Chocolatessssssssssssss Oh la la.........

Luscious, tempting, scrumptious, heavenly, gratifying, delectable, irresistible, mouth-watering, yummy – these are some of the words that come to my mind when I think of chocolates.

If you are happy, have chocolates.

If you are sad, have chocolates.

If you are bored, have chocolates.

Well let me give you some facts about chocolates -

• The first chocolate house was opened in London in 1657. Chocolate cost 10-15 shillings per pound and was considered a beverage for the elite class.
• “Giri Choco” is a japanese custom which means “duty chocolate.” It calls for employees to give chocolates to their managers as a token of loyalty.
• A recent study indicates when men crave food, they tend to crave fat and salt. When women crave food, they tend to desire chocolate.
• Chocolate was considered an aphrodisiac by the Aztec Indians, and as such, was forbidden to women. Today, some postulate that chocolate triggers a brain chemical that produces the same reaction brought on by a passionate love affair.

The History of Chocolate

Chocolate is made from the seeds of the Theobroma cacao tree. Theobroma is Greek for ‘food of the Gods’. This tree was discovered in the rainforests of the Americas some 2,000 years ago, the Maya and Aztec Indians took the seeds and made them into a frothy, spicy, bitter tasting chocolate drink.Chocolate was a very important part of every day life, royal and religious ceremonies.The cacoa beans was first introduced to Europe by Christopher Columbus between 1502 & 1504, but it was the Spanish explorer Don Cortes who saw the true protentional of chocolate, bringing back the cacoa beans and the equipment to make the spicy chocolate drink, which was soon perfected to European taste by adding sugar. It took over 300 (1828) years to produce the first chocolate bar.

How Chocolate is made?

Chocolate comes from the cacao tree, which grows in the tropics. Cocoa beans from the tree are harvested, fermented for a few days, and then dried. The highest quality chocolate comes from cocoa beans that are dried naturally in the sun for a week. The cocoa beans are then roasted and the shells removed. The cocoa is then ground, resulting in a thick liquid called chocolate liquor which is used to make unsweetened chocolate. The chocolate liquor can be pressed to extract the fat, which is called cocoa butter. With the fat removed, the liquor becomes a powder that is blended with the cocoa butter and other ingredients to make different kinds of chocolate. Plain chocolate is made of cocoa powder, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, and sugar. Milk chocolate, of course, has milk added. White chocolate is made of cocoa butter, milk, and sugar. After the ingredients are mixed, the product is further refined to create chocolate suitable for solid bars and pieces. It's mixed, heated, and cooled very precisely in methods called "conching" and "tempering." These processes can take up to a week for the finest chocolates.

So you thought chocolates are unhealthy, then read this -

• Cocoa and chocolate are rich in minerals that the body needs, including magnesium and iron.

• Consuming chocolate helps your brain release serotonin, which creates a sense of contentment. For this reason, chocolate has gotten the well-deserved label of a "comfort food."

• Chocolates are mood enhancers.

• The flavour of dark chocolate, like that of fine wine, improves with time for up to 18 to 24 months.

• Chocolate contains high levels of phenol, which is a chemical that can help reduce heart disease.

• Chocolate is often given to sports-persons after sporting activities to restore carbohydrates.

• Even though chocolate is high in fat, it does not appear to raise blood cholesterol.

• Chocolate causes certain endocrine glands to secrete hormones that affect your feelings and behavior by making you happy. Therefore, it counteracts depression, in turn reducing the stress of depression.

• Chocolate are found to be packed with high-quality anti oxidants that may reduce the risk of developing cancer.

• The level of caffeine in chocolate (6 mg per 1 oz. of milk chocolate) is low when compared to the level in coffee, tea and some soft drinks.

TYPES OF CHOCOLATES

1. Unsweetened Chocolate - Unsweetened Chocolate is pure chocolate liquor, also known as bitter or baking chocolate. It's unadulterated chocolate: ground roasted chocolate beans with no other added ingredients imparts a strong, deep chocolate flavor in all the sweets you add it to.
2. Bittersweet chocolate - A dark sweetened chocolate which must contain at least 35% cocoa solids. Good quality bittersweet chocolate usually contains 60% to 85% cocoa solids depending on brand. If the content of cocoa solids is high the content of sugar is low, giving a rich, intense and more or less bitter chocolate flavor. Bittersweet chocolate is often used for baking/cooking. If a recipe specifies bittersweet chocolate do not substitute with semi-sweet or sweet chocolate.
3. Dark chocolate - Sweetened chocolate with high content of cocoa solids and no or very little milk, it may contain up to 12% milk solids. Dark chocolate can either be sweet, semi-sweet, bittersweet or unsweetened. If a recipe specifies 'dark chocolate' you should first try semi-sweet dark chocolate.
4. Milk chocolate - Sweet chocolate which normally contains 10-20% cocoa solids (which includes cocoa and cocoa butter) and more than 12% milk solids. It is seldom used for baking, except for cookies.
5. Semi-sweet chocolate - This is the classic dark baking chocolate. It is frequently used for cakes, cookies and brownies. Can be used instead of sweet dark chocolate. It has a good, sweet flavor. Contains often 40-62% cocoa solids.
6. Couverture or Coating Chocolate - Couverture or Coating Chocolate is a term used for cocoa butter rich chocolates of the highest quality. These chocolates contain a high percentage of chocolate liquor (sometimes more than 70 percent) as well as cocoa butter, at least 32-39%, are very fluid when melted and have an excellent flavor. In fact, chocolate of this quality is often compared to tasting fine wine because subtleties in taste are often apparent, especially when you taste a variety of semisweet and bittersweet couvertures with different percentages of sugar and chocolate liquor.
7. White Chocolate - Chocolate made with cocoa butter, sugar, milk, emulsifier, vanilla and sometimes other flavorings. It does not contain any non-fat ingredients from the cacao bean and has therefore an off-white color. In some countries white chocolate cannot be called 'chocolate' because of the low content of cocoa solids. It has a mild and pleasant flavor and can be used to make Chocolate Mousse, Panna Cotta and other desserts.
8. Gianduja chocolate - Gianduja is the name given to a European style of chocolate made from chocolate and nut paste. Hazelnut paste is most common, but gianduja can also be made with almond paste. It comes in milk or dark chocolate varieties. Gianduja chocolate can be used as a flavoring or as a substitute for milk or dark chocolate. At room temperature it is soft enough to be rolled or cut, but is too soft to use for molding chocolates.
9. "Candy coating" chocolate Also known as “confectionery coating,” “summer coating,” or “compound coating.” These terms refer to candy products that are flavored like dark, milk or white chocolate and substitute vegetable or palm oils for cocoa butter. These products are cheaper than most chocolates, and do not contain significant amounts of chocolate liquor; thus, they do not have a strong chocolate flavor or an appealing mouthfeel. However, they have excellent melting and molding properties, and thus are often used in candymaking for dipping or enrobing, since they do not require tempering and can withstand high ambient temperatures. Be careful to never mix candy coating with real chocolate, as the fats are not compatible and the resulting candy will be unattractive and discolored.

Making Chocolates At Home

Making chocolates is always fun as you can take all the liberties with chocolates and keep experimenting without bothering about the outcome as they will always turn out to be yummy unless you have done something extremely wild. I feel its one of the best stress buster. Its a very relaxing exercise and also does not require much effort. One of the best way to let your creative juices flowing.

What you need to make chocolates?

A slab of dark chocolate
A slab of milk chocolate
A slab of white chocolate
Plastic moulds

To make chocolates you need to melt them first. You can use a double boiler or you can also melt them in a microwave (heat for 1 minute). After you melt the chocolate, you can put them in plastic moulds with a spoon and tab them so that they don't come above the level. You get some amazing plastic moulds in different shapes. You can select a few of your choice. Now the whole funda behind melting the chocolate is not to have it plain right, so you can make different fillings and stuff it inside with the chocolate.

Note: you can can use different proportions of dark chocolate and milk chocolate depending upon your taste preference. For example, those who prefer bitter chocolates can use more of dark chocolate and less of milk chocolate and those who prefer sweet, it is vice versa.

Different types of fillings

1. You can simply add some nuts and dry fruits such as cashews, roasted walnuts, roasted almond, raisins, dates, waffles, rushed biscuits, wafer biscuits.

2. You get flavored chocolates also in the market like mint, strawberry, orange etc. You can mix those along with your chocolate mixture or you can add essence of these flavors in your mixture.

You can mix in the filling in the liquid chocolate and mould them. After you mould them, put them in the freezer and let it set. It takes just 15-20 minutes to set. After it is set, remove it from the fridge and unmould the chocolates. you can have it then and also wrap some in a nice colourful chocolate wrapping paper or cellophane paper.
You can also make a dual colored chocolate. You can first melt the white chocolate and fill in just half the space and let it set. After it is set, you can add nuts and fill in the empty space with milk or dark chocolate.

Chocolate Recipes

Here is my version of Choco-latte and Rocky Road Fudge

Choco-latte

Ingredients - 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder, 1/4 th teaspoon cinnamon powder, 1-2 tablespoon melted chocolate (according to your preference), 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons whipped cream.

Heat the milk with water, then add coffee and boil it till it gets a frothy texture. In a coffee mug or nice glass, put melted chocolate, then pour heated milk on it. Top it with whipped cream and sprinkle cinnamon powder on it. Add sugar according to your taste.

Road Fudge

Ingredients - 75 gms dark chocolate, 150 gms milk chocolate, 25 gms butter, 1 tbsp cream, 1/2 tsp vanilla essence, 25 gms chopped walnuts (you could also roast them on a griddle for a few minutes), 150 gms icing sugar.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a double boiler. Stir in the cream & vanilla essence. Remove it from the heat. Add walnuts. Line a tray or square tin with greaseproof paper. Chill until it is firm. After it is set, cut the fudge into whatever shape you like with a knife or alternatively with a biscuit cutter.

For more recipes on chocolates, you can click on the following links -

cacaoweb-for more info on chocolates and for some amazing recipes.

For some unusual and awesome recipes
http://www.foodsubs.com/Chocvan.html