"real" chocolate as opposed to chocolate fondant

[Manxexile]

When I was young (40+ years ago) items like chocolate eclairs etc came topped with proper cooking or baking (dark) chocolate.

Now I can only find eclairs etc topped with some appalling sickly and sticky goo called chocolate fondant - not solid, set chocolate.

Do no supermarkets or other food outlets sell the genuine article these days?

Thanks but the fact they sell stuff at an "expensive" price doesn't mean they aren't skimping on ingredients.

Most of their customers might only know a fondant topping.

But like me you know chocolate is better

Hi @marylou25 - thanks for the post

I'm quite happy for the chocolate to crack and solid bits fall off at first bite. It's part of the experience I grew up with. It's like al dente spaghetti. I like texture to my food - not baby food mush.

I'm reasonably happy with a ganache topping - better than fondant but not my ideal.

What I think I really don't like is that I find the fondant excessively sweet. I like bitter chocolate. The more bitter the better.

I never understood why Cadburys advertised their Dairy Milk chocolate as containing a pint and a half of milk - a pint and a half of adulteration of proper chocolate more like. Appalling.

If, as you say, proper fondant should not slide off or run off the pastry, I'd be grateful if you would explain to Waitrose and Sainsburys how to do it properly, as the last time I had chocolate eclairs from either retailer my trousers looked as if I'd had a dysentery-ridden puppy on my lap...

To be clear - I'm not getting at you - I've found your reply informative. Thanks

I agree with what you say, the fondant topping is too sweet, I love the contrast between the cream and dark chocolate and the bland choux, it's a delicious not that sweet concoction, I don't like sugar in the cream either! Plain nice fresh dairy cream for me. I'm going to have to make some eclairs shortly now! 😁
I used to always keep a bag of cooked profiteroles in the freezer for practically instant dessert with a bit of cream and chocolate sauce (real dark choc obvs)

Laughed at your dysentry ridden puppy analogy

" I agree with what you say, the fondant topping is too sweet, I love the contrast between the cream and dark chocolate and the bland choux, it's a delicious not that sweet concoction, I don't like sugar in the cream either! Plain nice fresh dairy cream for me..."

@marylou25 - spot on! 😁