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Archive for the ‘Chocolate’ Category

A few weeks ago I thought it would be a good idea to make some gourmet food for a party I was going to arrange. Well I put on my chefs hat and finished up making some truffles, and wow, my friends thought they were fantastic and actually thought that they were gourmet chocolates that I had bought from a quality gourmet food store.

I would like to point out that making gourmet chocolates for yourself is difficult and will take a lot of time, however to be positive it does give you the opportunity to try out some recipes that you probably could not get from the local store.

The ingredients are the key to making fantastic gourmet chocolates:

Choosing and buying the ingredients of your gourmet chocolates is part of the fun. To start with I melted excellent quality dark chocolate over a double boiler. Secondly I rolled some small balls from marzipan and covered them with chocolate. Finally I rolled the chocolate covered marzipan in ground almonds, I also rolled chocolate covered peanut butter in more chocolate and then gave them a covering of ground peanuts.

In this article we’re going to review of brief history of one of the largest manufacturers of chocolate in the world, Hershey.

The Hershey company itself started with a decision that its founder, Milton Hershey, made in 1894 to produce sweet chocolate as a coating for his caramels, Milton’s first business. He set up his new shop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and called the company the Hershey Chocolate Company. By 1900, only six years after its chocolate covered caramels first hit the scene, Hershey was producing milk chocolate in bars, wafers and other shapes. Because of the Industrial Revolution and mass producing methods, Hershey was able to lower the cost of his products and thus make what was once an item only for the rich, something that everyone could enjoy.

Because of the company’s immediate and overwhelming success, Milton decided to greatly increase his production facilities. So he decided to build a new production facility in south-central Pennsylvania, in Derry Township, where he was born. This facility was in an excellent location as it was close to the ports of New York and Philadelphia where he could easily get his supply of sugar and cocoa beans. It was also surrounded by dairy farms so he was able to get all the milk he needed. Add to that a location where there were plenty of people eager to go to work and everything couldn’t be more perfect. By the summer of 1905 the factory was in full production manufacturing their milk chocolate.

Often referred to as the sweetest pleasure of mankind, Chocolate candy is one of the top sellers in America after a long time before enjoying it. Chocolate was discovered by Mayans of the Yucatán Peninsula, in México about 2,600 years ago or so, as evidence found in ruins suggest.

When the Aztecs arrived to the Valley of Mexico, the term chocolate was coined, derived from its Náhuatl name. However, chocolate was only prepared as a beverage or chewed as cacao bean. In this period of history, the World’s Finest Chocolates were totally out of scope.

Chocolate candy was taken to Europa by the hand of conqueror Hernán Cortés, who introduced it to Spain in the 16th century. It was not until the next century when it got back to New England, after the first British settlements overseas, although it is possible that American Native tribes knew how to prepare chocolate beverage.

The following centuries saw the growth of candy manufacturers introducing some of the finest brands, such as Hershey chocolate, Ghirardelli chocolate, Nestle chocolate and Lindt Chocolates, just to name a few.

If you are a chocolate lover like me, then you are going to love this hot drink, especially after a afternoon out in the snow, or on those chilly afternoons.

Skip all those pre-packaged mixes, and create your own gourmet hot chocolate mix. Store in a dry sealed container, and it is ready when you are. Mix together the following ingredients:

1 cup of fat free dry milk

3/4 cup of light brown sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa.

That’s it!..

Now are you ready for a cup?

Whisk together 2-3 tablespoons of the mix with 1 cup of cold milk.
Microwave on High for 1 minute. Now you have your own homemade gourmet hot chocolate.

IRISH CREAM:

Want to add some additional flavors?.. try adding 1/2 teaspoon of honey and a dash of Irish whiskey to milk, and top with whipped cream and grated chocolate.

MOCHA

Fill your cup with coffee instead of milk.

VANILLA ALMOND

Add a dash of vanilla extract and Amaretto to milk.

Are you looking for a gift for someone who has everything? Consider gourmet chocolate gifts as birthday or Christmas presents for these hard to shop for friends and relatives. With the wide variety of gourmet chocolate gifts available there is sure to be something for everyone.

Gourmet chocolate gifts come in many different sizes and styles. They often contain a variety of different gourmet chocolate items. Some of the most common gourmet chocolate gifts include candy bars, truffles, boxes of candy, and hot chocolate mixes.

Many gourmet chocolate suppliers have websites that allow you to purchase gourmet chocolate gift sets directly online. Many will also give you the option of having the gift mailed directed to the recipient, which is a nice feature for friends and relatives who live far away.

Many gourmet chocolate gifts are sold in sets, often packaged in a nice basket. Items can also be purchased separately and combined together anyway you want. Sometimes non-chocolate accessories are included in gift sets as well. For example, many gourmet hot chocolate gift sets come with a variety of cocoa mixes as well as mugs, spoons, and marshmallows. Christmas gift sets are especially nice, often including holiday decorations such as ornaments or stockings along with the delicious gourmet chocolate.

The term chocolate bar is a popular way of describing a confectionery treat in the form of a bar. This is usually packaged in a bar shape with individual perforations or in a long, narrow, shaped log covered with chocolate. Many types of chocolate bar exist and there are thousands of companies that create chocolate bars. Some of these companies produce many choices of fillings in their chocolate bar, such as nuts, fruit, mint, coconut, marzipan and many more.

The chocolate bar evolved in approximately the late 1900s. Chocolate had become popular many years before the introduction of the bar but the idea of creating a chocolate bar was to provide a more convenient way of consuming the chocolate. The bars could be packaged and sold to eat easily by hand or while on the go. Up to the invention of the chocolate bar, chocolate had been sold by bulk with loose, irregular or formed pieces.

Finally, an easy to make chocolate pudding dessert! Chocolate and pudding are always huge hits with the family. Now, we show you how to make an excellent dessert that is sure to be a big hit! Here are the ingredients that will be needed to prepare this chocolate pudding dessert:

For the crust on this chocolate pudding dessert, you will need….

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Combine all ingredients together and press them into a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ pan.
Bake for 15 minutes in a 350F degree oven.

For the filling of this chocolate pudding dessert, you will need…

1 cup confectioners sugar

8 oz. cream cheese

1 cup Cool Whip

Mix together and spread on top of cooled crust.

For the pudding on this chocolate dessert, you will need…

2 pkgs instant chocolate pudding

3 cups cold milk

Mix with electric mixer and spread on top of filling. Top with remaining Cool Whip and Refrigerate. This recipe is one of the easier recipes. Chocolate Pudding Dessert is a delicious treat that everyone will love! Enjoy this delicious chocolate pudding dessert!

Chocolate is termed as the drink of the Gods and it seems as if it is going to be a continuing indulgence of man. Chocolates obviously come in an array of shapes, variants, and sizes. One of which is the chocolate cake. Of course, the chocolate cake is made out of several recipes too. The chocolate recipe is of one great popularity that it is included in almost every single occasion that each family celebrates. Christmas, New Year, Thanksgiving, Christening, Anniversaries, Birthdays, and many others could never be held as complete without one or two chocolate cake recipes prepared therein.

A chocolate cake recipe could be made out of different kinds of chocolate. It could be that the recipe would include a bitter chocolate, a dark chocolate, a plain chocolate, or a chocolate that has very little or should no longer be added with sugar. The chocolate cake recipe may also be made out of white chocolates—that is, the taste is much sweeter, smooth, rich, and has basically the quality that states “it melts in your mouth”. The chocolate cake recipes which are made out of pure and organic chocolate involve a great deal of cocoa solids therein. More so, such chocolate variety is too costly.

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.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if chocolate and heart health went hand in hand. However, there is so much information lately about the health benefits of chocolate that it is only natural that people get a little confused.

It is true, that if people only ate pure cocoa, then there might be heart health benefits. The problem is that most people eat unhealthy processed chocolate bars containing sugar, corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, dairy cream not to mention other “baddies” contained in some of those tasty fillings. Some of these added ingredients can clog up arteries and create havoc to your waistline and lead to obesity.

That said, you might be surprised to find out that chocolate isn’t all that bad. The fat content in chocolate, contained in premium grade dark chocolate, is comprised of equal amounts of oleic acid (a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat also found in olive oil), stearic and palmitic acids. Stearic and palmitic acids are forms of saturated fat – not so good. Saturated fats are linked to increases in LDL-cholesterol and risk of developing heart disease.