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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think that someone describing themselves as

40 replies

BlueMoonRising · 17/09/2015 13:00

'master baker and confectioner' would not use a) margarine and b) cheap (cooking?) chocolate in their products?

I just bought some malteser tiffin, and it is SO disappointing. I can't imagine using something that tastes very like cooking chocolate melted on the top of something like this.

OP posts:

Cherryblossomsinspring · 17/09/2015 16:23

Yuck to stork and marg. Anyone using that is unreasonable and stuck in the 1980's.

OurBlanche · 17/09/2015 16:38

My pleasure, triathlon.

You also have to check 'couverture' as it is a high quality 'covering' chocolate with extra ^cocoa solids* to get a very high gloss. It's not the same as high % cocoa solid bar chocolate, as it has no sugar and would make odd cakes/bars, if you weren't expecting it. So if you see cooking chocolate described as couverture, with high cocoa solids, like Montezuma's who call their delicous sacks of couverture 'cooking' chocolate, it is the good stuff.

That all sounds quite chocolate snobby, doesn't it?

DisappointedOne · 17/09/2015 16:42

Cakes made with all butter tend to be very heavy and greasy,

Speak for yourself!

MrsHathaway · 17/09/2015 17:27

The buttery spreads are acceptable when baked, but wholly unacceptable raw, as in "buttercream" or non-baked baking such as Rocky Road, rice crispie cake, or indeed tiffin.

I agree that cooking chocolate is an abomination. I gave a friend my recipe for making chocolate truffles. In her first attempt she used cooking chocolate; I should have asked for the recipe back.

wowfudge · 17/09/2015 18:50

I'm pretty sure melts are American in origin - but yes, they are revolting. I would go back and tell them how disappointing it was. There's a bakery near us which is stuck in the 60s or 70s and has some really old-fashioned crap for sale. They claim to be a master baker too.

The other bakery abomination is fake marzipan. I'm looking at you Lyons with your 1% almonds covering on Battenburg cake which is full of flavouring and nothing decent.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 17/09/2015 19:11

Another butter purist here, though if I'm baking with chocolate, (brownies for instance) I use Tesco value dark, which is I think about 45% cocoa solids and not that bad to eat either.

dodobookends · 17/09/2015 20:39

Since you bought it in a health food shop, was it chocolate or could it have been carob?

colley · 17/09/2015 20:55

Yes it may have been vegan. So they wouldn't use butter and carob is horrible, so may be that.

Heebiejeebie · 17/09/2015 21:32

My local health food shop sells sugar, dairy, fat and gluten free 'muffins'. I think they are grated plywood

Original poster

BlueMoonRising · 17/09/2015 23:04

No, it is a health food shop mainly, but also sells local produce - which doesn't have to be healthy. It was (as I said in the op) malteser tiffin. Maltesers are not vegan. Or health food - mores the pity.

I messaged the business on Facebook.

They said that they don't use inferior products - they use Renshaws. Which seem to do icing and melts. So I assume it is melts.

I said that if they used real chocolate they would get more repeat business.

They said that they sell over 100 packs per week, so wouldn't be changing anything.

Yes, you read that right. 100.

Ah well. They did say they were sorry I was disappointed.

OP posts:

DisappointedOne · 17/09/2015 23:14

Melts are meant as a coating for cake pops, mainly. Where you have a tiny layer around the cake pop. Not for making anything that calls for chocolate.

Aldi's 70% chocolate is cheap and brilliant. The 85% is lush for eating.

AbbyCadabra · 18/09/2015 00:32

Melts are sugar and vegetable oils, they don't taste remotely chocolately and as disappointed says they're primary used as a thin coating for cake pops. (It's all Bakerella's fault). They are quite revolting and shouldn't be used in place of cooking/baking chocolate.

If anyone has the time and patience to make their own cake pops, it is easy to make your own melts with white chocolate and colour gels. They taste way better than the commercially available ones.

AbbyCadabra · 18/09/2015 00:33

Er, that should be primarily. Thank God I didn't post on that spelling thread.

WaggleBee · 18/09/2015 01:11

Ugh. Yanbu. Bought a millionaires shortbread from a food fair and it had the thickest layer of milk cooking chocolate on it. It was vile. The shortbread bit was dry and thin so guessing margarine was used in it. Fancy setting up a stall in an annual food food amongst experts and selling that. I wouldn't have the cheek!

Then again they'd almost sold out so must've made a huge profit. Cheeky but not daft.

Clearly that crap cake bothered me, it was months ago.

WaggleBee · 18/09/2015 01:17

The buttery spreads are acceptable when baked, but wholly unacceptable raw, as in "buttercream"

This reminded me of the very £££ cakes my Dsis got a friend to make for my other siblings birthday and got me to chip in for. Chocolate 'butter'cream clearly made with stork that was too soft to ice with so the toppings looked exactly like a twirly dog poo.

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