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White Chocolate - All about it.


kthull

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I have never made it with white chocolate, but it can't be bad. Here is a recipe I found:

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

Thanks much. I used that recipe with a few changes (primarily less sugar than called for), and it produced six 4 1/2 inch springform cheesecakes, with a little pumpkin batter left over. I did not use a water bath. The white chocolate was El Rey. About 1/3 of one of the 4 1/2 inchers was enough for most people. I think for an individual size, a 2 1/2 inch pan would be about right. Nonetheless, this cheesecake was wonderful, with layers of flavor and texure. I would do it again.

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Richard that looks divine. I will have to try the recipe. Now I have to find pumpkin puree in Israel! Just kidding. They actually have it at a few mini-markets here.

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Thanks again. Lacking any prior experience with cheesecakes, the only things I can think of to change would be to use a better quality white chocolate and to puree the pumpkin myself rather than using canned. But does anyone know if you can taste the diference between El Rey white and Vahlrona White in a cheesecake? DIY puree vs canned?

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  • 8 months later...

I had Lindt white chocolate before and I thought that was good as far as white chocolates go, but now all I can find from Lindt are white chocolate bars with coconut. I don't know if they still sell plain white chocolate at all.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced" - Vincent Van Gogh
 

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I can find from Lindt are white chocolate bars with coconut. I don't know if they still sell plain white chocolate at all.

I've had the same experience myself recently, Patrick. And I had to go to three stores before I even found that. I simply won't buy the Ghiradelli white from the grocery store anymore -- it's dreadful. :wacko:

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Can someone enlighten me on the difference between the white chocolate put out by different brands? I was always under the impression that they were similar, since white chocolate isn't real "chocolate" anyway. Are some brands sweeter?

I've always used Callebaut white chocolate. Reasonably-priced and decent quality, I think. I rarely use white chocolate in my baking though, so I can't say I've tried many brands.

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When making chocolates I use El Rey Icoa. It is rich and tastes more like chocolate than candy. For baking I use callebaut. I find that it has an easy flavor. Most people like it and it has a decent price.

Ghira is just too waxy and has an off flavor that I just can't abide.

In a tasting I had everyone liked the Callebaut and rated it number 1 or 2. Those who rated the Callebaut second were split for first between Lindt and El Rey.

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I like the El Rey as well, but recently finally tried Albert Uster's high end white chocolate (they have 3 grades) and I like it much better.

When making chocolates I use El Rey Icoa.  It is rich and tastes more like chocolate than candy.  For baking I use callebaut.  I find that it has an easy flavor.  Most people like it and it has a decent price.

Ghira is just too waxy and has an off flavor that I just can't abide.

In a tasting I had everyone liked the Callebaut and rated it number 1 or 2.  Those who rated the Callebaut second were split for first between Lindt and El Rey.

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I love Callebaut--very creamy, and the perfect addition to blondies. I like Lindt as well, but I find it more sweet than creamy. (If white chocolate goes wrong, I find, it's usually with this ratio.)

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Can someone enlighten me on the difference between the white chocolate put out by different brands? I was always under the impression that they were similar, since white chocolate isn't real "chocolate" anyway. Are some brands sweeter?

I've always used Callebaut white chocolate. Reasonably-priced and decent quality, I think. I rarely use white chocolate in my baking though, so I can't say I've tried many brands.

Well, white chocolate is chocolate enough in my opinion. Some white chocolate that are low grade are not chocolate at all because they dont even contain cocoa butter. I've seen some white chocolates with just partially hygrogenation soy bean oil, and the rest flavoring + soy lecithin. Which i think is disgusting.

Real white chocolate must have cocoa butter in it, and because it has cocoa butter, it's basically flavored cocoa butter, which is White chcolate. So why is white chocolate always getting a bad wrap? It functions like chocolate and tastes great. A lot of the time I think it goes better with fruits than dark chocolate.

All in a matter of opinion, except for the lack of cocoa butter, dont use that.

Dean Anthony Anderson

"If all you have to eat is an egg, you had better know how to cook it properly" ~ Herve This

Pastry Chef: One If By Land Two If By Sea

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I had Lindt white chocolate before and I thought that was good as far as white chocolates go, but now all I can find from Lindt are white chocolate bars with coconut. I don't know if they still sell plain white chocolate at all.

Patrick,

Lindt discontinued the large white chocolate bar. They still have the smaller plain white bar (100 gram, 3.3 oz) and the one with coconut. I stopped by a Lindt store today to check this out ... and also to buy a few truffles for the drive home. :raz:

I am new to this forum and love it. I hope my occasional two cents will be useful to others.

Ilene

Ilene

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I had Lindt white chocolate before and I thought that was good as far as white chocolates go, but now all I can find from Lindt are white chocolate bars with coconut. I don't know if they still sell plain white chocolate at all.

Patrick,

Lindt discontinued the large white chocolate bar. They still have the smaller plain white bar (100 gram, 3.3 oz) and the one with coconut. I stopped by a Lindt store today to check this out ... and also to buy a few truffles for the drive home. :raz:

I am new to this forum and love it. I hope my occasional two cents will be useful to others.

Ilene

Thanks for the information, and welcome!

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced" - Vincent Van Gogh
 

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I used to hate white chocolate until I tried the Callebaut. VERY nice. Price per pound isn't bad if you buy from gourmail.com and are willing to buy between 3 and 5 kg. They also have the El Rey Icoa and the Valhrona.

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Late last year I found some Schokinag 28% white chocolate in, of all places, Tues.Morning. It was a steal @4.99/lb and I made some wonderful things with it..I am going to use my last lb. to try and make cinnamon chips because I can't find them and my son loves cinnamon scones. I also bought Schokinag cocoa powder for next to nothing and it beats the heck out of anything I've ever picked up in the grocery store. Used it for truffles. I don't know if any of this is available on a regular basis, but it's worth checking places like that for cut rate prices on gourmet items. I get grey salt there too, as well as some really decent extra virgin olive oils on occasion. Got a great basil flavored one a few weeks ago and used some to finish off a tomato soup. You may check Marshalls as well, and it goes without saying to check for expiration dates.

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Can someone enlighten me on the difference between the white chocolate put out by different brands? I was always under the impression that they were similar, since white chocolate isn't real "chocolate" anyway. Are some brands sweeter?

I've always used Callebaut white chocolate. Reasonably-priced and decent quality, I think. I rarely use white chocolate in my baking though, so I can't say I've tried many brands.

Until recently, there was nothing that could legally be called white chocolate. About 2 years ago, the FDA agreed upon and issued a CFR definition for white chocolate, and whallah, we've got a product that is now legally white chocolate. So what is it? Basically it's a blend of sugars, milk, milk fat, and cocoa butter - that's it in it's simplest form. You can have flavors added to it, as long as they're not milk or chocolate flavors. Manufacturers can play with a few variables to get different flavors out of their white chocolate: they can add salt or other flavors (vanillin or vanilla is a biggie). They can use natural or deodorized cocoa butters (natural butters retain some flavors, but they can be wildly unpredicable. deodorized butters are blander, but very uniform). You can play with the level of milk used and the type of milk used (ie butter milk vs whole milk, or even whole milk from field fed cows in new zealand vs whole milk from field fed cows in chile - yes, there's a difference). The same for the anhydrous mlk fat used. Of couse the product can be refined to various particle sizes as well, which impacts mouthfeel and flavor.

In short - white chocolate isn't white chocolate the world around 8-)

Hope that helps.

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Late last year I found some Schokinag 28% white chocolate in, of all places, Tues.Morning.

What's Tues.Morning?

It is a place similiar to Marshall's (but doesn't carry clothes..well, not very many, mostly high end kids/baby) stuff, Think Absorba cotton etc. Lots of rugs, lamps, china, cookware. Great place to pick up the occasional LeCreuset pot, lots of Emile Henry bakeware. It carries closeouts from highend places like Neimen's and Restoration hardware and the like. Lot's of seasonal stuff, right now it's stuffed with christmas stuff. If you can find one check it out, but there's probably something near you that serves the same function. It has a small gourmet food isle. I stay away from the mixes, and just go for the high quality oils, vinegars and rare find of chocolate. That was the only good chcolate find I've had there, but I keep checking cause you never know.

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  • 4 weeks later...

my fave was the Lindt as well but like you i have trouble now finding it. i don't make a recipe if i can't find the Lindt. the other options i have available locally just aren't worth the trouble. perhaps someone could suggest a good mail-order source? i haven't tried to find one as i'm still trying to use up my dark chocs that i got on a chocolate-buying binge LOL.

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  • 5 months later...

I wanted to add my recommendation of El Rey white chocolate. I don't know if there are different varieties by El Rey, but the bar I tried was called Carenero Superior. I like it just as well as, maybe even more than, the Lindt. FWIW, Chocosphere sells the El Rey for $19.35 per kilo.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced" - Vincent Van Gogh
 

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