The Best Chocolate For Cookies, According To Jacques Torres

From elaborate sculptures and filled bonbons to edible chocolate bowls and chocolate-coated fruit, Jacques Torres has made it all.

There are plenty of reasons he’s earned the nickname “Mr. Chocolate,” from his decades of experience in acclaimed pastry kitchens to his eponymous chocolate business and his time as dean of pastry arts at the International Culinary Center. But among his many accomplishments, there’s one that many home cooks know especially well: his famous chocolate chip cookie recipe.

chocolate و his و of – تفاصيل مهمة

Since it was published inThe New York Timesin 2008, Torres’ recipe has come to be regarded as the platonic ideal of the chocolate chip cookie. Above all, he knows that even the best cookie is only as good as the chocolate you use.

While speaking with Food & Wine, the pastry chef emphasizes that “If you make a strawberry tart with good strawberries, you’re going to have a good tart…. If you put bad chocolate in the cookies, the cookies aren’t going to be that good.”

Whether you’re making his iconic cookies, another recipe for the classic treat, or a different dessert entirely that calls for chocolate morsels, this chocolatier’s recommendation for the best possible chocolate can improve the final results.

When most American home cooks — myself included — bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies, we head to the grocery store and buy a standard bag of chocolate chips. Based on the product’s name, it’s clearly made for these cookies, and I usually choose among options like Nestlé, Hershey’s, or perhaps a private-label store brand, the same products most others turn to. But the next time you’re reaching for a bag of those pointed pieces of chocolate, you might want to think twice.

the و a و chocolate – تفاصيل مهمة

People familiar with Torres’ cookie recipe may recall that it calls for chocolate baking disks, not chips. As the chocolatier explains, “Why did I not use the chocolate made for cookies? The reason is that that chocolate is engineered in a way that it won’t even melt in the oven. At 350℉ (in the oven) for 18 or 20 minutes to bake a cookie, those chocolate pieces come out in the same shape.”

Torres goes on to note that there’s a reason for this, explaining that many common chocolate chips don’t melt because much of their cocoa butter has been removed.

He emphasizes that “Cocoa butter is what gives you that nice mouthfeel. You know, when the chocolate melts (in your mouth) and then just disappears.” In contrast, a lower-quality chocolate, which you may often get from chocolate chips, will be “pasty and stay in your throat, coating your taste buds.”

Of course, a large part of why we buy those go-to bags of chocolate chips is that they’re affordable. But if it’s in your budget to spend a few dollars on a single cookie ingredient, chocolate is the one to go with. When you know what you’re looking for, it’s also easier to spot good chocolate within your price range — and stock up when you come across it.

chocolate و that و a – تفاصيل مهمة

Per Torres, identifying great chocolate starts with knowing what it should contain. He explains that “Chocolate should have cacao beans or cocoa liquor… There are different names for it, but it is pretty much the cacao paste. The cacao paste basically (comes from) the fruit that we roast and remove the shell from. So we have the nibs; we grind those nibs, and we have a paste.

“We mix this paste with sugar, we conch it, we put it in a machine to heat it, and then we make chocolate. So if you have cacao beans or cacao paste, sugar, vanilla, and maybe a little addition of cocoa butter, that’s all that should be in chocolate.”

He warns against any plain chocolates with added flavorings, saying, “If you are (adding) flavoring into chocolates, it’s because the chocolate doesn’t taste good… But if you have only those few ingredients, chocolate should be good. And taste it; taste a little piece and see if it melts. If it melts in your mouth, it’s a good sign.”

When we imagine a perfect chocolate chip cookie, it’s the gooeyness of the chocolate pieces that stands out in our minds. Little pools of melted chocolate you can bite into make these classic treats so satisfying. So if you can make sure your chocolate actually melts, why wouldn’t you?

chocolate و a و you – تفاصيل مهمة