Sweet Tooth Equals Sweet Personality?
October 25, 2011
According to a new study, those having a sweet tooth tend to be friendlier. Volunteers who preferred chocolate over a non-sweet food item were found to have a joyous character.
It was found that the most dominant trait these chocolate lovers have is the fondness for helping others in need. However, it is still arguable whether it was due to chocolate’s mood-enhancing effect or just a natural inclination of the recipient. So don’t get too frantic about having chocolates just yet.
"Our taste studies controlled for positive mood so the effects we found are not due to the happy or rewarding feeling one may have after eating a sweet food," said Brian Meiers, a psychology professor at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.
Read more
Daintree Estates: Chocolate from Down Under
October 24, 2011
"My dad makes chocolate" blurts out my 5 year old son to his school-mates at class assembly one morning. I'm not sure if that makes me Willy Wonka or just a really cool dad. But launching a brand new chocolate company is no walk in the park.
My friends are a little less enthusiastic; "aren't there enough chocolates already?" Their assumption is that we're trying to compete with the Cadbury's and Lindt's of the world by making something cheaper. Truth be known, there isn't any margin worth getting out of bed for in supermarket chocolates.
So what would make me think I have a snowball's chance in hell at making any profit at all in the chocolate game?
Read more
Chocolate Milk on Halloween
October 21, 2011
It’s nothing different from the regular white milk, only cocoa-flavored! It has the same nine essential nutrients but with a taste children dearly love. To have a healthier celebration of Halloween this year, the California Milk Processor Board (CMPB) which created ‘Got Milk?’ is encouraging families across all California to make chocolate milk the treat of choice on Oct. 31, instead of the usual unhealthy counterparts. Got Milk?, by the way, is an American advertising campaign encouraging the use of cow's milk. The campaign has been recognized as of great help in milk sales in California.
A little piece of candy here and there may not be harmful, but an average Jack-O-Lantern bucket pretty much holds about 250 pieces of candy, which altogether approximately totals 9,000 calories and have about three pounds of sugar. Imagine that going into your system. Even for adults, it’s a heck of a lot!
Read more
How Milk Chocolate Came About
October 20, 2011
Some of the finest chocolates ever created were made by the Swiss. Around 1876, a candy maker named Daniel Peter of Vevey, Switzerland, invented the first milk chocolate. Initially, he had a problem with removing the water from the milk, which caused mildewing.
He then teamed up with Henry Nestle, a manufacturer of condensed milk. They came up with the idea of adding condensed milk to chocolate liquor which is a nonalcoholic smooth, thick, and liquid form of chocolate. It is the ground or melted state of the nib of the cacao bean, the purest form of chocolate. Milk chocolate became famous and well-loved by consumers by the 1900’s, and still holds true today.
There is an array of milk chocolate forms. Hot cocoa is among the list, it is a cocoa powder mixed with milk and sugar and heated until hot and smooth. This infamous beverage never failed to make people warm and give a sense of comfort. Also included in the list are liquid milk products, powdered milk products, granule and of course, chocolate bars. One can the goodness of milk chocolate hot or cold, hard or soft, practically any way you want.
Read more
Chocolate Chip Muffins
October 19, 2011
A muffin is a type of bread baked in small portions. Many forms are rather like mini cakes or cupcakes in shape, although they are often not as sweet as cupcakes and normally lack frosting. Its name was derived from the French word moufflet which generally applies to bread and means soft.
Muffin recipes originally materialized in print by mid 18th century and quickly stepped forward. By the 19th century muffin, as a marketing strategy, men walked the streets of England at tea time. They wore trays of muffins on their heads and rang their bells to attract customers.
As a matter of fact, three states in the United States of America have embraced their own official muffins. Minnesota, Massachusetts, and New York, have adopted the blueberry muffin, corn muffin, and the apple muffin as their official muffin of choice, respectively.
Enough with feeding the brain? Then go feed your tummy.
Read more
Chocolate Is 2011’s Top Specialty Food
October 18, 2011
Consumers of all ages (especially those 24-35 years of age, mostly women) across all USA are embracing specialty foods this year, according to a new report from the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT). Needless to say, chocolate has always been popular. But now, chocolate has already triumphed over coffee as the top specialty food purchase.
For the time being, Chuao Chocolatier in San Diego County has won a sofi Gold award from the NASFT in the hot-beverage category for its Spicy Maya Hot Chocolate. The just-add-water hot chocolate drink is a blend of cinnamon, pasilla chile and cayenne pepper, giving a spicy finish to it. They all come together with a blend of premium 58 to 72 percent Venezuelan chocolate to make this particular beverage gourmet.
Read more
The Chalk & Chocolate Art Tour
October 14, 2011
Eighty students of Royal Oak, Michigan, had a field trip downtown last October 12 and turned a pedestrian plaza on Washington Avenue into a work of art which will be used for the Chalk & Chocolate Art Tour scheduled this weekend. There will be a tent set up at Fifth Street just in case it rains.
Shop curators and restaurant owners downtown will be hanging chalk art masterpieces done by 100 elementary school students in their windows. Also, they will be offering their confectionaries for the first-time affair in Royal Oak.
An opening night party starts at 6 p.m. Friday with a benefit at Fifth Avenue for the Royal Oak Neighborhood Schools art curriculum. The door charge is $40 which includes live entertainment and food from six restaurants and all sales incurred go directly to district art programs.
Read more
Chocolate Easter Bunnies
October 13, 2011
I know it is absolutely nowhere near Easter, but it just feels right to share this info on the spur of the moment. C’mon now, cut me some slack! 🙂
For starters, Easter is known as the most sacred Christian holiday of the year. Jesus Christ’s resurrection after his crucifixion is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday.
Did you know that ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year? No child's Easter basket is ever complete without a chocolate Easter bunny or two. But how did Easter get mixed up with a rabbit? Where did that come in?
Read more
Chocolate Fudge
October 12, 2011
Whenever we hear the word "fudge", the soft chocolate squares we all love suddenly come into mind.
Chocolate fudge was reputably invented by an American confectioner in Baltimore, Maryland who mixed soft chocolate with caramel by accident and the rest, as they say, is history. Some people beg to disagree though as they strongly believe that fudge was a British invention. According to them, there are some variations of fudge found in the British midlands and Scotland. Nevertheless, even the best of the best British confectioners admit that chocolate fudge is indeed an American invention.
Fudge can be used both as a main or auxiliary ingredient in certain confections such as fudge-filled candies, fudge-filled cakes as well as cakes made with fudge, among so many other mouthwatering desserts.
Whether you are a chocoholic or simply enjoy chocolate, chocolate fudge can surely make for a good chocolaty treat.
Read more
Chocolate Week
October 11, 2011
It's not very often that you get to devote one whole week just for a particular food. Suffice it to say, if the subject is chocolate, we get all the more devoted, and craving, so to speak.
Chocolate Week, UK's favorite themed week, or should I say, favorite week, is here again for its seventh consecutive year to celebrate the foodstuff that has its origins in ancient Aztec and Mayan culture. Even though we know we can enjoy it any time of day and any day of the year, it's the time of year when we can ultimately celebrate chocolate... for a week! Imagine that.
Chocolate week 2011, starting October 10, has a plethora of events lined up for everyone, over 350 events happening across the whole of Britain, from chocolate art workshops and tasting to hot chocolate sampling and dessert-making demonstrations, indulge yourself in chocolate madness.
Read more