Review: Organic white chocolate (Irma)

Time for my first review of a white chocolate. This one is organic and Fairtrade from the Danish supermarket Irma and comes in a 100g bar. It is produced in Germany with cocoa beans from Bolivia and/or The Dominican Republic. Since it is a private label and I was unable to find out more details about it.

The wrapping appears attractive. The chocolate itself, however, is not “snow white” which somewhat detracts from its appearance. That is, the colour – a very pale caramel - is not unattractive in and off itself. Nevertheless many consumers will probably expect something else from a white chocolate bar. I assume that the darker colour comes from the use of muscovado and cane sugar rather than regular sugar. Appearance: 8 out of 10.

I found the aroma to be quite excellent as the aromas of white chocolate and muscovado sugar blends into an enticing mix. Very nice indeed. Aroma: 9 out of 10.

Despite being a white chocolate it has a real snap to it when breaking pieces of it, although it is not, of course, comparable to the snap of dark chocolate. There is a little less snap when actually biting into it. But probably one cannot achieve a much better snap for a white chocolate. The melt of the chocolate is good too. My impression is, however, that this bar is slightly more firm than other white chocolates and therefore melts a little slower. I did not find, however that this was unpleasant. It does, however, stick somewhat more to mouth and teeth. Whether this firmness is due to the muscovado sugar I can only guess at but this would be my assumption. Texture 8, 5 out of 10.

Flavour: The flavour of the white chocolate is quite distinctive and pleasant without being too sweet which can sometimes be an issue with white chocolate. There are nice notes of vanilla and spices, the latter probably stemming from the use of muscovado sugar. The complex flavours of the muscovado goes really well with the flavour of the white chocolate making for very good taste. Flavour: 8, 5 out of 10.

A few additional notes:

While I find every aspect of this bar quite good I find it less suitable for baking and cooking. This is due in part to the colour (if you go for a snow white appearance) and in part as it does not melt into a thick fluid chocolate that can be used for, say, covering. Rather, it becomes a semisoft mass. When used in chunks for baking it can work, but the chunks do no seem to melt into the dough but remain more or less intact. You may use it for white chocolate mousse, but this will require that a little milk (or cream) is used when melting the chocolate. I assume this is due, again, to the use of muscovado. In terms of flavour I think the muscovado clearly compensates for the lack of melt.
For cooking/baking I would, however, recommend another good chocolate. For enjoying as is, however, this is quite good and I have no qualms recommending it. It would be nice, though, had the packet stated the percentage of cocoa butter used in the making. Also it would be nice had the package stated that this chocolate is less good for cooking baking.

Average 8,5 out of 10.