Posts Tagged ‘Chocolate’
The dipping of lush red strawberries into chocolate for the making of different types of desserts has been a common practice for many years. As a matter of fact, no one can quite recall when this tempting dish was first created. However, the idea of mixing sweet and tart has led to this dish becoming a particular favorite of many people!
Since fruits are our top vitamin providers, dipping different fruits into chocolate has become a favorite method of creating a healthy, scrumptious dessert! The different types of fruits that can be covered with chocolate are: apples, apricots, cherries, strawberries, peaches, grapes, and a variety of other tropical fruits. In today’s world, strange and exotic tasting chocolates are favored more than the normal chocolate bars. In fact, different chocolates are being tried out and released into the market every year, with claims of exotic tastes to tempt the jaded palate! Bearing this in mind, the makers of chocolate covered strawberries create new recipes, with a special flair used to bring out the tart sweetness of the berry, mixed with the melting scrumptiousness of the chocolate covering! Read the rest of this entry »
The western world has a mild obsession with chocolate, and rightly so. Not only is it delicious, but it is also good for your health. Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants. Some brands of chocolate, such as Xocai, have more antioxidants than red wine or even acai berries. Chocolate also creates a hormonal reaction when consumed that feels a lot like sexual afterglow or falling in love. Dark chocolate is full of a good kind of saturated fat that can help boost brain function in ways similar to fish oil, and it is satisfying enough to eat in small quantities. Chocolate has non-food applications in skin care products and make-up, and there are endless products available that showcase its properties, from confections to body wraps. One of the best ways to enjoy the benefits of chocolate is to cook with it. Here are some great ways to cook with chocolate.
1. In drinks
Drinking chocolate has become a popular delivery method for chocolate consumption in recent years. It is a combination of melted chocolate and cream, as opposed to the cocoa powder/sugar/milk combination usually used in hot cocoa. It is a thick and rich chocolate drink that seems to send those happy chocolate feelings straight to your toes. To make drinking chocolate, combine 2 oz heavy cream with 6 oz of milk in a saucepan. Add a cinnamon stick and a vanilla bean that has been split down the middle. Heat the infused milk mixture very slowly for 15-20 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and the cinnamon stick and add 2 oz finely chopped or grated dark chocolate. Heat, stirring, until chocolate is fully melted. Top with whipped cream and a dusting of powdered cinnamon. Read the rest of this entry »
Brownies are one of the most appreciated food gift items. In the holiday season, brownies are a surefire hit. If you are considering mail order brownies then keep certain points in mind. Before sending brownies to friends and family, check the delivery company that will be handling your order. In most cases this will be the post office. Check with them for the best ways to ship. In warm seasons brownies are best shipped overnight in a Styrofoam container where the brownies are surrounded by ice packs. Many shipping companies use dry ice but that may be little expensive.
Tried and tested: If you’re not sure how well you have packed the brownies and how safe they are to ship, you can test the pack at home. Place the brownies in a container and shake it a few times. If the brownies are moving then you have to re-pack. After you have filled the empty spaces, shake it again. When it holds the shape than your shipping consignment is perfect. But before packing mail order brownies, put then in front of fan so that the extra moisture is evaporated.
Baking pans: Most of the breads, cakes and brownies are baked in a foil or light-weight aluminum pan. You can actually ship the food items in them. If you are going to mail brownies, place them in the baking foil; follow the recipe cooling direction and removing the food from the pan. When thoroughly cooled, wrap the mail order brownies in plastic or foil and return to the big shipping container. Read the rest of this entry »
Celebrating a wedding is even more fun with homemade chocolates especially if you are making them on your own. As compared to other candy types, these chocolates are very easy to make. While you have to choose the ingredients, mix them and make candies from the scratch, homemade chocolates are easier to make. All you have to do is to melt chocolate and create unique and fascinating designs and shapes using molds. Doing this is great fun and you can take the chocolate experience at the wedding to a whole new level. After all, there is no one who hates chocolates. If you want to make the most wonderful and creative chocolate designs, it is necessary to first choose the best chocolate candy molds.
You can choose from a range of candy molds in different attractive shapes offered especially for weddings. These molds are available with ease in the shops and come in different materials. You can choose from the metal, plastic or silicone molds. As compared to the metal molds, the plastic and silicone molds are very flexible and easy to handle. Chocolates are ready to be taken out of the molds when they harden and separate from them. In metal molds, you may find it difficult separating the chocolate from the mold as compared to the flexible silicone and plastic molds that make the process easier.
What actually is there in chocolate which makes them so tempting? Delicious creamy milk chocolate, rich dark types, hot chocolates, I really love each kind of chocolate which is available. Chocolate is universally loved all around the world. What is the exact reason for this love? Because they make us feel much better!
Chocolate actually is a great mood enhancer. Many chemicals found in the chocolate generate a feeling of wellbeing and euphoria. Is it really some wonder that we immediately reach for chocolate bar when we are down? It surely lifts our feelings. However as with any other thing, eating large quantities of chocolates can create many health problems for you as it induces too much sugar and fat in your daily diet.
It is a reality that dark types of chocolates are much healthier than their creamier milky version. This is so because the darker kind is much closer to the natural coca form which has many antioxidants capable of promoting a good health as it powerfully attacks all the free radicals which are present in our body and can cause us damage. Apart from this, a dark chocolate has much less sugar and negligible fat so it emerges out as a healthier option. Read the rest of this entry »
This is the trifecta of dinner party desserts: incredibly easy, made ahead of time, and delicious! It’s also open to a lot of augmentation. You can make it a ginger chocolate pie with some candied ginger in the pudding. You can make a graham cracker crust and add vegan marshmallow fluff for a S’mores Pie. Chocolate lends itself well to orange, mint, and raspberry flavors, so any of these can be swapped in for the vanilla in the filling. However, I’m partial to the classic, as it’s hard to go wrong with these clean, chocolate flavors.
Chocolate Cookie Crust
1 ½ cups chocolate cookie crumbs
6 tablespoons non-dairy butter
¼ cup sugar
Melt the butter. Mix cookie crumbs and sugar in a bowl. Add the melted butter to the dry ingredients, and mix together with a fork. Pour the crumb mixture into a greased pie pan and press evenly across the bottom and the sides of the pan. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes. Read the rest of this entry »