Tag Archive: chocolate pairings
Peach Chocolate Cake
March 28, 2012
We always want the best for our children, especially when their health is on the line. However, it can be such a chore to feed your children with vegetables and even fruits. Thus, you have to come up with ways to successfully do so.
Peaches pack a lot of nutritional value that we need, such as niacin, thiamine, potassium and calcium. They also have high levels of beta carotene, an antioxidant that converts into Vitamin A, which the human body requires to have a healthy heart and eyes. Peaches also have high fiber contents, and this is helpful in maintaining healthy bowel.
You can let your kids eat peaches by incorporating them into other food you give them. To get them to eat more fruit like peaches, try whipping them up with fruit smoothies, and yes, cakes!
Here is a recipe that combines chocolate and peaches. A pairing that even the pickiest eater will love!
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Chocolate Wine
March 16, 2012
Andrew Browne, founder of chocolate wine, said: "We thought the market would be female and young, but we’ve found that it has much broader appeal," Be it men or women, and even older and experienced wine lovers, people are raving about the product.
The Chocolate Shop is a brand owned by Washington-based Precept Wine. It was introduced January last year in the U.S. with the use of a Bordeaux blend coming from California, with some sugar and natural chocolate added.
"We called it the chocolate lover's wine," says Browne. In the UK, it was released last November. Here the product would be classified as an "aromatised wine-based drink".
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Equal Exchange Very Dark Chocolate
March 12, 2012
The Equal Exchange brand Very Dark Chocolate (71% Cacao) is organic and uses 100% fair trade ingredients. 
The chocolaty richness of this bar is absolutely excellent. I love the fruity notes that come right away at the beginning and the soft, vanilla cocoa that lingers in the finish. This is one of my favorite chocolates and at 71%, is the best in that percentage range.
This bar is made from cacao from farmer owned co-operatives in CONACADO, a famous cocoa growing region in the Dominican Republic, and CACVRA, in Peru.
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Chocolate Mint Drink
December 14, 2011
Chocolate and mint always make a good pair. I guess it's safe to say by now you already know some significant tidbits about chocolate. Let me shine some light on you about mint this time.
Mint flavor is extracted from mint leaves that have a rather powerful scent, and available all through the year. Its leaves are typically green, but there are some that are purple, blue, and yellow in color. The plant can grow to approximately 120cm tall.
Mint leaves can be used to repel mosquitoes and as a medicine to soothe the stomach. While sometimes used even in beauty products, mint is mostly utilized in the culinary department. It is often used in beverages, syrups, ice cream, and chocolate candies.
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Orange Chocolate Crunch
November 23, 2011
Chocolate is divine all its own. I’d pretty much eat anything that has chocolate in it. But orange and chocolate combination is just downright scrumptious.
The tangy note of orange is just heavenly when united with the sweetness of chocolate. When a certain cake features the combo, it leaves an intricate taste in your mouth. You’ll know it's not just another boring dessert.
You can use this recipe for these up-and-coming holidays and entertain your guests with a cake that has the interesting combination of orange and chocolate with the crunch of walnuts.
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Chocolate Beer Pudding Cake
November 16, 2011
Yep, chocolate and beer pairing is getting so popular I might as well share a recipe that has it.
It may sound bizarre to others who don’t experiment with food much, but beer and chocolate go together splendidly, especially the dark variants. The pairing sounds pretty strange but boy does it work!
People who aren’t crazy about beer often have a fancy for chocolate, so it’s safe to say it’s a win-win recipe. Huge beer fanatics can find flavors in beer that can also be found in chocolate.
With some experimentation, foodies now have come up with something that would make beer fans and chocolate lovers meet halfway. Those who have a sweet tooth are the ones who will enjoy it better, though!
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BitterSweet: Beer+Chocolate
October 4, 2011
As you may have read in the earlier blog posts, one of the things that makes a chocolate and beer tasting great is the fact that it is unusual, yet it works! Even people who say they don’t like beer, often do like chocolate so everyone can enjoy the event.
Last week’s Craft:Beer+Food event was a huge hit, the pairings were sublime. If you weren’t able to attend, fret not, as a sequel to this delightful affair is anticipated. After Craft:Beer+Food comes the next big thing, BitterSweet:Beer+Chocolate. It is a non-profit happening that enables local breweries to showcase their beers along with the remarkable chocolates of Seattle’s own Theo Chocolate.
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Choco-Laté Festival
September 30, 2011
People who come to pay a visit at the Bruge’s Choco-Laté Festival, held in the Belfort bell tower, can relish their much loved dessert in whatever shapes & forms possible! So all you chocoholics, listen up and unite. Succumb to your every chocolate craving and indulge in your favorite sweet treat!
Choco-Laté is the annual festival of our favorite guilty pleasure. The vibes that chocolatiers give off at several stands lure the customers and magically bring them to a chocolate haven.
The festival will be hosting an array of activities to make visitors drool with tons of interesting and fun interactive programs such as body painting, chocolate recipe exhibitions, creations such as sculpture by chocolate artists and sculptors, a chocolate village for the little ones, and a “chocolate walk” through the town of Bruges, among many others.
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Chocolate and Wine Pairing
September 29, 2011
Although wine is pleasurable all its own, most people pair it with an array of different foods as it magnifies the tastes of those food. But did you know that wine and chocolate make a good pair? When the combination is created correctly, it gives a divine blast of taste in the mouth.
First and foremost, you need to make an appropriate choice of chocolate. Grabbing any chocolate bar available won't be enough as they don't hold distinctive flavors. Gourmet chocolates are your best bet, be it dark, white, or milk chocolate.
With regard to the wine you’ll be pairing the chocolate with, you need to find one that is at least as sweet as the chocolate, maybe even slightly sweeter. One of the main rules in pairing them is that the distance between wine and chocolate sweetness should always be short because if the wine isn't sweet enough, the sour notes of wine will make it appear hollow, which makes it a horrible combination.
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Chocolate Categories and Pairings
August 30, 2011
Over the last couple of centuries, the cacao bean been has been used in many different ways such as medicine, as money, etc. But today, we eat it almost exclusively for pleasure.
There are different varieties of cacao beans and it has been said that each strain has been significantly changed due to its tree’s ability to naturally cross-pollinate, not to mention all the intended hybridization of the cacao bean for the past centuries.
Cacao beans go through a lot of processing to produce the chocolate we all love. They are harvested, fermented, dried, roasted, and ground to make chocolate liquor, which is then further processed into cocoa solids and cocoa butter.
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