510804 Fri Apr 18 19:02:24 -0700 2008 4 31 Home Cooking 0 3609021 I have a recipe for a Chocolate Mocha Tart which calls for the following: 6 oz. (170 g) plain chocolate 1 oz. (30 g) bitter cooking chocolate I've never seen a recipe before that called for "plain" chocolate. Is it safe to assume they're talking about milk chocolate? Fri Apr 18 19:02:24 -0700 2008 176097 ShootingShark 1 3609187 I would assume bittersweet, but you probably could use a "darker" milk chocolate if you prefer. Fri Apr 18 20:26:26 -0700 2008 3609021 88792 jazzy77 1 3609238 Sounds like the kind of 'mistake' a book editor would not normally allow. Could you cite the source of your recipe? Depending on the preferences of the author, it could mean milk, dark, semi-sweet, bitter-sweet, chips, eating bars, etc. Fri Apr 18 21:01:07 -0700 2008 3609021 21941 jerry i h 2 3609386 Hi Jerry, The recipe is from page 181 of "Baking: Easy to Make Great Home Bakes". The contributing editor is listed as Carole Clements. The other main ingredients include: instant espresso coffee, hot water and whipping cream in addition to the two chocolates. The rest are for garnish and the tart base itself. The slice in the photo provided, appears to be a light to medium carmel color. Fri Apr 18 22:40:47 -0700 2008 3609238 176097 ShootingShark 3 3609428 (sigh...) I was afraid you were going to say something like this. I was hoping you would tell me that this is a family recipe from a neighbor or great aunt, and that we could deduce the chocolate type based on what he/she usually eats. 1) based on what you state, the chocolate is probably regular semisweet chocolate, e.g. Hershey special dark or Nestle semi-sweet bars, or Ghirardelli semi-sweet. 2) I would be willing to bet that you can substitute a 70% or 80 % gourmet (read: Scharffenberger) chocolate for the semisweet+bitter combo in the recipe 3) I looked it up on Amazon, and the publisher is Hermes House. It is risky to make a snap judgement based on this one webpage. 4) nevertheless, even though I have never seen this book, I would be willing to bet that it is of British origin. As such, it would be one of many baking and confectionery books resplendent with sloppy and inaccurate recipes that simply do not work as written. 5) If you want dense, chocolate tortes try the many consumer cookbooks put out by Hershey's and Nestles (the one I am thinking of has a pink cover, but I cannot find it right now, but it has several of these recipes that are quite good). Fri Apr 18 23:17:58 -0700 2008 3609386 21941 jerry i h