Bakers following a specific recipe
If a cake or ganache recipe names a cocoa percentage, look for a bar close to it. Good Food recipes use about 60% for one chocolate cake and its ganache, and about 70% for chocolate chunks in a cookie recipe.
Who is choosing a bar?
Bakers using one bar in several ways
A plain bar avoids adding an unintended flavour whether you chop it into dough or melt it for a topping. Check the percentage for each recipe rather than assuming the same bar will match every bake.
Bakers checking dietary requirements
Check the exact bar's current ingredients and allergen statements before serving the cake. A vegan recipe does not, by itself, establish suitability for someone with a milk allergy.
What should you check?
Match the recipe first, then check additions and allergens; consider how you will use and melt the bar once those choices are settled.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Cocoa percentage | Compare the wrapper with the recipe's stated percentage and the amount used in the cake or ganache. Good Food specifies about 60% for both parts of one chocolate cake, but about 70% for chunks in a cookie recipe. | My recipe calls for a particular percentage, so I want the intended chocolate flavour rather than an unplanned change in bitterness. |
| Added flavours | Read the ingredient list for fruit, flavourings or other additions. Montezuma's Black Forest 70% bar, for example, contains 4% freeze-dried cherries and cherry flavouring. | For a plain sponge or ganache, I want chocolate without added cherry flavour. For a cherry-chocolate cake, those additions may be part of the plan. |
| Allergens | Check the current ingredients and precautionary statements for the exact bar. Lindt states that its EXCELLENCE Dark 70% bar is made to a vegan recipe but is unsuitable for people with a milk allergy. | If someone eating the cake has an allergy, I need to check the wrapper rather than rely on the words 'dark' or 'vegan'. |
| Melting | Break or chop the bar into pieces. Good Food advises short microwave bursts with frequent stirring, or low heat only until melted in its chocolate cake recipe. | I'm melting chocolate for batter or ganache and want to avoid overheating it before it goes into the recipe. |
Common baking mistakes
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Treating all dark-chocolate percentages as interchangeable
Good Food specifies about 60% chocolate for one cake and its ganache, but about 70% for a cookie recipe. It notes that higher stated cocoa content generally tastes deeper and more bitter.
Buy the percentage your recipe specifies where possible. If you substitute another bar, expect a change in flavour rather than an equivalent result.
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Using a flavoured bar in a plain recipe
Montezuma's Black Forest 70% bar contains freeze-dried cherries and cherry flavouring, which will become part of the finished bake.
Choose a plain bar for a neutral chocolate cake or ganache; use a flavoured bar when its additions suit the recipe.
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Assuming vegan means milk-allergy suitable
Lindt says its EXCELLENCE Dark 70% bar is made to a vegan recipe but is manufactured in a facility using milk and is unsuitable for people with a milk allergy.
For allergy-sensitive baking, check the exact wrapper's ingredients and precautionary statements before using the bar.
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Overheating chocolate as it melts
Good Food warns that overheated chocolate can turn grainy, which matters when you need a smooth mixture for batter or ganache.
Use short microwave bursts and stir often, or follow a recipe's low-heat method only until the chocolate has melted.
Brand and bar references
These examples show how particular bars differ; a brand name alone cannot tell you whether its current bar matches your recipe or dietary requirements.
Lindt
Lindt's EXCELLENCE Dark 70% is a 100g bar. Good Food names approximately 70% Lindt chocolate in a cookie recipe because it kept its shape when baked; that observation does not establish the same result in every cake.
- The listed ingredients are cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla.
- Lindt says this vegan-recipe bar may contain nuts, milk, soya and sesame seeds, and is unsuitable for people with a milk allergy.
M&S
M&S presents its 100g dark chocolate bar, containing at least 70% cocoa solids, as an ingredient for cakes, cookies and desserts.
- Its listed ingredients include cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa powder and soya lecithin.
- M&S states that this bar is not suitable for people with milk, nut or peanut allergies. Check the current label before use.
Divine
Divine's 90g 70% dark chocolate bar is another plain-bar option when that percentage suits the recipe.
- Divine lists Fairtrade cocoa mass, sugar and cocoa butter, alongside sunflower lecithin and vanilla.
- The bar may contain gluten, milk and nuts; its vegan label does not replace an allergen check.
Montezuma's
Montezuma's lists a plain FitzRoy 74% bar as well as flavoured dark bars. Choose between them according to the recipe's percentage and intended flavour.
- Its Black Forest 70% bar contains 4% freeze-dried cherries and cherry flavouring for a deliberately cherry-chocolate bake.
- The Black Forest bar contains soya and may contain milk, nuts and peanuts; it is not a plain-bar substitute.
Hotel Chocolat
Hotel Chocolat offers an 85% dark-chocolate slab for a bake where that higher cocoa percentage is intentional.
- An 85% bar gives bakers a stated percentage to compare with the recipe.
- Hotel Chocolat's description of the slab as mellow reflects the brand's own assessment, not a cake-baking test. Check its current ingredients and allergens before use.
Green & Black's
Green & Black's identifies a 90g Dark 70% bar, which is a candidate when a recipe calls for that percentage.
- The stated 70% cocoa content can be checked against a recipe's requirement.
- Read the exact bar's current ingredients and allergen statements before choosing it for a particular cake.
Dark chocolate bars on Joybuy
These single bars include 70% and 72% options for recipes near that range, plus 85% options for bakes where a stronger cocoa flavour is intentional. Match the percentage and check the wrapper before treating any bar as a recipe substitute.
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Menier Dark Cooking Chocolate 70% Cocoa 100g
A 100g cooking-chocolate bar to consider when your cake recipe calls for around 70% cocoa. It contains milk and may contain eggs, gluten and tree nuts; check the current wrapper for the people eating the cake.
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Green & Black's Dark Chocolate 70% 90g
A 90g bar for a recipe calling for approximately 70% dark chocolate. Check the current wrapper's milk and nut statements before using it in an allergy-sensitive bake.
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Morrisons The Best Dominican Republic Dark Chocolate 72% Cocoa 100g
A 100g bar for a bake where 72% cocoa suits the recipe or an intentional change from 70%. It is not an exact match for a 60% or 70% recipe; it contains soya and may contain milk, nuts, peanuts and gluten-containing cereals.
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Green & Black's Dark Chocolate 85% 90g
A 90g bar for a recipe or flavour preference that deliberately calls for 85% dark chocolate. Compared with a recipe specifying about 60% or 70%, the higher cocoa percentage may give a deeper, more bitter result. It may contain almonds, hazelnuts, other nuts and milk.
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Lindt EXCELLENCE 85% Cocoa Dark Chocolate 100g
A 100g bar for an intentional 85% cocoa choice, rather than a like-for-like replacement in a 60% or 70% recipe. Check the current wrapper's nuts, milk, soya and sesame statements before baking for anyone with an allergy.
Questions about baking with dark chocolate
Should I always use 70% dark chocolate for a cake?
No. Follow the recipe's percentage where you can: Good Food uses about 60% chocolate in both a chocolate cake and its ganache, while its cookie recipe uses about 70%. A 70% bar will not reproduce every recipe's intended sweetness.
Can I bake with a dark chocolate bar sold for eating?
Yes, if its cocoa percentage, ingredients and allergen statements suit the recipe and the people eating it. Good Food notes that 'cooking chocolate' is not a technical distinction that prevents other chocolate from being used in cookery.
Can I replace a plain bar with flavoured dark chocolate?
Use a flavoured bar when you want its additions in the finished cake, rather than as a neutral substitute. Montezuma's Black Forest bar, for instance, contains freeze-dried cherries and cherry flavouring.
How should I melt a bar for cake batter or ganache?
Break or chop it into pieces and melt it gently. Good Food advises short microwave bursts with frequent stirring; its chocolate cake recipe uses low heat only until the chocolate and butter have melted.
Is a vegan dark chocolate bar suitable for someone with a milk allergy?
Not necessarily. Lindt states that its EXCELLENCE Dark 70% bar is made to a vegan recipe but is unsuitable for people with a milk allergy because it is manufactured in a facility using milk. Check the current label of the exact bar before using it.