Posts Tagged ‘Chocolates’

Chocolates are the Best Gifts

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

If you want the perfect gift for the ones who are special in your life, then I would suggest gifting a chocolate box. As we all know that chocolate gifts are the best gift that you can give to someone special.

Everyone enjoys having a delicious piece of chocolate and chocolate gift hardly ever fails to create feelings. Of course the smell and the taste of chocolates can cheer up anyone, but there are lots of chemicals used in making chocolate a happy treat. Chocolate brings smile on face and it also expresses your feelings for someone special.

The best chocolate gift that you can give to anyone is chocolate truffle. It is one of the most favored chocolates that people like eating. There is always something different about truffle that people love, it can be the way it melts in our mouth.

By gifting chocolates to someone special, you can shower your love, care and your affection on them. You can also gift chocolates to your family, relatives, friends or colleague, to wish them good luck for the important and special work they are going to do.

You can also greet someone by gifting chocolates on any special occasion or festival such as Diwali, Christmas, New Year or any other special occasion. In short, whatever be the celebration, chocolate gifts are sure going to work in any special relation.

The Process of Making Chocolate

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

Making Chocolate involves a long process, from the cacao tree to the hands of the farmers, farmers to the factory, factory to the hands of the master chocolate maker.

Chocolate comes from processed cacao beans, which are harvested from the cacao tree. A cacao tree grows in tropical climates only, 10 to 20 degrees north and south of the equator. The first cacao trees grew in the Amazon basins, north of Brazil. Now it is grown and cultivated in many tropical countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Brazil and the Ivory Coast. Cacao trees strive in warm and humid weather with little or no wind. They like loose rich soil and shaded sunlight, usually growing under the shade of taller trees such as coconut, banana, and rubber trees.

Cacao trees are only harvested twice a year. The pods, where the seeds or the beans can be harvested, it takes five to six months to grow. The pods turn to orange or red from a green or yellow color once they are ripe and ready for picking. To harvest the pods, farmers use a machete to cut them off the tree.

After roasting, the outer shell of cacao beans are removed, this process is called winnowing. The separated shells are sold as animal feeds and the inner nib is crushed and heated until it melts into cocoa butter and then ground into a thick paste called chocolate liquor. This chocolate liquor forms the base of different types of chocolates, including dark, milk and white chocolate.

Dark Chocolate is Good for You

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

It is difficult to find something that does not like milk chocolate. However, for many people dark chocolate is an acquired taste but there are few people who prefer the strong taste of dark chocolate over the sweet taste of milk chocolate. No matter which side you fall into, you should be thankful to learn that it has been recently discovered that the dark variety is actually good for you.

The beneficial elements in this sweet treat are called flavonoids. Flavonoids are also present in other healthy foods like apples, cranberries, tea, and red wine. These elements are beneficial to the human body because they act as antioxidants that work to protect the cells from damage from free radicals.

The other antioxidant properties of flavonoids found in chocolates are they also thought to relax blood vessels, balance hormones that affect heart, reduce platelet activation, prevent plaque formation, and prevent elevated LDL cholesterol levels.

These all means that dark chocolate are good for your heart health. It provides you peace of mind when you have the urge to indulge in this delectable treat. Of course, common sense should exist because chocolate is a high calorie food so it should not be eaten in excess.

Dark chocolate are available in many forms such as candy bars to gourmet bons. In fact, a gourmet gift basket filled with a variety of dark chocolates would make a great gift.

Dark chocolate is prepared from cacao and is the least processed which is why it retains the most flavonoids. Cocoa butter and powdered sugar are added to the cacao but milk is omitted. It is sometimes labeled according to the percent of cacao; the higher the percentage of cacao, the stronger the taste.