Chocolate University Online Blog
One of the neat things about a blog is that it can be interactive. People can make comments to articles; asking questions, expanding on the information provided, or taking the thoughts in another direction. This helps to enrich the value of the blog for all readers.
To help you get some practice responding to blog articles, I have posted this simple question: What is Your Favorite Chocolate Bar?
Go ahead and comment below! Tell us what chocolate you like best and, if you’re up to it, tell us why. Let’s get some discussion going on this. (Please note that your comment will not appear instantly. To manage blog-spam all comments are held in a queue for approval.)
 I’ll even start the discussion…
My favorite chocolate bar comes from Lindt. I prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate so the Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa Bar is my bar of choice. Sometimes I like even more intense chocolate flavor so the Lindt Excellence 85% Cocoa Bar wins out. Both are really smooth chocolates with great flavor. The 85% is not as sweet (therefore more bitter) than the 70%, but sometimes it’s just the flavor I’m looking for.
Generally, if I’m going out to buy some chocolate one of these two bars wins out.
Now it’s your turn. What’s your favorite candy bar? Maybe it’s the one you would eat every day if you could. Maybe it’s something you remember from your childhood. Come on share your perspective…
Categories: chocolate review
Tags: candy bars, chocolate bars, chocolate candy, favorite chocolate
The first step in tempering chocolate is melting the chocolate. Properly.
You might be thinking, what’s the big deal about melting chocolate?
Chocolate is a low melting point food. It melts just below human body temperature. While this low melting point means it’s easy to melt in the mouth, it also means it’s easy to burn when direct heat is used. Overheating chocolate will cause it to burn. Burnt chocolate is irreversibly damaged and cannot be used.
In addition to burning, another potential problem when melting chocolate is “seizing”. This can happen if you use an indirect heating method like a hot water and a double boiler. Small amounts of water will cause the chocolate to “seize” or become hard and crumbly. Seized chocolate is irreversibly damaged and cannot be used.
There are several ways to melt chocolate effectively.
Microwave method
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Place a few chucks of chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.
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Heat the chocolate at 50% power for one minute. Remove and stir. If chocolate is not melted, return to the microwave at 50% power for 30 seconds. Remove and stir.
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Repeat every 30 seconds until chocolate is nearly melted. When small lumps remain, do not heat, but continue to stir until all is melted. The key to melting is in the stirring. Latent heat will continue to melt the chocolate while stirring.
The microwave method is the fastest way to melt chocolate but is also the easiest way to burn it if you are not careful.
Double boiler or bowl over hot water method
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Place small chucks of chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler over hot, but not boiling, water. If the water is boiling, some may splash into the top pan and ruin the chocolate.
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If you don’t have a double boiler, then use a glass bowl or metal mixing bowl over a sauce pan filled ½ full with hot, but not boiling, water.
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Allow the chocolate to melt, stirring it occasionally.
This is a slower method, but there is very little risk of burning. Just be careful of the water!
Oven method
This method is really effective, especially if you want to melt a large amount of chocolate at one time or if you have to leave the chocolate in larger chunks. Your oven must heat evenly and be set to a very low temperature of 100°F.
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Place the amount of chocolate you want to melt into an oven safe bowl or pan.
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Let the chocolate melt at 100°F, stirring every 5 minutes until completely melted.
Of the three melting methods presented, this one takes the most time to melt. A benefit though, once melted, the chocolate can be held at this temperature in the oven for the entire time you need to work with it. There is little risk of burning and no water to splash.
In the next article in this series I’ll go over the “seed” method of tempering…
Categories: chocolate education
Tags: chocolate facts, chocolate lessons, tempering chocolate, working with chocolate
In one of our weekly lessons we suggest that our students think outside the box looking for other chocolate related products. One of our students reported that she found a product called Chocolate Fix. This is an idea of thinking inside the “chocolate box.”
Chocolate Fix is a single-player game where the pieces are in the shape of chocolate candies. Basically this is a logic, problem solving, game where you have nine chocolates in three different colors and three different shapes. Each exercise gives you clues as to how you put them into the “chocolate box”.
Think “chocolate meets Sudoku!” Each 3×3 grid has only one possible solution based on the clues provided. The easiest levels are quite straight forward and help you understand the notation of the clues. The tougher levels provide an addicting challenge. One of the lessons I learned is that apparently a chocolate addiction can apply to something that just looks like chocolate! Or maybe it’s a game addiction, a problem solving addiction – heck I don’t know.
After working your way through the various levels you’ll be ready to eat the pieces. Since they’re made of plastic, you better have some real chocolate on hand to get yourself through the experience. This way even if the game proves that you’re not much of a logic problem solver, you still go away victorious having shown the chocolate bar who’s boss!
The game is inexpensive and would make a great chocolate gift for yourself or for a chocolate lover in your life. For more information just click the photo. It’s already a link over to the product on Amazon.com.
Categories: chocolate gifts
Tags: chocolate games, not quite chocolate
Godiva has a line of chocolates that, according to their website, are more decadent and more portable. They call it ChocoisteTM.
I recently tried their Milk Chocolate Whole Cashews and I must say I enjoyed them very much! My  chocolate preference is dark, but I do enjoy a milk once in a while. The reason I enjoyed this particular milk chocolate and cashew combination is the way the milk chocolate pulls out the bold, buttery, and salty flavor notes from the nuts and enhances them.
The aftertaste is a lingering buttery note which I prefer over a lingering “milky” note that so many other chocolate-covered nuts offer.
It is rare that I enjoy a chocolate-coated tree nut. I have been disappointed too many times – not because of the chocolate, but because of the nuts. I am blessed and cursed with the gift of “super-taster.” In the flavor sensory world that means I am extremely sensitive to flavors in general, but most particularly to “off” flavors. Even the tinniest hint of oxidation, or rancidity, makes me scrunch my nose in disgust.
I was not disappointed this time.
In fact, I have to be careful not to eat the entire bag in one sitting. Darn.
Another reason I like this product is that when I share them at work, I am instantly popular among my co-workers. Today I am reaping the rewards of a good treat.
Categories: chocolate review
Tags: chocolate covered nuts, grocery product, milk chocolate
Remember that fun excuse, “My dog ate my homework?” Everyone knew it wasn’t true, yet it always made the rounds, year after year, at least in jest if not seriously…
Well, that excuse isn’t very good at Chocolate University Online. Since your homework is chocolate, you’d better hope your dog doesn’t eat it! We’d hate for you to get behind on your homework tending to a sick dog.
 But now, as kids are heading back to school, perhaps there is a new excuse to consider, “My Husband Ate My Homework!“ You bet, when chocolate is around, someone is going to eat it. And, as a student at CUO you’ll have chocolate lying around.
To commemorate this grand excuse we’ve introduced the “My Husband Ate My Homework!” t-shirt. You can find this in our chocolate store. Look closely and you’ll also see you can get a “My Wife Ate My Homework!” t-shirt as well. Maybe this t-shirt is even more accurate as the wife is actively prowling for chocolate.
Finally, though not so much an excuse, but a declaration, we have another t-shirt of similar style available. It tells anyone coming near to, “Eat Your Own Homework!“ Leave your hands off mine. Or maybe the same phrase expresses your excitement that you get to “Eat Your Own Homework!” Whatever it means to you, share it with a fun t-shirt from Chocolate University Online.
Get any of these funs shirts for yourself or as gifts for any chocolate lovers. You’ll find these shirts in our chocolate store.
Categories: chocolate gifts, shameless self promotion
Tags: clothing, nostalgia
Low fat chocolate ice cream has come a long way. Maybe I’m dating myself, but I remember when lowfat and fat free icecream was first introduced into the marketplace.
 The chocolate ice cream had little chocolate flavor and tons of sweetness which was not worth eating as far as I was concerned. Over the years things have changed (thank goodness!!!!) and now I can enjoy a great tasting light icecream.
For example, after a couple BLT’s (with turkey bacon for less fat) and a glass of Pinot Grigio, I was in the mood for a chocolate dessert (what else?). Dean’s makes a Country Churn Light Chocolate Ice Cream that is delicious and is a reduced fat version.
The cocoa used in this ice cream is processed with alkali (dutched) which is what I would expect in an ice cream. Dutched cocoa is used to produce a deep brown color and reduces the acidity so that the cream (milk protein) in the ice cream doesn’t clump.
Although dutching reduces the overall chocolate impact it does impart a less bitter chocolate flavor which is quite compatible with the sweet creaminess of ice cream.
So, my impression of this ice cream is quite favorable. I really enjoyed the formulation, but more importantly I did not have to sacrifice flavor to reduce my intake of fat. As far as I am concerned no reduction in fat is ever worth loss of chocolate flavor, but when I can have flavor with less fat I am a happy woman!
Categories: chocolate review
Tags: chocolate dessert, grocery product, ice cream
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