High Quality Baking Chocolate

[schnauzer]

Any suggestions where to source high end baking chocolate? (Valrhona or equivalent) Can be retail or wholesale. Ideally the source would be located in the Burlington vicinity but will gladly take suggestions for Toronto and points in between.

Thanks!

[Otonabee]

If you want something a bit more serious, Soma sells large 4 bars in a large silver package. Really nice with a genuine bittersweet edge.

[Kagemusha]

"Serious"? Over-priced, over-rated and amazingly poor value IMHO doesn't qualify Soma as a source for baking chocolate.

[davidde]

I've not been impressed with PC nor Soma's chocolate.

Whole foods has good baking chocolate.

[Otonabee]

FIrst off, this is not a Soma home brand, this is one of the various companies that they bring in. I think in terms of cost it is about $25 or so. It is one of the single source bars. The label says ChocoVic which I gather is a Spanish company from Barcelona.

On a personal level, I have used a bunch of different kinds and I find that this specific make, while not overly sweet, brings some interesting flavours to the mix.

[xtal]

Most health food stores have a good chocolate selection as well. Perhaps you have a few to choose from in Burlington?

[Kagemusha]

I like the Loblaws PC Bittersweet big bars--French-made, inexpensive, great when unsweetened isn't critical.

[sweetie]

I second that suggestion. The quality is great for the price. When I took courses at George Brown, my instructor even recommended the PC brand saying it was "good value for your money"

[Royaljelly]

easiest way I find is just to go to Bulk Barn and get the loose dark chocolate chips from Callebaut. Can get as much or as little as you want, and their stores are everywhere.

[City_West]

Please don't buy any chocolate from Bulk barn, that's a totally different class of chocolate and will not taste good at all. Callebaut has different classes, just don't buy chocolate from Bulk Barn.

[gnuf]

Bernard Callebaut in Oakville sells 2.5kg baking bars in white, milk, semisweet and bittersweet. They retail for $60 or so. Unfortunately, it's one big slab, so you have a lot of chiselling ahead. They also have smaller 454 g bars.

If you don't mind mail order, chocolat-chocolat in Quebec sells Cacao Barry and Callebaut chocolates (some single origin too) in 1 kg and 2.5 kg bags in wafers/pellets.

I've been trying to figure out how to order from Qzina, a large Canadian importer/distributor of chocolate and other pastry ingredients. They cater to wholesale rather than retail.

-----
Bernard Callebaut
194 Lakeshore Rd E, Oakville, ON L6J, CA

[chocabot]

I believe, Domino's in the basement of st lawrence market has valrhona blocks that they sell by weight. They have a lot of baking/cooking items so I'm sure they have other qualities as well.
You could also try a Whole Foods or maybe a Williams Sonoma near you.

[chloe103]

Last time I was there, it was actually Callebaut blocks, but they are definitely who I thought of as well. They also have Lindt discs, which I've found unexpectedly good (I've only tried the dark ones).