Who doesn’t love chocolate? It is a delicious sweet treat that comes in many different forms: Most common among them are milk, white, and dark, which all differ in flavor. Milk chocolate, often considered the default due to its popularity, is super sweet and creamy. White chocolate, however, often has the most sugar. It’s made of cocoa butter, milk powder, and sugar, and often packs a light vanilla taste. Meanwhile, dark chocolate contains the least amount of sugar and has a higher cocoa percentage. As a result, it has a punchy, bitter taste and a robust flavor. Some people prefer to use dark chocolate to balance the sweetness in chocolate chip cookies, or as a dip for fresh fruit like strawberries and raspberries.
Looking for the perfect dark chocolate from the supermarket? Luckily, you’re covered with Chowhound’s ranking of store-bought dark chocolate brands, ensuring you’ll get the best bang for your buck. The chocolate was ranked based on its taste and texture in the quest for a bar that didn’t have an overpowering flavor. Coming in last place was the Taza Wicked Dark chocolate bar, which had a bitter, chalky texture. On the flip side, the Cadbury Royal Dark chocolate bar topped the list — praised for its smooth flavor and luxurious portioning and packaging. Next time you’re craving dark chocolate, head straight to the Cadbury section in the candy aisle.
Why is Cadbury the best dark chocolate?
If you have ever walked down the candy aisle at the store, you have likely spotted Cadbury with its dark purple packaging. The brand offers a variety of products, such as its classic dairy milk chocolate and hazelnut chocolate bars. But let’s unpack the dark chocolate. Chowhound found that the product had the perfect amount of cocoa flavor and a silky smooth texture that will have you begging for more. Introduced in 2002, Cadbury dark chocolate is made of sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, milk fat, natural and artificial flavor, and lecithin.
Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Cadbury was founded by John Cadbury in 1824. When John retired in 1861, his sons George and Richard Cadbury took over operations. The two ensured that the cocoa was 100% pure by squeezing cocoa butter from the beans in a cocoa press, rather than using fillers like animal fat, toxic red lead, and brick dust — like competing brands did.
Cadbury pure dark chocolate is perfect for enjoying piece by piece, or for making chocolate-covered strawberries or dark chocolate salted caramels where the chocolate can take the spotlight. When it comes to the essentials for baking with chocolate, chef Jessica Randhawa once told Chowhound, “With its robust flavor, dark chocolate is perfect for recipes that call for melted chocolate, such as ganache or chocolate sauce.” Sounds like just the time to add melted dark chocolate chunks to your brownies — and never look back.
