Couverture 65% – Dark Chocolate Palets

65% Dark Chocolate Palets. Bonnat's everyday dark chocolate couverture.

65% Dark Chocolate Palets are the milder of Chocolat Bonnat's two dark baking chocolates. These cocoa, cocoa butter and sugar discs come in a resealable 500-gram bag. No milk chocolate, no solid chocolate, no lecithin.

65% Dark Chocolate Palets are a dark chocolate couverture from Chocolat Bonnat in Voiron, designed for cakes, icings and hot chocolate when 75 percent cocoa would be too much. Anyone who bakes for children or mixed groups knows the problem: the strong couverture suits the baker's taste, but the cake is left untouched. These palets solve the problem. They taste distinctly of cocoa but are sweet enough not to taste bitter in a sponge cake, icing or chocolate pudding.

Dark, but approachable

The 65% palets taste of warm cocoa with a rounded, approachable sweetness, less acidity than their 75% counterpart and a shorter, softer finish. Like all the house's dark varieties, they contain no vanilla or milk, leaving the cocoa flavour clean. One disc is mild enough to snack on in the afternoon and dark enough not to taste like a sweet treat.

Anyone seeking the bitterness and depth of a Grand Cru will find this couverture too mild; in that case, the 75% couverture is the right choice. It is not suitable as tasting chocolate; it is made for baking, not for comparing origins.

From sponge cake to hot chocolate

For a chocolate cake with a molten centre, melt 200 grams of palets with 150 grams of butter, beat in four eggs and 120 grams of sugar, add 60 grams of flour, and bake for 12 minutes at 200 degrees in small moulds. The 65 percent balance the sweetness without the need to adjust the sugar. For an icing, melt 150 grams of palets with 50 grams of cream and a teaspoon of butter; it pours smoothly over a marble cake and remains soft when cut.

For hot chocolate, 30 grams of palets are enough for 200 millilitres of milk; heat in a small saucepan while stirring, but do not boil. Roughly chopped in cookie dough, the discs remain intact and melt only at the edges during baking. For chocolate pudding, stir 80 grams of palets into half a litre of milk with 30 grams of cornflour; the pudding will be dark without becoming bitter.

Good to know: Without lecithin, the mixture flows slightly more thickly than industrial couverture. This is not a problem for icings and ganache; anyone wanting to pour thin coatings or decorations can add a little cocoa butter or choose the 75 percent variety, which contains even more cocoa butter.

Why Bonnat also roasts its own baking chocolate

Since 1884, Chocolat Bonnat has processed cocoa beans in its own factory in Voiron near Grenoble, from roasting and grinding to conching, and makes its couverture from the same mixture as its bars. This is not a given with couverture: many chocolatiers buy pre-made baking chocolate and repackage it. At Bonnat, the same cocoa mixture that goes into the bars also goes into the bag.

The ingredients list remains limited to three items. No lecithin to make the mixture runny, no vanilla to mask the cocoa, no milk powder. This makes the couverture lactose-free and vegan, and because Bonnat does not process nuts in this range, it is guaranteed free from traces of nuts. For families with nut allergies, this is the real reason to buy dark baking chocolate from Bonnat; most couvertures carry a trace warning. The disc is the practical shape for the kitchen: it can be weighed out without chopping and melts evenly because every piece is the same thickness.

500 grams, resealable

The bag holds 500 grams and can be resealed after every use, so the palets do not absorb odours from the pantry. This is enough for three cakes, two icings and a dozen cups of hot chocolate. Those working with larger quantities will find the same mixture in the 3-kilogram bag.

As a gift for someone who enjoys baking, the bag is more unusual than a bar and is guaranteed to be used. Store it in a cool, dry place at 16 to 18 degrees, not in the refrigerator; moisture makes the surface turn grey and interferes with melting.

The everyday couverture for the oven, with which you can serve dark chocolate without anyone asking for sugar.