Chocolate or dirt – is there a difference in taste?

Well folks, I’m on a quest to be able to make THM chocolate things that don’t taste like dirt. For years I’ve eaten 85% dark chocolate for 2 reasons.

1. it is better for me and has very little sugar
2. my children think it tastes like dirt and don’t ask for any

When a mother is eating chocolate, having her children NOT ask her to share is a big deal, let’s face it!

Looking rich and dark chocolate is also important to me. Call me a snob but when chocolate cake looks like light brown cake instead I’ve lost my visual appeal and would rather have a bowl of berries! My brain has already tricked my mind into thinking, “What’s this? A joke? Chocolate is dark brown, not tan! This must be one of those hideous blonde thingys! WARNING, WARNING! ABORT, ABORT, ABORT!!”

I’m beginning some experimenting this week. I’ve been told by some folks that Ghirardelli cocoa is the best, so I got some. But I’ve also read that Dutch-processed cocoa makes a less bitter, richer chocolate tasting (and deeper chocolate looking) product. So I’m going to be doing some taste testing this week to see if I can tell a difference.

I have also realized that, in order to use the Super Sweet THM sweetener, I need to buy a coffee grinder. Well, we do have some coffee beans from Honduras that several of my children might like to try, so it might not be a terrible investment. The sweetener used for making chocolate candy really needs to be super fine or it comes out grainy. Yep, been there, done that!

Finally, it seems that I haven’t been using nearly enough salt in my chocolate concoctions. Salt is supposed to cut the bitterness of cocoa. But when a recipe calls for a pinch, I put my finger in the salt and pinch out whatever stays between my thumb and forefinger. Well, apparently my tiny fingers do NOT pinch out enough. I’ve found that a pinch is technically about 1/8 of a teaspoon — not the 10 grains of salt (close to exaggeration here). So my pinch of salt has been a laugh when it comes to making the cocoa less bitter. Do you know that they actually SELL spoon sets for a dash, pinch and smidgen? Sorry, but I won’t be buying that but I will be working on making sure that my pinches are closer to 1/8 of a teaspoon than the piddly amount I can put between my thumb and forefinger!

Check back next week to see if I’ve made any progress in my search for THM friendly chocolate!

Here is my new menu plan for the coming week in my Menu Planning Monday. Please feel free to download my FREE, fully editable, Month at a Glance menu planner, my Weekly Menu Planner and my Snacks planner.

What’s YOUR menu for the week?

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