Which chocolate to buy for Christmas? Test Sheet – 12/01/2023 – Food
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With Christmas coming, the shelves of emporiums and supermarkets are already filled with panettone and chocolate of the most varied types. With this in mind, the newest edition of Folha Prova blindly evaluated the main brands available out there.
To account for the variety of the market, the tasting was divided into three categories: stuffed, chocotones and traditional.
In the second category, 10 brands were tested. Of these, 5 were chosen as the best after having their characteristics raised and debated — something in common among those chosen: they are all made with natural fermentation. In these recipes, the dough could be seen in balance in relation to the presence of chocolate.
The products were chosen as the best after their characteristics were raised and debated among the judges. The result is not a ranking, but a list that sought to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in the following points: aroma, presentation, dough, filling, flavor and texture.
Journalists from Sheet Lucas Alonso, Vitória Macedo and Nadine Nascimento; Netto Gasparini, newspaper layout designer; and Vailma dos Santos, student.
Specialists Paola Biselli, chef and professor of the applied confectionery course at Escola Wilma Kövesi de Cozinha, and Dawilson Fonte, professor of baking and confectionery at Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, were also part of the team.
The Folha Prova section offers the reader a shopping guide and has already evaluated products such as white wine, olive oil, hazelnut cream, frozen cheese bread and ketchup.
See below the comments about the products tried. The brands can be easily found in supermarkets, emporiums and sweet shops.
See the evaluation of the chocolates
Baianí Chocolates and Star&Olivers
It uses Sicilian lemon paste, acacia honey and an infusion of cocoa shells and nibs to flavor the dough, which is naturally fermented. For student Vailma dos Santos, “it makes your mouth water just smelling it”. The sweet contains drops of white chocolate made with three Brazilian spices: cumaru, amburana and puxuri — none of the classic vanilla or artificial essences.
R$ 250 (1kg), in starsandolives.com
Bráz Pizzaria
Naturally fermented, it has a light, moist dough with a good texture. The filling contains drops of semi-sweet chocolate and glazed orange, a combination praised by Paola Biselli. “It doesn’t seem to have any artificial flavoring in it,” she said. One of the criticisms of panettone is in relation to the chestnut coating which, according to Professor Dawilson, should be crunchier. Another observation is that those looking for a chocotone to avoid candied fruits may not like the option, as orange is present in the dough.
R$ 119 (800g), at brazveloce.com.br
Santa Maria Emporium
With two units in São Paulo, the emporium imports Cioccolato panettone from Italy. They are made with natural fermentation that lasts 72 hours. In the filling, the drops are semi-sweet chocolate, which makes the product less sweet and cloying. But, for Lucas Alonso, the dough lacked moisture.
R$ 159 (750g), at emporiosantamaria.com.br
Levena
The house led by confectioner Diego Lozano made its version of naturally fermented chocolate panettone with drops of milk and dark chocolate and toasted corn. During the tasting, some of the judges felt a lack of moisture in the dough. But the result pleased Netto Gasparini: “It has a very different flavor, which stands out.”
R$ 105 (500g). @levena_sp
Mica
Handmade chocolate brand, also made panettone for this year’s end. Among the sweets evaluated by the jury was Not Tella, with natural fermentation dough, filled with hazelnut cream produced on site and semi-sweet chocolate drops. The topping has milk chocolate and caramelized hazelnuts. The option was a hit among those who liked an abundance of chocolate — student Vailma dos Santos praised the abundance of hazelnuts. But for Dawilson Fonte, the combination was very sweet.
R$ 290 (1kg). @micachocolate
Others brands evaluated in this section and that were not among the best: Dama (R$190; 1 kg), Le Jazz (R$115; 1kg), Bauducco (around R$4; 900g), St. Marché (R$21.90; 400g) and Natural da Terra (R$21.99; 400g).
Marília Miragaia collaborated
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