Semisweet Choc Vs Chips Question

[kam]

OK, all you cooks out there...

I am making the Turtle Fudge Skillet Cake tonight to "test" it. (BTW this will me my very first skillet cake - I have been dying to try one but no hosts have chosen one - so I am "forced" to make it for us at home! )

My question has to do with the chocolate melted with the caramel.

The recipe calls for 4 1-oz squares of semi-sweet chocolate. Can 4 oz of semi-sweet choc chips be used instead? Or are these different?

Just thinking that the chips would be so much easier to deal with instead of the squares of chocolate. I was not very graceful chopping the chocolate and wouldn't want to do it at a show.

Thanks!

 

[Kitchen Diva]

As long as the recipe doesn't say semi-sweet BAKING chocolate, you should be fine substituting the chips for the squares.

Have fun, and let us know how it turns out!

 

[KellyTheChef]

I am pretty sure that I have made the same substitution...it turned out fine!!

Hope you like it!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I almost always use chips for this recipe - I tell my host that chips are fine, or they can also buy a Ghiradelli Bar - most just use the chips they already have on hand.

I also usually make extra (like 50% more) of this, because I like it running down the sides of the cake.....:chef: YUM!

 

[jenm42]

YES! I make this all the time at shows, but I find that if I use the amount of chocolate called for it's never enough to impressively spread over the edges of the cake like the picture shows. Use about a cup of chocolate chips.

I ALSO found that the type of caramel makes a difference - the type in the squeezy bottle is looser than the type in the glass jar - and there's more of it. So it's easier to spread. I have my hosts get the 20 oz squeezy bottle of caramel - I melt about 8-12 oz of it with the chocolate, and then spread. Then I use most of the rest of the bottle of caramel for the drizzling over the top. Everyone LOVES this cake, and it's a pretty quick demo!

Hope that helps!

=) Jen

 

[kam]

Thanks! I will definitely use semi-sweet choc chips next time. That is also a good idea about the squeezy bottle of caramel. DH wanted caramel drizzled over his and it was a little messy trying to drizzle nicely out of the jar.

Oh, and BTW: the cake turned out wonderful!! It was VERY good. And very easy. I can see that this would be good to do at a show - as an extra recipe. Easy to make and stick in oven before guests arrive and simple enough to micro the chips and caramel while guests are there. Oh, and I used my new green nylon knife to cut the cake and it worked nicely. I have never had a "plastic" knife as such and am trying to use it for things and I have found it really does work!