Trader Joe's Pound Plus 72% Dark Chocolate is one of the few bars I have bought more than once. In fact, I have bought it many times, as it is my favorite chocolate to bake with. Most common baking chocolates or chocolate chips that one would find in a grocery store have a low cacao content, which I suppose is all well and good, as it matches the sweetness of the other ingredients. For myself, however, I prefer a darker chocolate in order to provide a contrast and balance to said sweetness. The Pound Plus bar provides an excellent alternative. The Pound Plus bar weighs in at 17.6 oz, which is plenty of chocolate for most recipes (and a little leftover to munch on). It is easy to slice if you have a reasonably sharp knife. If you are planning to melt it, which it does beautifully and without the usual fanfare of a double boiler, it can be finely chopped or grated into heavenly featherlight wisps. The bar has a rich and earthy flavor similar to a cup of really good black coffee, but with very little bitterness. The flavor of the bar continues to develop as it melts in your mouth, (there is a slight note of caramel), and it has a subtle chalky finish that I find to be oddly satisfying. At less an $6/pound, this bar is a steal and often lasts me several weeks, assuming I am not baking.
The Pound Plus bar is produced near Antwerp, Belgium, which is a city famous for its diamond cutting and fashion boutiques as well as its chocolate production (my kind of city, LOL). Trader Joe's is pretty secretive about the specifics of its product production, but it does allow that the Pound Plus bars are produced exclusively for Trader Joe's. This is as opposed to the Pound Plus bars being produced side by side with bars that are chemically the same but wrapped in a different brand's materials, which I understand is the case for some Trader Joe's brand products. What makes Belgian chocolate different from the other bars I've reviewed so far is that Belgian chocolatiers must import the cacao beans they use; they cannot operate on a bean-to-bar scale because the climate does not support the growth of cacao beans. Belgian chocolate is also unique in that it is exceptionally aromatic. This is something I've often noticed but did not know the reason why until I began researching for this post. Apparently, Belgian chocolate is only cooled at the very end of its manufacturing process, when it is ready to be packaged and sold, rather than cooled and then reheated and cooled again. This accounts for its wonderfully entiBelgian chocolatiers are also known for their adherence to traditional methods of producing chocolate, and so many Belgian chocolates are still made by hand and/or with the shop's original equipment. So neat!
The Pound Plus bar is produced near Antwerp, Belgium, which is a city famous for its diamond cutting and fashion boutiques as well as its chocolate production (my kind of city, LOL). Trader Joe's is pretty secretive about the specifics of its product production, but it does allow that the Pound Plus bars are produced exclusively for Trader Joe's. This is as opposed to the Pound Plus bars being produced side by side with bars that are chemically the same but wrapped in a different brand's materials, which I understand is the case for some Trader Joe's brand products. What makes Belgian chocolate different from the other bars I've reviewed so far is that Belgian chocolatiers must import the cacao beans they use; they cannot operate on a bean-to-bar scale because the climate does not support the growth of cacao beans. Belgian chocolate is also unique in that it is exceptionally aromatic. This is something I've often noticed but did not know the reason why until I began researching for this post. Apparently, Belgian chocolate is only cooled at the very end of its manufacturing process, when it is ready to be packaged and sold, rather than cooled and then reheated and cooled again. This accounts for its wonderfully entiBelgian chocolatiers are also known for their adherence to traditional methods of producing chocolate, and so many Belgian chocolates are still made by hand and/or with the shop's original equipment. So neat!