly neutral white?

 

I was thinking of making some chocolates for gifts for friends and relatives this month (since I was too busy with work to do much for Christmas), so I might play with it a little. It comes in 5 oz. bags, but it was a reasonable price as I remember, so not cost prohibitive to pick up a couple pounds to play with.

The viscosity is fine for molding. You won't need to add any extra cocoa butter. 

[tikidoc]

2 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

The viscosity is fine for molding. You won't need to add any extra cocoa butter. 

 

Oh, cool! Thoughts on fillings? Maddie really loves this stuff, so it appears I am making a Trader Joe's run this afternoon after we finish playing with the horses.

[Kerry Beal]

2 minutes ago, tikidoc said:

 

Oh, cool! Thoughts on fillings? Maddie really loves this stuff, so it appears I am making a Trader Joe's run this afternoon after we finish playing with the horses.

Hmmm - something that goes with the yogurty flavor? Red fruits, lemon...

[pastrygirl]

1 hour ago, Pastrypastmidnight said:

My husband suggested an inside out chocolate covered strawberry—strawberry covered chocolate ganache

 

Sure, but you could do that for real with valrhona strawberry inspiration. And it would be a beautiful red, not that (I find it ugly) pink. And actually taste like strawberry. 

Edited March 2, 2019 by pastrygirl (log)

[tikidoc]

3 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Sure, but you could do that for real with valrhona strawberry inspiration. And it would be a beautiful red, not that (I find it ugly) pink. 

 

 

Sure, but Trader Joe’s doesn’t carry that!

[tikidoc]

23 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Sure, but you could do that for real with valrhona strawberry inspiration. And it would be a beautiful red, not that (I find it ugly) pink. And actually taste like strawberry. 

 

 

‘Although now that you mention it, I could see adding a little powdered dehydrated fruit to kick up the color and flavor a bit...

[pastrygirl]

1 minute ago, tikidoc said:

 

‘Although now that you mention it, I could see adding a little powdered dehydrated fruit to kick up the color and flavor a bit...

 

TJ does have freeze dried fruits!

[tikidoc]

2 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

 

TJ does have freeze dried fruits!

 

And thanks to Kerry’s enabling (and mild paranoia about the political situation in the US, thanks to the current WH occupant) I have a freeze dryer!

[Kerry Beal]

2 hours ago, tikidoc said:

 

And thanks to Kerry’s enabling (and mild paranoia about the political situation in the US, thanks to the current WH occupant) I have a freeze dryer!

Didn’t realize I’d enabled that! Go me!

[rotuts]

@tikidoc

 

nice w the FD'r

 

I can make some suggestions  on what you might like to FD .

 

however , Im betting the Nutrient Content of those items 

 

might be quite low

 

studies might be done.

 

Edited March 2, 2019 by rotuts (log)

[julie99nl]

I've played with ruby in ganache and i felt like everything was kind of muddled. The only exception to this is a ganache with cassis (black currant in the US, I believe) where it does actually compliment the flavour. Cassis ruby ganache macaron are especially yummy!
I made what would normally be a raspberry white chocolate ganache and replaced the white chocolate with ruby. This was for a valentines truffle that someone asked for at the last minute and I had to come up with a big batch and quick. Everyone raved and loved them, but I thought they were too sweet and had very little depth of flavor. Maybe I'm just too picky. I also find the color of ruby unappealing.

[EllaCh]

I have got some Ruby chocolate (callets from Callebaut, obviously) and moulded some sample bars for my friends. One person didn't like it at all (spat it out, to be truthful), one person said it tasted like white chocolate with added fruits but majority was happy with its taste and colour. Personally, I like it, it is very fruity but it is not "chocolatey enough" if that makes sense. Sorry the picture is not the best.

Edited March 6, 2019 by EllaCh (log)

[eugenep]

I read on wiki that there's an idea floating out there that the ruby color is coming from not fermenting the cocoa beans 

 

..and that the fermenting stage is primarily responsible for the chocolate flavor that comes out after roasting 

 

strange that the producer won't tell us how it's made ruby - like I wonder about the quality of the beans (criollo etc.) 

 

it seems like it would save the processor money to skip the fermenting stage (which takes time but gives flavor) 

 

guys could just be getting tricked into paying for a low-quality product but if the taste checks out then...I guess it's ok etc. 

[Kerry Beal]

1 minute ago, eugenep said:

I read on wiki that there's an idea floating out there that the ruby color is coming from not fermenting the cocoa beans 

 

..and that the fermenting stage is primarily responsible for the chocolate flavor that comes out after roasting 

 

strange that the producer won't tell us how it's made ruby - like I wonder about the quality of the beans (criollo etc.) 

 

it seems like it would save the processor money to skip the fermenting stage (which takes time but gives flavor) 

 

guys could just be getting tricked into paying for a low-quality product but if the taste checks out then...I guess it's ok etc. 

It's a patent that Callebaut had that was going to run out apparently. Beans/nibs high in polyphenols (which are already quite purple) are acidified and they become more red/purple. They are not fermented or roasted - just heated sufficiently to reduce the microbiological burden. The patent was originally based on low quality beans.

[eugenep]

3 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

It's a patent that Callebaut had that was going to run out apparently. Beans/nibs high in polyphenols (which are already quite purple) are acidified and they become more red/purple. They are not fermented or roasted - just heated sufficiently to reduce the microbiological burden. The patent was originally based on low quality beans.

Thanks for the info Kerry. That was very lucidly explained. 

 

I guess the rumors were true and that the color comes from not fermenting (and not roasting it now turns out). 

 

I do wonder about the quality of the beans - since it seems to make sense from a business/pragmatic point that higher quality beans seem to be wasted if not fermented and roasted to bring out the chocolate-ly flavor 

 

..and would it make sense to use cheap beans to make the ruby chocolate since the chocolate flavor from fermenting/roasting would never be brought out anyway??? 

 

just my random speculation 

 

Umm...because I heard Callebaut and Belgium producers blend cheap and expensive beans from all over the world to make a specific flavor, and it seems like I don't know the product I'm paying for from Belgium, I've been buying from El Rey in Venezuela. 

 

The processing method is integrated in one area and the beans are from one country and they said its Criollo (so..no blending from around the world), so I trust El Rey so far

 

but I sure hope the political stability situation in that country isn't affecting the quality of the product they export here. 

[teonzo]

18 hours ago, eugenep said:

I do wonder about the quality of the beans - since it seems to make sense from a business/pragmatic point that higher quality beans seem to be wasted if not fermented and roasted to bring out the chocolate-ly flavor

 

I would say it's the opposite.

As far as I know you need a peculiar variety to produce the Ruby chocolate, you need beans that have a natural purple color, they are a very small percentage in the worldwide production. So they don't have many choices for the starting beans: purple or nothing, can't use the other colors.

Quality wise they can't hide behind fermentation and roasting: if they use poor quality beans then there aren't many ways to mask it (like high roasting does for cheap chocolate).

 

 

 

18 hours ago, eugenep said:

because I heard Callebaut and Belgium producers blend cheap and expensive beans from all over the world to make a specific flavor, and it seems like I don't know the product I'm paying for from Belgium

 

Blending has been the only way used to produce chocolate up to when people started producing grand crus. If you are producing a grand cru then you end up with a different product from season to season: you just depend on that singular bean producer, his trees will give different beans from season to season for basic natural reasons. Most consumers want a consistent product, that must taste almost identical season to season, year after year. This takes HUGE skills production wise: you need great expertise and great nose. High end producers keep using the blending method not for cutting costs, but for being able to produce a chocolate with consistent taste.

If you are a bonbon producer then you need a consistent chocolate for your shells and ganaches: you balance your recipes for a given chocolate, when you buy it you expect it to have the same taste batch after batch, otherwise you would need to fine tune every recipe every time you receive a chocolate purchase (pure nightmare).

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Beckykp27]

The Chocolate Journalist has a good article about ruby chocolate. Apparently Callebaut has been quite transparent in the fact that they developed it to appeal to millennials and Instagramers and that it's more about the look than the taste. I have yet to hear anyone speak highly of the flavor. (That being said, I'll still probably pick some up next time I'm near a TJ's)