Why women have gone dotty for DARK choccy
POOR old Dairy Milk — with sugar the latest bugbear, traditional chocolate bars are falling out of favour. Sales of the 12 biggest names in UK chocolate plummeted £78 million in the past year. Cadbury Dairy Milk suffered the biggest single drop — down by £19.9million.
With more and more types of dark chocolate on the shelves, could you learn to love its more sophisticated taste?
And how do you choose when jargon on the packet is as baffling as a fancy wine label?
There are ‘single origin’ bars — meaning the cocoa beans come from one estate — different ‘ roasts’ giving beans complex flavours, and ingredients such as ground vanilla pod and coconut blossom sugar.
Writer TESSA CUNNINGHAM and chocolatier Paul A. Young — whose salted caramel was voted the best in the world — give their verdict . . .
FAB BUT EXPENSIVE
Duffy’s 72 per cent Corazon del Ecuador, £5.65 for 60g, duffyschocolate.co.uk Per 100g: 38g sugar, 43g fat, 597 calories
WHAT’S SO SPECIAL? Duffy’s is a bean-to-bar maker, meaning it roasts all the beans in its Lincolnshire factory, before granite grinding them for up to 70 hours.
PAUL SAYS: Nutty and delicious, with hints of orange blossom and allspice. Sensational!
TESSA SAYS: It’s eye-poppingly expensive but worth it. 10/10
NOT ENOUGH NUTS
Divine Dark Chocolate with Almonds and Raisins, 60 per cent cocoa, £2 for 100g, Waitrose Per 100g: 36.3g sugar, 34g fat, 530 calories
WHAT’S SO SPECIAL? Fine quality, Fairtrade cocoa grown by small farmers in Ghana.
PAUL SAYS: A little too sweet and there’s insufficient fruit — I only found two raisins. The nuts are disappointingly small, too.
TESSA SAYS: Less chunky than Cadbury Fruit and Nut. 4/10
SUPERMARKET STEAL
Aldi Moser Roth Dark Chocolate, Peruvian, 62 per cent cocoa, £1.29 for 125g Per 100g: 28g sugar, 48g fat, 620 calories
WHAT’S SO SPECIAL? Grown in the shadow of Machu Picchu, Peru.
PAUL SAYS: Knock- out for the price. You get five small bars, with top-quality ingredients including ground vanilla (not the cheaper vanilla extract). Sophisticated with floral after notes. TESSA SAYS: I love the silkysmooth taste. 8/10 Cavalier Dark Chocolate, reduced sugar with Stevia, 85 per cent cocoa, £1.79 for 85g, Ocado Per 100g: 3.2g sugar, 34.8g fat, 432 calories WHAT’S SO SPECIAL? Super high cocoa content, and virtually zero sugar. Uses Stevia, a sweetener extracted from leaves. PAUL SAYS: I don’t think it tastes anything like chocolate. TESSA SAYS: I’d eat this if I wanted a (virtually) guilt-free bar. 3/10
SAINTLY SWEETNESS
Madecasse Pure Dark Chocolate, 70 per cent cocoa, £1.99 for 75g, Waitrose Per 100g: 26.7g sugar, 42.7g fat, 613 calories
WHAT’S SO SPECIAL? Madecasse grows its beans and makes its chocolate in Madagascar, to support local people. This bar is made from ‘heirloom’ beans, from rare cocoa palms.
PAUL SAYS: Madagascan chocolate varies hugely in quality but this is up there with the best.
TESSA SAYS: Tastes fab and the fact it’s ecologically sound also gives it a feel-good factor. 8/10
COCOA OVERLOAD
Lindt Excellence, 99 per cent cocoa, £2.80 for 50g, Waitrose Per 100g: 1g sugar, 51g fat, 590 calories WHAT’S SO SPECIAL? The highest cocoa content we tried. PAUL SAYS: It is unpleasantly dry and the taste is bitter. Horrid. TESSA SAYS: This was dry and didn’t taste good. 2/10
THE RED-HOT CHOICE
Marks & Spencer, Dark Chocolate with Chilli: Single Origin Ecuador, 52 per cent cocoa, £2 for 100g, M&S Per 100g: 46.5g sugar, 36g fat, 582 calories WHAT’S SO SPECIAL? The beans are from Ecuador, one of the best producers in the world. Just 52 per cent cocoa but the flavour is intense. PAUL SAYS: Wow. I’m not normally a fan of chilli in chocolate but here the balance is just right. TESSA SAYS: Not one for children. The chilli has a real kick. 7/10
COST EQUALS QUALITY
Solkiki: South Cotabato, 70 per cent cocoa, £6 for 56g, solkiki.co.uk. Per 100g: 30g sugar, 35g fat, 515 calories
WHAT’S SO SPECIAL? Made in Dorset by a family-owned, bean-to-bar firm. Beans are from one farm in the Philippines, cocoa butter from Bali, and the cane sugar is organic, too.
PAUL SAYS: Gorgeous. The slightly spicy taste is unusual.
TESSA SAYS: Sheer heaven. But it is terribly expensive! 8/10
COCONUT CRUSH
Guittard, Quetzalcoatl, 72 per cent cocoa £3.89 for 75g, Marks & Spencer Per 100g: 30g sugar, 44g fat, 545 calories WHAT’S SO SPECIAL? This bar, named after Aztec God Quetzalcoatl, contains cocoa beans from South America and West Africa. PAUL SAYS: Bittersweet with spicy coconut notes — the real deal. TESSA SAYS: Perfect for an afterdinner treat. 9/10
ULTRA-LOW SUGAR