Specialty Shop For Baking Ingredients?

[attrayant]

I've looked in all of the big stores - Big C, Tesco, Villa, and there are still a few things that are missing from my baking ingredients cupboards. Currently I'm hunting for butterscotch chips. If they are truly nowhere to be found, I can make my own but for that I'll need unsweetened white chocolate which might be just as hard to find. Villa had only sweet chocolate chips, no semisweet or bittersweet chocolate or white chocolate or baker's chocolate at all.

Does anyone know of any stores or markets that specialize in hard-to-find baking ingredients such as the different varieties of flour, flavor extracts, different kinds of yeast, 10X sugar, etc.

Thanks.

Edited March 14, 2012 by attrayant

[RabC]

Not sure where you are but Friendship in Pattaya sell bakers bitter(70%) cooking chocolate and also have white and milk chocolate cooking chips.

[jaiyenyen]

I'm in Bangkok, and I can usually find eveything I need in Tesco or Macro. I've certainly seen the big bars of cooking chocolate, and chocolate chips inc white. Yeast is no problem, but I can't help you with the butterscotch chips.

[attrayant]

Sorry, I'm in Don Mueang near the airport. I just realize that I've never been into a Tops at all, but I am not expecting a lot based on what I saw at the other popular big supermarkets.

Maybe I just need to check out a different Tesco, I was assuming they all carried the same stuff but maybe that's not the case.

It never even occurred to me to check Makro; I'll keep that in mind. I couldn't find a web site for Friendship Supermarket, but I see lots of online folks praising them for all the expat stuff they carry. Are they only in Pattaya?

[ozsamurai]

UFM is your best bet

Siam Square Soi 1

or Sukhumvit Soi 33/1

Cheers

Oz

[RabC]

Sorry, I'm in Don Mueang near the airport. I just realize that I've never been into a Tops at all, but I am not expecting a lot based on what I saw at the other popular big supermarkets.

Maybe I just need to check out a different Tesco, I was assuming they all carried the same stuff but maybe that's not the case.

It never even occurred to me to check Makro; I'll keep that in mind. I couldn't find a web site for Friendship Supermarket, but I see lots of online folks praising them for all the expat stuff they carry. Are they only in Pattaya?

Yes Friendship is just a local Pattaya Supermarket I am afraid.

[jaiyenyen]

I'm In Don Meuang too, Pahonyolthin Rd, behind the airport. I use Makro, which is just past Zeer, on the left hand side. Also Tesco in either Saphan Mai or Lam Luk Ka. You could also try Foodland at IT Square, which is down near the Cheang Wattanna turn off. Lastly, there's a Tops in the basement of Future Park.

Let me know if you need any more help.

[theseahorse]

Not sure about butterscotch chips they mainly sell European bakery goods but Schmidt is your best bet to get real chocolate (makro only has fake 'cooking' chocolate and even the UFM places don't sell any real chocolate, only the greasy compound stuff.

Schidt has the full range of real chocolates, just pick your percentage. They have a range of about 1 a dozen different dark chocolates, 10 milk chocolates and maybe half a dozen white.

The Bangkok Schmidt is near the corner of Sukhumvit and Rama 4. They have a website with a map.

[Ulysses G.]

Do you know if Schmidt has sugar-free dark chocolate?

Edited March 15, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[theseahorse]

Do you know if Schmidt has sugar-free dark chocolate?

Not sure, but I don't think so.

Back in Europe, I only ever saw sugar-free chocolate sold in chemists. You get the pure cocoa mass in bakers shops (and at Schmidt here), but it's not edible like suger-free chocolate as it doesn't contain the sugar alcohol to sweeten it. I'm guessing you're wanting it for a diabetic, not for some special recipe.

[theseahorse]

Just re-read the OP.

Why do you need white chocolate for butterscotch? It's butter, brown sugar and cream - boiled to a soft crack, then cooled.

[attrayant]

I'm In Don Meuang too, Pahonyolthin Rd, behind the airport. I use Makro, which is just past Zeer, on the left hand side. Also Tesco in either Saphan Mai or Lam Luk Ka. You could also try Foodland at IT Square, which is down near the Cheang Wattanna turn off. Lastly, there's a Tops in the basement of Future Park.

Let me know if you need any more help.

Sounds like we might live in the same neighborhood. I'm very close to North Bangkok Uni. Thanks I will try those places. I wish I had checked in earlier; I just came back from Zeer.

[attrayant]

Just re-read the OP.

Why do you need white chocolate for butterscotch? It's butter, brown sugar and cream - boiled to a soft crack, then cooled.

I have a dust old recipe somewhere that calls for all of those thing combined with unsweetened tempered white chocolate. I just did a quick google search and the first hit also mentions white chocolate: http://www.ehow.com/how_5831810_make-butterscotch-chips.html

But if there's a way to make them without it, I'll give it a try. Will research more tomorrow.

[NanaFoods]

Just re-read the OP.

Why do you need white chocolate for butterscotch? It's butter, brown sugar and cream - boiled to a soft crack, then cooled.

OP wants "butterscotch chips" -- not butterscotch candy.

[jaiyenyen]

I'm In Don Meuang too, Pahonyolthin Rd, behind the airport. I use Makro, which is just past Zeer, on the left hand side. Also Tesco in either Saphan Mai or Lam Luk Ka. You could also try Foodland at IT Square, which is down near the Cheang Wattanna turn off. Lastly, there's a Tops in the basement of Future Park.

Let me know if you need any more help.

Sounds like we might live in the same neighborhood. I'm very close to North Bangkok Uni. Thanks I will try those places. I wish I had checked in earlier; I just came back from Zeer.

I know North Bangkok Uni.

I'm up near the RTAF base, soi 71. There used to be a Tops in the basement of Zeer, at the front, But I'm not sure if it's been rebuilt after the floods.

Edited March 16, 2012 by jaiyenyen

[theseahorse]

Just re-read the OP.

Why do you need white chocolate for butterscotch? It's butter, brown sugar and cream - boiled to a soft crack, then cooled.

OP wants "butterscotch chips" -- not butterscotch candy.

So he does. Maybe I need some glasses.

Have to admit that I've never even heard of butterscotch chips, let alone seen them.

I'm guessing it's an American thing?

[jaiyenyen]

Just a thought. Could you use the butterscotch dessert topping? I've seen that in Tesco. If you wanted chips you could squeeze out some chips onto baking parchment and put them in the freezer to harden up...............voilla!! Butterscotch chips.

[attrayant]

Just a thought. Could you use the butterscotch dessert topping?

I'm afraid that would turn my cookies (oatmeal scotchies) into one big big puddle in the cookie sheet when I bake them. Unfortunately I am going to have to incorporate something like cocoa butter and milk solids that has the magic melting point (solid at room temp, but melts in your mouth). All signs point to white chocolate.

Hmmm, perhaps I could dot the cookies with the butterscotch topping after they've baked and cooled. That might produce a reasonable facsimile of oatmeal scotchies.

I foresee some very tasty experimentation in my future. Will likely gain a few kgs too...

Edited March 16, 2012 by attrayant

[butterisbetter]

Are you sure there is such a thing as unsweetened white chocolate. White chocolate is a combination of cocoa butter, powdered milk, and sugar. I've never seen any other reference to unsweeteed white chocolate. Maybe you mean cocoa butter. I could see combining cocoa butter and whole milk powder with butterscotch ingredients to create a chip.

[attrayant]

It's been so long since I made them, I can't remember. But my brain keeps insisting it was unsweetened. And the recipe I linked to earlier also calls for unsweetened white chocolate. You can buy it from amazon, so it definitely exists.

I wonder if I could use sweetened white chocolate and substitute a smaller amount of molasses for the dark brown sugar.

I went to a different Tesco today and was disappointed by their baking section. In fact I would go so far as to say they didn't have a baking section at all. Lots of imported ready-made cake and cookie mixes but hardly any base ingredients at all. I looked for the butterscotch sauce but they had toffee ice cream topping instead. I'm not sure how close the flavor of toffee is to butterscotch.

Edited March 17, 2012 by attrayant

[NanaFoods]

Have to admit that I've never even heard of butterscotch chips, let alone seen them.

I'm guessing it's an American thing?

No idea if butterscotch chips are strictly "American" or not... but they're fairly well-known in my neck of the woods. Of course, not quite on par with dark/milk chocolate or even white chocolate chips, but an option.

Peanut butter chips are also an option where I come from...

[Backwoods]

I have seen the butterscotch chips, not sure if it was Macro,(the one near Zeer), or the Main Villa on Sukumvit 33, as I was looking for different things for baking also! It was within the last few weeks I seen them!

[butterisbetter]

It's been so long since I made them, I can't remember. But my brain keeps insisting it was unsweetened. And the recipe I linked to earlier also calls for unsweetened white chocolate. You can buy it from amazon, so it definitely exists.

I wonder if I could use sweetened white chocolate and substitute a smaller amount of molasses for the dark brown sugar.

I went to a different Tesco today and was disappointed by their baking section. In fact I would go so far as to say they didn't have a baking section at all. Lots of imported ready-made cake and cookie mixes but hardly any base ingredients at all. I looked for the butterscotch sauce but they had toffee ice cream topping instead. I'm not sure how close the flavor of toffee is to butterscotch.

I went to Amazon and did see sugar free white chocolate. But that stuff is sweetened with either artificial sweeteners or maltitol. Maybe stevia, too, although I didn't see any.

[DannyS1951]

Look in your closest Max Value. That's the old Jusco supermarkets. I think there is one in Rangsit. They have a small baking section, but at the store near me it's not in the most obvious position so you made need to ask. Look for the flour in brown paper bags and you may find hard, cake, rye and wholemeal. I've seen white chocolate in our one, but I don't know if it's what you are looking for.

[bkk_mike]

There's a baking ingredients shop on the basement floor at Fashion Island.

Also, as you're in North Bangkok, there's a Villa and a whole foods store next door to it on the road heading up to Muang Thong Thani - between the Tesco and Big C at "The Avenue" in Chaeng Wattana.

Although I've never heard of Butterscotch chips before so don't know if they've got them.