Without meaning to sound trite, the best chocolate in the world is the one that you like the best. It really doesn’t matter what someone else thinks—if you don’t like it, then you don’t like it. It’s not the best to you.

There are a lot of factors that go into individual taste, including where you were born and the chocolate you grew up eating. That, as much as anything else, may determine what chocolate you like best.

As a general rule, though, the fresher a piece of chocolate is, the better. So, if you’re in a chocolate shop and can’t decide what to buy, a good question to ask is what chocolate is freshest. The truffle that was just made will taste a lot better than one, even a favorite flavor, that was made two weeks ago.

Keep in mind that there are limits to freshness at both ends. In a boutique artisan chocolatier, three weeks is usually the most you should keep a box before considering the contents past their prime. However, ganaches do take some time to mature, so you should probably make sure that 48-72 hours have passed since the chocolates were finished before eating them.

Previous Questions and Answers:

1. I'm going to make my Wedding cake. It will be Chocolate with a ganache filling and icing. Should I make the ganache first and let it sit, then put the cake together or put the whole cake together and let it sit? Thanks so much for your time and your help! I love this web site! Cheryl
   Posted by  on  07/19  at  07:51 AM
2. Cheryl: Usually, the ganache for a cake icing is like a glaze, much thinner than a conventional truffle filling or a buttercream icing. Therefore you want the ganache to be thin enough to pour. The technique that I am aware of has the cake fully assembled with whatever filling is going to be in between the layers and then the ganache icing/glaze is poured over the top. There are lots of great recipe books with this type of cake in it though it's not a common approach for a wedding cake, which usually has much more decoration on it. If you're looking for a book to provide some guidance, a good one would be Christian Teubner's The Chocolate Bible. If you don't have it, you can order it from Amazon.com through The Chocolate Co-Op.
   Posted by  on  07/19  at  08:40 AM