The chocolate-covered bacon craze is sweeping the nation! Have you tried it yet?
Showing posts with label Chocolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chocolate. Show all posts
Homemade Decadence
By Joy Wilson
Joy Wilson believes that everything is better with pie. And caramel. And definitely ice cream. Her world is pretty sweet: she dabbles daily in butter and sugar as her blogging alter ego, Joy the Baker. Her new book, Joy the Baker Homemade Decadence, is packed with 125 of Joy’s favorite, super-easy, most over-the-top, totally delicious treats, such as Dark Chocolate, Pistachio, and Smoked Sea Salt Cookies; Butterscotch Cream Pie with Thyme-Marshmallow Meringue; Mint Chocolate Chip Cake; and Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.
Joy Wilson is the voice behind the popular blog Joy the Baker. She's obsessed with butter, sugar, cream, and dark chocolate.
Joy's love for sweets began at an early age with her father, a fanatical pie baker, and her mother, a cake decorator. Joy quickly learned that the shortest route between her and a warm batch of brownies was a bowl, wooden spoon, and hot oven.
Joy is a self taught baker whose obsession was honed as a Ben and Jerry's cake decorator, and professional (crack of dawn) baker in various bakeries in Los Angeles. Joy has made everything from biscuits to wedding cakes... but her favorite thing in the world is a tall stack of pancakes.
In her first cookbook, Joy illustrates that muffins are best served warm, bread should be studded with chocolate, and even avocados can be made into cake. It's a simple celebration of butter, sugar, and flour. Get it here
Joy Wilson believes that everything is better with pie. And caramel. And definitely ice cream. Her world is pretty sweet: she dabbles daily in butter and sugar as her blogging alter ego, Joy the Baker. Her new book, Joy the Baker Homemade Decadence, is packed with 125 of Joy’s favorite, super-easy, most over-the-top, totally delicious treats, such as Dark Chocolate, Pistachio, and Smoked Sea Salt Cookies; Butterscotch Cream Pie with Thyme-Marshmallow Meringue; Mint Chocolate Chip Cake; and Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.
Joy Wilson is the voice behind the popular blog Joy the Baker. She's obsessed with butter, sugar, cream, and dark chocolate.
Joy's love for sweets began at an early age with her father, a fanatical pie baker, and her mother, a cake decorator. Joy quickly learned that the shortest route between her and a warm batch of brownies was a bowl, wooden spoon, and hot oven.
Joy is a self taught baker whose obsession was honed as a Ben and Jerry's cake decorator, and professional (crack of dawn) baker in various bakeries in Los Angeles. Joy has made everything from biscuits to wedding cakes... but her favorite thing in the world is a tall stack of pancakes.
In her first cookbook, Joy illustrates that muffins are best served warm, bread should be studded with chocolate, and even avocados can be made into cake. It's a simple celebration of butter, sugar, and flour. Get it here
Who Invented the Chocolate Chip Cookie?
By Steven Magill
Have you ever wondered who invented the chocolate chip cookie? Because chocolate chip cookies are so common, it is easy to forget that these treats have not been around forever. In fact, did you know that chocolate chip cookies are not even one hundred years old? It's true!
The answer to "who invented the chocolate chip cookie" is: Ruth Graves Wakefield. Ruth Graves Wakefield was born on June 17, 1903 and she is the person who invented the Toll House Cookie, which was the world's first chocolate chip cookie.
Ruth Wakefield was educated at the Framingham State Normal School Development of Household Arts and she graduated in 1924. After graduating from school, she worked both as a doctor and gave lectures about food.
In 1930 Wakefield and her husband purchased a lodge for tourists in Whitman, Massachusetts (part of Plymouth County). The lodge was first built in 1709 and has a long and rich history of its own. Many weary travelers have spent the night at the lodge as it is conveniently located around halfway between New Bedford and Boston. This is usually where passers through paid a toll, changed their horses and stopped for some much appreciated home cooked food. When the Wakefields bought it, they named the lodge the Toll House Inn and made sure to keep up with the lodge's traditions. All of the home cooked meals were prepared and served by Ruth and it was not long before her desserts earned her some local fame. There were many visitors to the lodge, one of the most famous being John F. Kennedy (when he was still a Senator).
In 1940, Ruth wrote a cookbook called Toll House Tried and True Recipes. Ruth passed away in 1977 and the Toll House Inn burned down at the end of 1983. While there are plenty of companies that make and sell chocolate chips now, the recipe printed on the back of the Nestle Toll House bags is the original Ruth Graves Wakefield recipe. As of today, Nestle is the only company with the rights to print the recipe on its bags. All of the recipes that are printed on other company's' bags are different from the original recipe.
The chocolate chip cookie was invented in the late 1930s (making it almost seventy seven years old) though there are different stories about how, exactly, the original chocolate chip cookie recipe was invented. Some stories say it was an accident, others say it was an experiment and still others say that it was a purposeful recipe. The story of how the chocolate chip cookie was invented varies according to the person telling the story. One thing is for certain, though, and that is that the answer to "who invented the chocolate chip cookie" is Ruth Graves Wakefield. Who knew that what might have started out as an experiment or an accident would someday be one of the most common treats in the Western World? Who doesn't remember eating chocolate chip cookies after school?
Copyright © 2008, by Steven Magill. Just think, you can start enjoying the recipes right away -- no waiting at all! Can you taste the key limes already? You gotta try the Chocolate Chip Key Lime Cookies...mmmmmm!ChocolateChipCookie.info
The answer to "who invented the chocolate chip cookie" is: Ruth Graves Wakefield. Ruth Graves Wakefield was born on June 17, 1903 and she is the person who invented the Toll House Cookie, which was the world's first chocolate chip cookie.
Ruth Wakefield was educated at the Framingham State Normal School Development of Household Arts and she graduated in 1924. After graduating from school, she worked both as a doctor and gave lectures about food.
In 1930 Wakefield and her husband purchased a lodge for tourists in Whitman, Massachusetts (part of Plymouth County). The lodge was first built in 1709 and has a long and rich history of its own. Many weary travelers have spent the night at the lodge as it is conveniently located around halfway between New Bedford and Boston. This is usually where passers through paid a toll, changed their horses and stopped for some much appreciated home cooked food. When the Wakefields bought it, they named the lodge the Toll House Inn and made sure to keep up with the lodge's traditions. All of the home cooked meals were prepared and served by Ruth and it was not long before her desserts earned her some local fame. There were many visitors to the lodge, one of the most famous being John F. Kennedy (when he was still a Senator).
In 1940, Ruth wrote a cookbook called Toll House Tried and True Recipes. Ruth passed away in 1977 and the Toll House Inn burned down at the end of 1983. While there are plenty of companies that make and sell chocolate chips now, the recipe printed on the back of the Nestle Toll House bags is the original Ruth Graves Wakefield recipe. As of today, Nestle is the only company with the rights to print the recipe on its bags. All of the recipes that are printed on other company's' bags are different from the original recipe.
The chocolate chip cookie was invented in the late 1930s (making it almost seventy seven years old) though there are different stories about how, exactly, the original chocolate chip cookie recipe was invented. Some stories say it was an accident, others say it was an experiment and still others say that it was a purposeful recipe. The story of how the chocolate chip cookie was invented varies according to the person telling the story. One thing is for certain, though, and that is that the answer to "who invented the chocolate chip cookie" is Ruth Graves Wakefield. Who knew that what might have started out as an experiment or an accident would someday be one of the most common treats in the Western World? Who doesn't remember eating chocolate chip cookies after school?
Copyright © 2008, by Steven Magill. Just think, you can start enjoying the recipes right away -- no waiting at all! Can you taste the key limes already? You gotta try the Chocolate Chip Key Lime Cookies...mmmmmm!ChocolateChipCookie.info
Can Chocolate Benefit Your Health?
Can Chocolate Benefit Your Health? by Marguerite Bonneville
If you're a fan of chocolate you're in good company. Chocolate is one of the most popular sweet-tasting treats in the world and has been for centuries. But part of the myth surrounding chocolate is that it tastes so good it must be bad for your health. Which gives it an air of the forbidden.
A beautifully wrapped box of chocolates has always been considered a very romantic gift. So if the special person in your life is a self-confessed chocoholic, you know one surefire way to please them on special occasions. But the surprising news from the scientific community is that this reputedly decadent treat actually has some health benefits, especially if you choose your chocolate wisely.
Is Chocolate A Health Food?
Chocolate contains over 300 chemicals, and has been the subject of a number of studies by universities and other scientific organizations. Here's a quick rundown of the results. We have no way of proving or disproving these claims so we offer them here as a stimulus for further research. If you're really interested in the subject, this may provide you with a starting point.
If you're a fan of chocolate you're in good company. Chocolate is one of the most popular sweet-tasting treats in the world and has been for centuries. But part of the myth surrounding chocolate is that it tastes so good it must be bad for your health. Which gives it an air of the forbidden.
A beautifully wrapped box of chocolates has always been considered a very romantic gift. So if the special person in your life is a self-confessed chocoholic, you know one surefire way to please them on special occasions. But the surprising news from the scientific community is that this reputedly decadent treat actually has some health benefits, especially if you choose your chocolate wisely.
Is Chocolate A Health Food?
Chocolate contains over 300 chemicals, and has been the subject of a number of studies by universities and other scientific organizations. Here's a quick rundown of the results. We have no way of proving or disproving these claims so we offer them here as a stimulus for further research. If you're really interested in the subject, this may provide you with a starting point.
What Chocolate Won't Do:
But On The Negative Side...
What About Chocolate And Your Pets?
This applies whether chocolate is in candy bar form, or an ingredient in cake, cookies, puddings or ice cream.
* If a pet becomes ill after eating chocolate, take it to the vet immediately.
Dark Chocolate Versus Milk Chocolate:
You'll need to do a little research if you have any health concerns about eating chocolate. But with products like gluten-free and sugar-free brands finding their way onto supermarket shelves, you're sure to find some form of chocolate you can enjoy with a clear conscience.
Marguerite Bonneville is a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) whose passion is publishing information online. She is a contributing writer for Romantic Gifts Online.com, a resource site dedicated to helping visitors find the perfect romantic gift.
How Chocolate Is Made
by Gregg Hall
Chocolate comes from cocoa beans, and cocoa beans come from the equatorial zones of South America. Cocoa is also grown in Africa, having been imported to that continent a long time ago. Outside of equatorial Africa and South America, the only place I know of that Cocoa is grown is in the Hawaiian Islands.
After harvesting, the beans are fermented. They are placed in large, shallow, heated trays. If the climate is right, they may simply be heated by the sun. Workers come along periodically and stir them up so that all of the beans come out equally fermented.
The first thing that commercial chocolate manufacturers do with cocoa beans is dry roast them. This develops the color and flavor of the beans to what our modern palates expect from chocolate.
Cocoa nibs, as they are called consist of two important components, cocoa solids and cocoa butter. The cocoa butter is basically fat, and the cocoa solids are essentially coarse cocoa powder. Separating the two is crucial to producing smooth, high quality chocolate candy. After all, you can't stir up crumbled up cocoa beans with some sugar, press the mixture into a bar, and call it chocolate.
There is one main process used today for getting the cocoa butter out of the cocoa solids. In the first, the cocoa nibs are converted into a non-alcoholic liquid called cocoa liquor. The liquor is then subjected to high pressure in a press to squeeze the cocoa butter from the cocoa solids. What remains is a cake of solid cocoa.
The cocoa butter is further refined for later use in chocolate production, where it is added back to the refined cocoa powder. Some cocoa butter also finds its way to the cosmetics industry.
After pressing, the cocoa solids are taken from the cocoa press and ground to a fine powder. If the cocoa powder is destined to be made into chocolate candy, it is then combined with other ingredients. Dark, bittersweet chocolates are made by adding cocoa butter and sugar, at a minimum. Milk chocolates add milk as well. Nearly all chocolates have some emulsifier to help the ingredients blend, as well as vanilla.
The ingredients are mixed under heat into molten chocolate. This goes into huge vats where it is "conched". To conch the chocolate, there are large smooth granite rollers in the vats that keep the mixture stirred and further grind the cocoa powder into extremely small bits. Some companies use smoother steel rollers which give their chocolate a very smooth, velvety feel. The longer the chocolate is conched the smoother it becomes. Good chocolates are often conched for several days straight, while cheap mass produced chocolates may be conched for as little as 12 hours. Finally, the chocolate is poured into molds, and allowed to cool. It is then wrapped, shipped and sold for us all to enjoy.
Chocolate comes from cocoa beans, and cocoa beans come from the equatorial zones of South America. Cocoa is also grown in Africa, having been imported to that continent a long time ago. Outside of equatorial Africa and South America, the only place I know of that Cocoa is grown is in the Hawaiian Islands.
After harvesting, the beans are fermented. They are placed in large, shallow, heated trays. If the climate is right, they may simply be heated by the sun. Workers come along periodically and stir them up so that all of the beans come out equally fermented.
The first thing that commercial chocolate manufacturers do with cocoa beans is dry roast them. This develops the color and flavor of the beans to what our modern palates expect from chocolate.
Cocoa nibs, as they are called consist of two important components, cocoa solids and cocoa butter. The cocoa butter is basically fat, and the cocoa solids are essentially coarse cocoa powder. Separating the two is crucial to producing smooth, high quality chocolate candy. After all, you can't stir up crumbled up cocoa beans with some sugar, press the mixture into a bar, and call it chocolate.
There is one main process used today for getting the cocoa butter out of the cocoa solids. In the first, the cocoa nibs are converted into a non-alcoholic liquid called cocoa liquor. The liquor is then subjected to high pressure in a press to squeeze the cocoa butter from the cocoa solids. What remains is a cake of solid cocoa.
The cocoa butter is further refined for later use in chocolate production, where it is added back to the refined cocoa powder. Some cocoa butter also finds its way to the cosmetics industry.
After pressing, the cocoa solids are taken from the cocoa press and ground to a fine powder. If the cocoa powder is destined to be made into chocolate candy, it is then combined with other ingredients. Dark, bittersweet chocolates are made by adding cocoa butter and sugar, at a minimum. Milk chocolates add milk as well. Nearly all chocolates have some emulsifier to help the ingredients blend, as well as vanilla.
The ingredients are mixed under heat into molten chocolate. This goes into huge vats where it is "conched". To conch the chocolate, there are large smooth granite rollers in the vats that keep the mixture stirred and further grind the cocoa powder into extremely small bits. Some companies use smoother steel rollers which give their chocolate a very smooth, velvety feel. The longer the chocolate is conched the smoother it becomes. Good chocolates are often conched for several days straight, while cheap mass produced chocolates may be conched for as little as 12 hours. Finally, the chocolate is poured into molds, and allowed to cool. It is then wrapped, shipped and sold for us all to enjoy.
Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre, Florida. For the finest chocolates go to frenchchocolatedelivery.com
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