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"Unwrapping the Secrets of Chocolate"

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Healthy Chocolate

By Bryn Kirk on January 26, 2010 | Comments (0)

According to the USDA website, www.usda.gov, chocolate and cocoa powder contain “hefty quantities of natural antioxidants called flavonoids…..antioxidants are thought to be effective in helping to prevent cancer, heart disease, and stroke.”

How do anti-oxidants help us? “Anti”-oxidants counteract the negative effects of oxidation on our bodies. Oxidation damages cells and tissues. What is oxidation, you ask?

Here’s a simple example that you’re familiar with. Think of a slice of apple turning brown shortly after you cut it. This is discoloring demonstrates the damage that oxidation causes on the cells of the apple. If instead of leaving the slice out in the open air, you dip immediately in some lemon juice, the brown oxidative damage slows w-a-y down. In this case the lemon juice is the antioxidant.

Our bodies are naturally good at fighting oxidation but it becomes more difficult as we grow older. Eating foods high in antioxidants can give our aging bodies a boost. Research has shown that red and purple colored fruits and vegetables are rich in antioxidants, but chocolate and cocoa are among the highest in antioxidant power!

Researchers measure the effectiveness of foods containing antioxidants. Here is a handy chart of the top five foods packing a punch.

Foods High in Antioxidants	ORAC Score*
Unprocessed Cacao Bean	26,000
Goji Berries	25,300
Acai Berries	18,000
Dark Chocolate	13,120
Black Raspberries	7,700

* Note that numbers will vary based on sample and other factors, but generally the order remains the same.

By the way, milk chocolate comes in a little lower, with an ORAC score of 6,740.

Some studies suggest that we should eat between 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units a day, while the average person only takes in about 1,200 ORAC units per day.

You know what that means, don’t you? EAT MORE CHOCOLATE. You don’t have to tell me twice!

Categories: chocolate education
Tags: antioxidants, cocoa, dark chocolate, healthy chocolate, milk chocolate, research

Chocolate Cheerios

By Bryn Kirk on January 18, 2010 | Comments (0)

It has been a while since I had Cheerios for breakfast. For me, Cheerios was the cereal I fed my toddler to keep him quiet in church, not something I was interested in eating for breakfast. What got my attention recently is the new Chocolate Cheerios.

According to the Cheerios website, Chocolate Cheerios is “a perfect balance of whole grain goodness and a delicious touch of chocolate taste in every bite.”

I am a fan of whole grain goodness, but I am even more a fan of chocolate!

Chocolate cheerios is delicious. I prefer it in milk as the chocolate flavor is more pronounced, but a handful of the dry cereal makes a great snack at the office. In addition to the chocolaty flavor, there are only 9 grams of sugar per serving.

The cheerios are coated in cocoa processed with alkali. What does that mean?

Cocoa powder is made when chocolate liquor (made from ground up cocoa beans) is pressed to remove most of the cocoa butter. The cocoa solids that remain are processed to make a fine unsweetened powder. There are two types of cocoa powder: natural and processed with alkali, also called Dutched cocoa.

Dutch-Processed or Alkalized Processed Cocoa Powder is treated with an alkali to neutralize its acids. The result of this process turns the cocoa powder a deeper, darker color and provides a more well- rounded, less bitter chocolate flavor.

Dutched cocoa has many applications. And, now with Chocolate Cheerios, there’s another.

Categories: chocolate education,chocolate review
Tags: chocolate cereal, cocoa, dutched cocoa, grocery product

Chocolate Definitions

By Bryn Kirk on October 29, 2009 | Comments (0)

Confusion in the world of chocolate?

You might think, “there’s nothing confusing about chocolate — you buy it, you eat it!“ The reality is, the chocolate world has its own lingo, with terms and definitions that apply to the tasting of chocolate, the baking and cooking of chocolate, and the making of chocolate confections.

nibs, cocoa, and chocolate To help you keep it all straight, here is a list of some common chocolate vocabulary along with their definitions…

Cocoa bean (or nib):
The cocoa bean is the seed from the pod, or fruit, of the chocolate tree — Theobroma cacao. The cocoa bean has a shell surrounding it. When it is removed, the nib, or the center, is revealed. The nib is typically roasted and then crushed into chocolate liquor.

Baking chocolate (or chocolate liquor):
Baking chocolate is made from finely ground and roasted cocoa beans. There is no sugar in baking chocolate.

Cocoa butter:
The fat present in cocoa beans is called cocoa butter. The term “butter” does not mean that cocoa butter is a dairy product.

Cocoa powder:
Cocoa powder comes from removing the cocoa butter from the nib and then grinding the remaining solids into a powder. The terms cocoa and cocoa powder can be used interchangeably.

Bittersweet (or semi-sweet) chocolate:
Bittersweet chocolate must contain at least 35% chocolate liquor and only cocoa butter as a fat, according to U.S. Standards of Identity. Both bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate terms can be used interchangeably.

Milk chocolate:
The most commonly consumed form of chocolate is milk chocolate. Milk chocolate must contain a minimum of 10% chocolate liquor and at least 12% milk solids. Milk fat and cocoa butter are the only fats that can be used.

White chocolate:
White chocolate is a blend of cocoa butter, milk, and sugar. There are no chocolate solids present, which is why it lacks the typical brown color of chocolate. U.S. regulations requires white chocolate to contain at least 20% (by weight) cocoa butter and at least 14% total milk solids.

Dutch processed chocolate:
This process darkens the color of the chocolate and releases a milder chocolate flavor. The chocolate liquor or cocoa solids are treated with an alkaline solution. The terms “dutched” or “alkalized” are listed on the ingredient statement for products sold in the U.S.

Chocolate flavored coating (or confectionary coating):
Chocolate that is made using a blend of vegetable fats either in addition to or other than cocoa butter. Chocolate flavored coatings are similar in color to “real” chocolate coatings but taste very different and usually do not need to be tempered. These coatings that contain vegetable fats cannot legally be called “chocolate” in the US.

Categories: chocolate education,fun chocolate facts
Tags: chocolate facts, chocolate lessons, cocoa, confectionary coating, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, nibs, white chocolate

The Missing Cocoa

By Jeffrey Kirk on July 31, 2009 | Comments (0)

City of Cocoa, Florida A month ago we spent a week in the Space Coast area of Florida. Perhaps you saw the related blog articles: Chocolate in Space and Caffe Chocolat.

Today I was looking through some photographs and realized that I had taken a picture that I wanted to share with our readers. While we were staying in Titusville, we had the opportunity to drive up and down the Atlantic coast. Usually we were in search of interesting sights and nice beaches.

Of course, no chocolate lover’s experience would be complete without a visit to the city of Cocoa. It was fun just seeing the name on signs, like the one posted here.

The beach was not covered in cocoa powder. The streets were not paved with chocolate liquor. I didn’t even see cacao nibs being used as mulch around flowers and shrubs. It was Sunday so the visitor’s center wasn’t open for us to ask about these things.

My primary question then, why is the city called Cocoa?

With a little research here’s what I found: No one really knows how the city got its name. You’d think someone would have recorded it for future visitors, but that is not the case.

The City of Cocoa celebrated its centennial in 1995. That means that it considers its beginning in 1895. Yet only 30 years later, in 1925, the Cocoa Tribune published several reader-supplied accounts of how the city got its name. Apparently they forgot in only 30 years time! I guess they just weren’t thinking about the inquiring minds of Chocolate University Online students and faculty.

Anyway, one reader said that Captain R.C. May recommended the name at a town meeting in 1884. At Captain May’s suggestion, the group present chose the name “Cocoa” for the town’s association with the Cocoa plant. Another story suggests that a woman was inspired by a box of Baker’s Cocoa and her suggestion was adopted.

Yet another account suggests that along the bank of the Indian River there was an old woman who would provide hot cocoa to the sailors as they went by. The sailors knew a good thing when they had it, so as they passed, they called out for “cocoa, cocoa” until the woman supplied them once again.

I guess the origin of the name doesn’t matter as much as the fact that it is called Cocoa, thus making it a fitting destination for chocolate lovers.

Categories: fun chocolate facts
Tags: chocolate destinations, cocoa

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