My Chocolate Fantasy

Julie Spear asked:


Making chocolate is challenging. To help you along the way, here are some tips you should know.

First, water is the enemy of chocolate so make sure that the two do not come into contact with one another otherwise, your chocolate will become grainy.

If you are using white colored chocolate and want to add coloring to it, never use regular food color or food color paste since this too contains water. You should only use powdered or gel varieties.

When you are adding color to chocolate, add this in small quantities and stir before adding more. This is because putting in might change the color of your chocolate making it too bright. If this happens, this can be remedied by diluting the shade using some more white chocolate.

Apart from powdered or gel varieties of color, you can also use artist brushes to paint designs into your mold. Another option is to use lollipop sticks or even toothpicks so you will have better control in making the finished product.

When you are done using the chocolate mold, never wash this with soap as this removes its stickiness. Just use water and after rinsing, dry this properly to prevent spots from appearing that will also make it difficult to release the chocolate from the mold.  But if it is already difficult to remove, the next time you use the mold, apply a light coating of vegetable oil as this always does the trick.

Should there be some chocolate on the edges of the mold, remove it using a butter knife. Remember this can be reused by simply melting it again and then pouring this to the next batch of whatever you are making.

If your melted chocolate is too thick to paint, add some parafinflakes until you get the right mixture. If you don’t have this, you can also use vegetable shortening or cocoa butter.

Chocolate when melted and poured into the mold was immediately be placed inside the freezer for several minutes. To remove it, you simply have to turn this over onto a tray. If it does not come out on its own, you can tap it gently or pour some hot water in the back.

Some people paint the chocolate after it has been taken out of the freezer. To do this, you must hold the mold over you head so you can see it from the right side. If there are any air bubbles, tap the area where they are using your fingers until it pops.

If you happen to make a mistake while painting, don’t worry. You should just put the mold back into the freezer so it will be easy to remove when it hardens and you can easily correct it. The rule of thumb when it comes to painting is to finish one color first before moving on to the others.

If you are not good painting all the details, do what many people do and that is to simply use just one solid color.

By following these chocolate making tips, you will be able to make chocolate for any occasion all year round. You can give this away as gifts or serve this as part of your dessert which will make you feel proud knowing that you made this yourself instead of buying this from the store.

Patrick Vannereux asked:


It all starts from the fruit bearing tree (cocoa tree) and gathering its  large oval pods wich contain the seeds. Discovered first in the United States this tree is now grown in many countries near the Equator.

Pods are emptied from their seeds which are then dried in the sun. After the drying process the seeds undergo roasting. When the roasting phase is completed the seeds are crushed resultin in cocoa powder. The powder is kept as is or gets squeezed resulting in cocoa butter.

Mixing the powder with butter, milk powder and sugar ends up as chocolate. Proportions of each component in the mixture will determine whether the end result will be dark, milk or white chocolate. Dark chocolate can be made with up to ninety percent of cocoa in the mixture giving a bitter tasting chocolate; milk chocolate has usually seventy percent of cocoa along with more milk powder. White chocolate on the other hand is made of cocoa butter only mixed with milk powder and sugar.

Trivia Did you know that if not most, all the pralines during the pre 1950′s were hand made? Presently chocolates are considered as an energy giving food because of its very high content of sugar and calorie Another fact about chocolate is that it is also considered as one of the many sexual stimulant foods. In fact, aside from being an exceptional energy booster, one of the Aztec emperors drank chocolate to seduce women It is also known to be use as an anti-depressant. It is known to contain a substance called “pheryletylanine” that has a positive effect in the event of a nervous depression but not only that, there is something in chocolates that gives anyone a lighter mood every time it is drank Aztec emperor Montezuma drank 50 golden goblets of hot chocolate every day. It was thick, dyed red and flavored with chili peppers. (Now that’s Hot Chocolate!) Columbus brought cacao (chocolate) beans back to Spain on his fourth voyage in 1502. Milton Stavely Hershey first became rich selling caramels. He sold his caramel business in 1900 for $1 million and started making milk chocolate.

This ebook has 100 chocolate recipes!

Eri Hariono asked:


Do you know that chocolate has been popular for hundreds of years?

Over 2,000 years ago, the ancient Aztecs and Mayans used the seeds found in the pods from the cacao tree and ground them to make a spicy, chocolate brew. This concoction is unlike the chocolate we enjoy today because it was bitter and sugar was unknown to these people. The cacao tree’s fruit’s scientific name is Theobroma Cacao which translates into “Food of the Gods”. In fact, the Aztecs offered up cacao pods as a sacrifice to their gods and restrict drinking the sacred brew to high priests and rulers. Thus, it is proven that chocolate functions as natural remedies since ancient era.

Have you ever wondered the meaning of chocolate?

Chocolate literally melts in your mouth because the melting point of cocoa butter is just below the human’s body temperature! And you thought it was simply delicious.

If you would like to find out more details about how chocolate can improve your health, the posting on Chocolate as Remedy, More Than Sweet! disclosing their health benefits, in fact there are further benefits that we can gain from them.

Based on certain studies, there are significant components in dark chocolate that have following positive impact to your health:

1] the antioxidants:

The potential to lower blood pressure Improved blood circulation Lower levels of heart disease Improved function of the cells which line the blood vessels The ability to defend the body against the destructive molecules known as free radicals. These free radicals are thought to help trigger serious diseases such as heart disease, stroke and even some forms of cancer. Improved digestion

2] the compounds have also been used to help treat patients suffering from anemia, kidney stones and poor appetite.

3] the catechins are three times the number of catechins as green tea, making it a potential blockbuster health food as well as a great treat, are thought to be able to boost the immune system and help prevent heart disease and other chronic problems.

4] a good source of magnesium and copper are able to help regulate the blood pressure and heartbeat.