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11/20/2010

Indulge in Chocolate

Filed under: Food And Drink — Tags: , , — admin @ 6:50 AM
Ryan C Wilson asked:




On a cold, rainy day, when you are feeling blue, or lonely, what could be a better fix than to simply indulge in chocolate? You can bake a cake, cookies, or fudge, or even simpler, open up a box of mixed chocolates, unwrap a candy bar, or have a cup of hot cocoa. You might prefer to just meld some chocolate and then dip fresh fruit in it. Any way you do it, the doldrums will disappear.

There are many different varieties of cocoa beans. The best chocolatiers blend them, roast them, shell them, and then crush them until a thick liquid forms. This chocolate liquor is made up of creamy cocoa butter and chocolate solids.

Unsweetened chocolate is bitter, and can’t be eaten as is. But added to batter, it becomes delicious brownies or chocolate cakes. With just a bit of sugar, vanilla, and cocoa butter, it becomes semi sweet, like those wonderful chips in chocolate chip cookies. Semi sweet, sweetened dark chocolate is what is usually used for fondues and for the dark chocolate covered candies and candy bars.

Milk chocolate, the most popular form found in candy bars and bonbons is really just sweetened dark chocolate that has condensed milk or milk solids added. White chocolate is not really chocolate, since none of the chocolate liquor is in it. It is made from cocoa butter, sugar, and milk, with no chocolate solids whatsoever.

When you are indulging in chocolate by baking or cooking with it, never substitute one chocolate in a recipe for another. The flavors and even the textures will be different. Chocolate chips have very little cocoa butter in them, because you want them to maintain their shape, rather than melting into the other ingredients.

Chocolate is by far the most favored of candies and treats. While the Europeans are famous for their fancy desserts filled with creamy chocolate, their fluffy mousses, and their frostings and ganaches, the United States has its share of candies, fudges, and so on to be proud of.

Not only can you buy chocolate in any number of specialty shops, in every grocery and quick stop convenience store, and in vending machines, but it is also easily available online in all its shapes and forms.

Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas wouldn’t be the same without chocolate. Peanuts, caramel, coconut, and peanut butter would be lost without their coating of dark or milk chocolate. Marshmallows that could no longer be wrapped or bathed in chocolate would have no alternative but to expire in the flames of your campfire. S’mores would become sowhats!

So go ahead…fight cancer and heart disease with antioxidants, release your endorphins, snuggle up with a good book and indulge in chocolate.

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11/06/2010

Organic Chocolate

Filed under: Food And Drink — Tags: , , — admin @ 11:23 AM
Eddie Tobey asked:




Chocolate has always been associated with a variety of health problems. This is the reason why some people steer clear of this delicious treat. But now, there is good news for chocolate lovers. Chocolate, specifically organic chocolate, has been proved to offer many health benefits.

Organic chocolate is made from high-quality organic ingredients. It meets or exceeds all standards of qualification that classify it as an organic product. When a chocolate is labeled organic, it means that the product’s cacao content was farmed in an environmentally suitable way. This ensures that there are no harmful pesticide residues.

One of the main reasons why you should eat organic chocolate instead of its non-organic counterpart is because you minimize the risk of ingesting pesticide residues. While non-organic chocolate itself is fine to eat, there can be pesticide residue present in the cocoa powder used, which can have harmful effects on the body. Unlike non-organic chocolate, organic chocolate is made from organic cocoa which is cultivated in small plots under a shade canopy, therefore minimizing the use of pesticides.

And since there is less risk for pesticide residue ingestion, organic chocolate has been proven helpful to the body. When eaten in moderation, it can contribute to heart health, suppress chronic cough, add much-needed magnesium to the diet and help control blood sugar. However, too much of something is not good for your health. You should avoid excessive intake of chocolate.

Recent studies have shown that chocolate itself is actually good for you. What makes eating it a health hazard is the kind of ingredients used to make it. This is why it is important that you choose organic over non-organic chocolates. Organic chocolate is a healthier and tastier option for your body. Now you need not worry too much about possible health risks when you indulge your sweet tooth.

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11/04/2010

Baking With Chocolate

Filed under: Food And Drink — Tags: , , — admin @ 6:54 PM
Chris Alleny asked:




Chocolate is one of the most favorite flavors in the world when it comes to desserts, sweets, and pastries. No matter what country, place, or group of people, it will have its fans. Not only are they delicious as candy bars and eaten on their own or drank as a hot drink, they are also a popular ingredient for baking and used to flavor cakes, brownies, and cookies. When baking with dark chocolate, you don’t just buy any type, melt it and mix it in with your recipe. There are different types of baking chocolate to choose from.

The Different Types of Chocolate Used for Baking
The type that used for baking is commonly called “baking chocolate” and can be unsweetened, bittersweet, semisweet, or sweet. The difference among the three is the amount of chocolate liquor that it contains, as well as the sugar, vanilla, and lecithin mixture. Baking chocolate, like all other types is made from roasted cacao beans. The cacao beans are fermented and dried, roasted, and then crushed and ground until it forms a paste, liquefying the cocoa butter, and becomes what is called the chocolate liquor. Liquor, in this case, does not mean that it contains alcohol but simply means “liquid.” The liquor is then poured into molds and allowed to harden or solidify. The resulting bar is what is considered as unsweetened chocolate. To make bittersweet, semisweet, or sweet baking chocolate, sugar, lecithin and vanilla are added to the liquor before molding, along with cocoa butter. The concentration of cocoa and how chocolate is to be labeled as bittersweet or sweet depends on the country’s government regulations. In the U.S., bittersweet has to contain at least 35 percent liquor, while semisweet has to contain between 15 and 35 percent chocolate liquor as set by the Manufacturers Association of the U.S.

Using Bittersweet and Semisweet Chocolate Interchangeably
Bittersweet type contains less sugar than semisweet and sweet chocolate, although because of the flexible regulation for semisweet chocolate, both bittersweet and semisweet, according to those standards, could contain practically the same amount of liquor and sugar, but still be labeled separately. One brand of baking chocolate can thus have a bittersweet one that is close to another brand’s semisweet chocolate. This is why, in most recipes, semisweet and bittersweet types could be interchanged. However, if the recipe calls for unsweetened ones, semisweet or bittersweet will not do because unsweetened is obviously very different in content. Most recipes for baking and cooking usually require unsweetened ones. If the recipe does not specifically state that you have to use bittersweet, semisweet or sweet types, use unsweetened ones always. You can simply adjust the sweetness as you go along to your desired taste.

Storing your Baking Chocolate
Unsweetened, bittersweet, and semisweet types can be stored for more than a year as long as you store it properly. Put it in an airtight container and in a cool, dry place where there is no direct sunlight. Temperature fluctuations can cause it to discolor. Milk chocolate becomes stale more easily and has a shelf life of less than a year. Always check the dates when you’re buying chocolate and get the freshest you can get.

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10/22/2010

Chocolate is Healthy!

Filed under: Food And Drink — Tags: , , — admin @ 12:22 PM
Michaela Verstraeten asked:




This is proven fact ; although many in our diet obsessed western cultures would have you believe that it is not. Most diets today followed by people unhappy with their weight ban chocolate and categorize it as one of the “bad” foods that people should not eat!

BUT chocolate is healthy, very healthy in fact. Cacao, from which chocolate is made is one of the greatest sources of anti-oxidants, it provides us with magnesium, potassium and other useful amino acids which help our bodies. What is not good for us is over sweet sugar laden chocolate confectionary which contains very little REAL chocolate. (Here I mean mars bars, and all their competition, or chocolate coated “sweets” individually wrapped, you know the ones). REAL CHOCOLATE is a bar or tablet made from cacao, cacao butter and little else besides, but can also include high quality handmade pralines’ which are chocolates filled with chocolate fillings. Pure chocolate is even healthier than milk chocolate and white chocolate, but good quality chocolate of all these colours is infinitely better than the modern confectionary.

Chocolate, derived from the tropical plant Theobroma Cacao meaning “Food for the Gods” was brought to Europe in 1528 by Cortes. Until 1615 it remained a secret of the Spanish until King Louis XIII married the daughter of the king of Spain. She introduced chocolate to the French court, the French love of chocolate has not ceased since.

Several recent studies have confirmed the positive role that chocolate can play in our diets. We are all told we must eat foods laden with anti-oxidants, and we should eat foods high in vitamins or minerals. Chocolate is a product which has a high source of these important elements.

Eating REAL CHOCOLATES which are not too high in sugar can be beneficial to your health. As with all eating this needs to be in moderation but CHOCOLATE is beneficial to your health. TRUE and thankfully so!

So many diets today want us to give up everything and only eat certain foods. But eating a balanced diet with all the food groups, eating smaller portions, yet eating three times a day a full meal is far healthier than the way most people eat today. One exception I know of is the French.

A great French book entitled French Women Don’t Get Fat details exactly why they don’t – yet they eat chocolate, drink wine and eat all food groups. The secret lies in eating smaller quantities of high quality produce, and doing it in a reverent way. If you sit down three times a day to a proper meal then snacking becomes unnecessary as you will never be hungry, always enjoy your food AND be able to enjoy luxury foods like chocolate without having to worry about your figure.

French women eat dessert twice each day! At lunch and dinner, and seldom go a day without eating chocolate in one form or another. Coffee is also a ritual, always one small cup accompanied by (Yes you guessed) one small chocolate. Learn to savour high quality coffee, with high quality chocolate both in small amounts. It is healthy, beneficial to your health and there is no guilt involved since you only had a little of both.

In recent years there has been a rapid growth in the small artisanal (traditional) chocolate makers. World over people are beginning to look for more authenticity, higher quality, even organic products. Chocolatiers have responded by opening more and more specialist shops and there are now several companies on the internet who offer to deliver their exclusive handmade chocolates to your door

The Love of Chocolate website(currently under construction) will offers a wealth of information about chocolate and many addresses where to find REAL CHOCOLATES, and many related products. There is also a blogsite www.mylove-of-chocolate.com where the topic is all things chocolaty, and links to other great resources about chocolate. Visit to find out more.

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10/17/2010

Can Chocolate Affect Your Sex Life?

Filed under: Food And Drink — Tags: , , — admin @ 12:12 PM
Shalin Popat asked:




From the time the first coca beans were harvested by the Mayans, there has been the belief that chocolate has a euphoric impact on the body’s senses. The conquistadores saw the Emperor Montezuma of the Aztecs consuming a large quantity of cocoa in the form of a beverage called chocolatl before entering his harem. The invading Spaniards spread the Emperor’s belief that cocoa was an aphrodisiac and brought it to Europe. This belief was also shared by one of history’s most famous lovers, Giacomo Casanova.

Since then, the use of chocolate as part of the mating ritual has been firmly established. . More recently it has been shown that not only does chocolate increase the sexual appetite but also produces a sense of elation similar to an orgasm.

It has only been in recent times that scientists have unravelled chocolate’s psychotropic properties and the effects it has on us. Chocolate has been found to contain modest amounts of the stimulants caffeine and theo-bromine, (much less than in coffee or tea) Chocolate is also known to generate increased levels of serotonin, a chemical naturally produced by the brain, which is known to reduce anxiety. Serotonin is most commonly associated with the effects of marijuana or getting ’stoned’ (you would have to eat 25lbs of dark chocolate at once to achieve the same effect).

Neither of these properties by themselves provides the connection between eating chocolates and heightened sexual pleasure. It is in fact the rush of endorphins produced by eating chocolates, particularly dark chocolates, which is most similar to the bliss associated with a healthy sexual relationship. Chocolate also contains phenyl-ethylamine which is known to stimulate the release of dopamine into the pleasure centers commonly associated with an orgasm.

In addition to this scientific evidence, a great deal of behavioral research has been done to study the sexual behavior of women who eat a lot of chocolate and those who don’t. The conclusion of this is that women who consume large quantities of chocolate have more satisfying sex lives. However the reverse correlation could also be assumed where women with satisfying sex lives tend to eat more chocolate.

Despite the fact that the relationship between sex and chocolate can’t be proven with 100% certainty, the scientific evidence combined with behavioral studies provides a compelling argument for cocoa’s impact on our sexual drive – it is convincing enough for chocolate to have become a part of my daily diet!

I recommend that you buy chocolate with a high cocoa content which taste better and do not contain extra sugars and oils like candy bars found in most shops. My personal favorite, Neuhaus chocolates, is an example of where you can get dark chocolate with a high cocoa content and a resulting surfeit of pleasure. To paraphrase the Song of Solomon, ‘Stay me with flagons and comfort me with chocolates, for I am sick with love’.

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10/08/2010

Personalized Chocolate

Filed under: Food And Drink — Tags: , , — admin @ 5:23 AM
James Lucas Scott asked:




Admit the second you saw the word chocolate you attention was riveted. The merest promise of that smooth, rich taste and your mind becomes focused on the words that follow. You can use the effect that chocolate has on people to draw attention you need either personally or for your business.

Bake sales

If you want to generate a crowd at the next bake sale try a display of personalized chocolate. These are chocolates with sayings or designs baked into blocks or squares of the velvety goodness. Whether you make your own using customized molds or you buy it from a company that engraves chocolate the buzz will start the second you set them on the table. Buying a lettering mold allows you to make small squares that spell out any message you want. You can also buy special customized molds of the design you want.

Of course making smooth molded chocolate isn’t easy, and if you are a novice the designs might not come out the way you want. Ordering engraved chocolate for a one time sale might be pricey, but it will draw a crowd to the sale.

You can also consider ordering personalized chocolate featuring the engraved name of your church or school for whom the drive is being held. You can place on the block of chocolate whatever design fits the cause and use this for fundraising purposes. You can place one order and use this as a raffle or order many pieces and ask members of your organization to sell them individually.

Christmas Gifts

You can order personalized chocolate with sayings such as a Christmas wish from your family to everyone on your list for the season. The nice thing about such an order is they ship it to the recipient directly. No packing or shipping needed from you. And everyone loves chocolate or knows someone who does.

Thank you Gifts

If you want to say thank you spelling it out in engraved dark or milk chocolate is a sure way to get the message across.

Wedding Favors

If you found engraved white chocolate waiting for you at the reception it would make you wish you were invited to more weddings. This is a lovely touch and the color can be blended to match the wedding colors if desired.

Business Gifts

Your clients will not only remember you, they will love you if you give them a block of chocolate engraved with your company’s logo and name. How can they forget about your business after savoring those sweet chocolate letters or sharing them with their friends? Personalized chocolate will prove itself as the best sales staff you ever had.

If you are wondering if this type of marketing or personal tool really works at getting attention then consider this…aren’t you hungry for chocolate right now?

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09/21/2010

Chocolate Bars

Filed under: Food And Drink — Tags: , , — admin @ 2:55 PM
Jenny LaBrie asked:




Chocolate bars of candy and for cooking and baking have been around for centuries. In the Eighteen Hundreds, Daniel Peter, a former candle maker in Vevey, Switzerland, decided to try to make a true milk chocolate candy bar. This was a project that he worked on for many years until he finally succeeded. His milk chocolate was so successful that his demand for the product was bigger than his ability to supply it. He then went to work for his friend Nestle and took his product with him. He worked for the Nestle Company until 1919 when he died at the age of ninety. To this day the best chocolate allegedly comes from Switzerland.

There is no end of what one can do with chocolate bars or chocolate candy. Had a fight with your spouse? Whether male or female you can appease them with it. Want a romantic evening? Chocolate will help. They come in all forms: some with nuts and fruits and some with marshmallow and mints.

There is something about chocolate that gives a person that feeling of contentment and security. Every man, woman and child has some pleasant memory or activity that they can associate with it. Chocolate candy comes in all forms from drops, bars, fancy forms of cremes or covering fruit and its peels. Who does not like fudge, cookies or cake? Very few people do not truly like chocolate.

Some people may admit to not liking the dark chocolate but enjoy white or pink version of it. The white and pink chocolate candy bars are relatively new on the market. No matter what kind of chocolate you favor you will never run out as chocolate is here to stay for many centuries to come. There will always be changes and improvements but the basics of the chocolate bar will always remain. It will continue to make pleasant and romantic memories and bring sweet dreams to the younger and older generations. Make some of your own pleasant memories by bringing someone you love a box of chocolates or, just a couple of chocolate bars.

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09/15/2010

Chocolate – A Healthy Food

Filed under: Food And Drink — Tags: , , — admin @ 1:35 PM
Cherrie Carew asked:




Chocolate is always seen as a luxury food and therefore something rather naughty or even unhealthy – but is that a fair assessment? Along with so many other things in our diets, the supposed negative or positive aspects of eating chocolate are the subject of much controversy. Each time a new report is published it throws the conclusions of the previous one into disarray. This is true for many other foods as well as our beloved chocolate! Perhaps the true answer is not so much in chocolate itself but in the way, and the amount, that we eat. The chemical constituents of chocolate include a flavinoid and as flavinoids are known to benefit the circulation there can be no argument about that aspect of the benefits of eating chocolate. Chocolate also contains anti-oxidants which help remove other harmful constituents from the blood such as free radicals- again that is not in dispute.

This is the point at which opinions begin to differ, as the argument for chocolate in terms of flavinoids and anti-oxidants is negated for many people by the presence of the sugar and fat in chocolate. The potentially harmful effects of these are seen as outweighing the benefits of the others, particularly as flavinoids are available in other food and drink such as vegetables, fruit and tea. As with many things, common sense has to play a part. All things are harmful when taken in excess, even foods which are generally believed to be beneficial to our health. Moderation is the key in every aspect of life and eating chocolate is no exception.

Where sugars are concerned, from a health point of view complex sugars are deemed to be better as they take a longer time to break down within the body. However simple sugars are also carbohydrates and will furnish energy on demand, enabling our bodies to function efficiently. Fats in small quantities perform necessary functions within the body, helping to modulate some hormones within the brain and as a carbohydrate it also provides energy quickly when required. However it must be said that one of the fats found in chocolate is stearic acid, which is a saturated fat and thus can lead to an increase in cholesterols. Again, moderation is the key. There are many chemical compounds in chocolate that are far more beneficial and should be taken into account when worrying about any possible negative effects of the fats and sugars. For example caffeine – though harmful if taken to excess, is thought to be a positive influence on health if taken in small amounts. The quantity of caffeine in chocolate is less than that in coffee so having a cup of hot chocolate is less of an issue than having an equivalent cup of coffee – though I have to confess to a personal weakness for a dash of coffee in my hot chocolate or even a dash of chocolate in my coffee!

There is no doubt that chocolate has a ‘feel good’ factor, and is much loved by many women when PMT strikes. In fact there are times when it isn’t safe for any male to enter our house unless they carry a bar of chocolate in front of them like a shield! Tryptophan, one of the compounds that develops into Serotonin, is found in chocolate. Serotonin is a chemical within the brain that helps us to handle the effects of stress and combat depression so there is another benefit there. Serotonin is created within the brain when we are sleeping so if you are short of sleep chocolate can be of great help in keeping you on an even keel. Research has also indicated that chocolate causes the release of endorphins within the brain which give you a ‘high’ in the shape of a feeling of well being and relaxation. Combined with the mild stimulant effect of Theobromine, chocolate can produce a feeling of alertness and generates a much more positive outlook that some of the other stimulants we occasionally take on board like alcohol.

Better quality, high cocoa solid content chocolate, the so called gourmet chocolate, has far less fat and sugar, and provided that, like all good things, we take it in moderation there is little harm done. In short, chocolate makes us feel good and that has to be beneficial to our sense of health and well being.

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09/11/2010

Chocolate Turtles – An Odd Name But Delicious Taste!

Filed under: Food And Drink — Tags: , , — admin @ 5:58 PM
Colleen Maguire asked:




Having one head, four legs and a tail, the chocolate turtle has made its claim to fame as the only chocolate animal worth its salt, or rather, its chocolate! This decadently rich, sinfully delicious chocolate candy has won the hearts of people all over the world, and most especially, in the American culture. That might be due to the fact that the first caramel chocolate turtle was created in Chicago!

09/09/2010

Chocolate-Sweet Ambrosia

Filed under: Food And Drink — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:22 PM
Terry Kaufman asked:




Chocolate, sweet chocolate, the most sublime of tastes. Whatever other edible delicacies may tease our senses of taste and smell, I cannot think of a single one that has the power to lure as does chocolate.

There are several different tastes of chocolate. People have their personal preferences and will stand strong in their beliefs. Some of these forms of chocolate are as follows: CHOCOLATE LIQUOR is made by grinding the center of the roasted cocoa bean (nib) to a smooth liquid known as chocolate liquor. After cooling, the chocolate liquor is molded into blocks known as unsweetened BAKING CHOCOLATE. There is approximately 53% cocoa butter in the liquor and blocks. Baking chocolate has no sugar but vanilla is sometimes used as a flavoring. Baking chocolate also goes by the name of BITTER CHOCOLATE. SWEET or DARK CHOCOLATE is a generic name for chocolate with 15% to 35% chocolate liquor. It has a maximum of 12% milk solids. Cocoa butter, sugar, and vanilla are added as the beans come from the grinding mill. BITTERSWEET and SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE belong to this category. There must be a minimum of at least 35% chocolate liquor. Fat content is around 27%. Its flavor ranges from fruity to earthy with barely any milk or dairy flavor. The flavor is determined more by bean blend than its dairy components. BITTERSWEET or SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE is the darkest of chocolate meant for eating. It has the highest percentage of chocolate liquor, at least 35%, with additional cocoa butter for easier melting. As above, flavor is more dependent upon the cocoa bean blend. This is my personal favorite of all categories of chocolate. MILK CHOCOLATE is the most common taste of chocolate for consumption, consisting of chocolate liquor into which cocoa butter, milk, sweeteners, and flavorings have been added. It has minimums of at least 10% chocolate liquor and 12% milk solids with a strong milk and/or caramelized flavor. It is generally used for garnishes and candy coating. COCOA is the powdery remains of chocolate liquor. Most of the cocoa butter is removed, making for the least fatty form of chocolate. Cocoa includes dutched chocolate. Its colors run the gamut from light tan to red to black. DUTCH CHOCOLATE, in its chocolate liquor or cocoa powder forms, is treated with an approved alkalizing agent so that its color, flavor, and dispersability in liquids are modified. If it is given extreme treatments it will turn to a black cocoa powder. CHOCOLATE FLAVORED COATING consists of vegetable fats other than cocoa butter that are blended in with cocoa powder. Like many chocolate products, chocolate flavored coating uses sugar, milk, and flavorings. The use of fats other than cocoa butter enables lower production expenses. On the other hand, it is easier to use than genuine chocolate. It might leave a waxy feel in your mouth. It is my least favorite form of chocolate flavoring because of its artificial texture. WHITE CHOCOLATE is mostly used as a coating. It is not a true chocolate because it contains cocoa butter but no nonfat chocolate solids. Akin to milk chocolate in its basic makeup, it contains sugar, cocoa butter, milk solids, and flavorings. It has a sweet, milky taste, with colors varying from pure white to yellow white. I personally find white chocolate overpoweringly sweet.

Whatever form or taste it takes, chocolate remains an ambrosia from the gods.

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