The Chocolate Fudge Cafe

Chocolate is one of the most addictive foods on the planet and it is not hard to see why. There is no substitute for the rich taste, which is versatile enough to be enjoyed on its own or paired with everything from fresh fruit and pastries to wine. There has been a lot of play in the media recently regarding the supposed health benefits of chocolate and while the media does tend to exaggerate, in this case they`re more right than wrong.

Chocolate contains naturally occurring mood-enhancing chemicals as well as powerful oxidants. The former can help ease a bad day or enhance the rewards of a good one. Antioxidants help scour free radicals from your system, helping you to ward off some of the less pleasant changes that aging brings as well as supporting your body in its resistance to certain types of cancer.

All chocolate comes from the cacao (pronounced, cah-KOW) plant. The fruits of the plant are harvested and split open to reveal small seeds inside that resemble coffee beans. Once the beans and their surrounding pulp have been removed from the outer shell of the fruit, they are placed on banana leaves or in wooden boxes or baskets with bottoms that allow drainage and they are allowed to ferment. Sometimes they are covered with leaves. This is called, “sweating” and can take from six to eight days. During this time, the pulp liquefies and drains away and the beans age into a mellower flavor.

Once fermentation is complete, the beans are gathered and dried. At this point they may be shipped to large chocolate manufacturers, though in
the case of most fairly traded chocolate, the beans are processed on small farms.

The little nibs used to make chocolate are separated from the shells, either by hand or with the use of machinery, depending on where the processing takes place.

The cacao nibs may or may not be roasted, depending on what their end use will be. Roasting the nibs brings out the rich, dark flavor, but many proponents of raw foods prefer their cacao nibs unroasted.

As with so many things in life, not all chocolate is created equal and not all chocolate offers the same benefits. Most commercial chocolate is processed and loaded with fats, sugars and sometimes preservatives. One of the best ways to ensure that your chocolate is of the highest quality is to make it yourself from organic cacao beans, nibs or powder.

One of the main advantages of cacao is that it is easy to store. Place your nibs in plastic lined jute or burlap sacks and store them in a cool dry place for three to five months. Store cacao powder in airtight jars in a cool, dark place to keep it tasting fresh. How long it will stay that way depends on how it was processed, so be sure to ask for guidelines when you purchase it.

Now that you have your fresh, organic, fairly traded chocolate base, have a look at the very best in accessories, as recommended by the chocolate lovers at Chocolate Fudge Cafe, to make cooking with your cacao as fun as it is healthy. http://www.waresofknutsford.co.uk/

Photo of mousse with mango coulis is from the article  “Tips for Pairing Fruits With Chocolate”.  http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2010/08/pairing-fruit-and-chocolate.html

About the Cacao Tree

The cacao tree (Theobroma Cacao) is grown in the tropics in a band between 10 to 20 degrees north and south of the equator, sometimes called the “Cocoa Belt”. The tree is often grown in the shades of other trees. It can be as tall as 40 feet (12 meters), and has fruits (pods) which are more than on foot (30 cm)long. The fruits may be brownish-yellow to purple, and contain 20-40 seeds or cacao beans in a pink, sweet-sour pulp.

The cacao tree is cultivated in many countries, but today the leading suppliers are Ivory Coast, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, Cameroon, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Papua New Guinea. Other well-known manufacturingcountries are Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, some Caribbean islands like Grenada and Cuba, and some Pacific islands like Samoa. For more information see the International Cocoa Organization.

Cacao fruits (Trinitario) in Grenada (the Caribbean).

Harvested fruits (Photo: iStockphoto.com).

Four major types of cacao are cultivated: Criollo, Forastero, Trinitario and Nacional. The Criollo tree originates in Mexico and Central America and gives very high quality cacao beans and is mainly cultivated in South and Central America. The yield is fairly low. A number of varieties of Criollo are cultivated; in Venezuela well-known varieties are “Chuao”, “Porcelana”, “Puerto Cabello” and “Carupano”. Criollo beans are often mixed with other varieties of cacao when making chocolate.

The Forastero is very much cultivated in Africa, but also in Central and South America and constitutes approximately 80% of world production of cacao. This tree grows faster and gives higher yield than other types of cacao. A number of varieties are cultivated, in Venezuela excellent varieties are “Carenero Superior”, “Caracas Natural” and “Rio Caribe”. The Forastero “Amenolado” variety produces delicate, aromatic beans and is cultivated primarily in Ecuador.

The Trinitario is a crossbreed between the Forastero and Criollo, and is mainly cultivated in Central and South America and Asia. It has its aroma from Criollo and its resistance to disease and its productivity from Forastero.

The Nacional is mostly cultivated in South America west of the Andes. It is prone to disease and difficult to grow, but has an excellent aroma.

The flavor of the cacao beans is not only dependent on the variety, but also on the soil, temperature, sunshine and rainfall. It is now possible tbuy chocolates made with cacao beans from one single region and thus compare the aromas; these chocolates are often called specialty chocolates, in contrast to ordinary chocolate which are made with mostly cheap cacao beans from several regions and with more than one cacao variety.

The Aztecs used the cocoa bean to produce a beverage called xocoatl. The cocoa bean was introduced to Spain in the 16th century. The first chocolate bar was made in Switzerland in 1819, and in 1875 the milk chocolate was invented.

More about the history of chocolate and cacao varieties on this blog in archives: http://www.chocolatefudgecafe.com/?cat=1

Major portions of this article have been reprinted courtesy of Cacao Web. Please visit their website for more information about all things chocolate: http://www.cacaoweb.net/

     This site has a lot of great information about cacao; how it’s grown, etc., plus         many wonderful recipes like this one for Cocoa Balls.

See the full recipe at the cacaoweb site: http://www.cacaoweb.net/cocoa-balls.html

Cocoa Balls

In many cacao-producing countries the cacao beans are locally used for making “cocoa tea”. The fermented beans are ground to a fine paste, mixed with spices, and rolled into balls which are dried (in Jamaica and some other countries the ground cocoa is rolled into sticks or made into cubes  instead of balls). These balls (or cubes or sticks) are used for making “cocoa tea”, which in other countries is called a “hot cup of chocolate”.

The cocoa balls contain both the cocoa powder and the cocoa butter which is naturally present in the cacao beans (the  cacao beans contain approximately 50% cocoa butter) which means that the flavor of the final “tea” is very rich and similar to making hot  chocolate using a dark chocolate bar dissolved in hot milk/water mixture.

It has been said that the beginnings of chocolate production,which is now a food product that delights and teases the taste buds of adults and children alike the world over, originated in Mesoamerica. It is said to date back to 1900 BC and was used in Maya and Aztec ceremonies and events. In fact, sometimes during the Aztec civilization, cacao beans were paid as a sort of tax by those who were conquered. Once the beans travelled to Europe, however, the form of the food product changed. Chocolate had additional ingredients added – refined sugar and also milk. In the 1800s, the Cadbury chocolate producers found a way to emulsify the process of making chocolate to turn it into a solid form, which then became the product that we would recognise today – the chocolate bar. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, things changed further to refine the making of chocolate goodies including the squeezing out of cocoa butter to create hard chocolate. And of course, once the processes relating to chocolate production were mechanised, the levels of output increased considerably and chocolate was made available to a much wider consumer base. These days, West Africa produces most of the cocoa used in the globe, especially Cote d`Ivoire. Published statistics suggest that this continent is responsible for the production of nearly two thirds of cocoa.

These days, chocolate consumption is – as you no doubt are aware – very popular. However, although it is a much loved food stuff, not many of us realize the conditions within which it is produced. There have been arguments that those who produce cocoa (and coffee for that matter too) can be exploited and live in poverty. Some commentators have described these labourers as modern day slaves. Sadly, many children are included in this definition. Reports by some journalists in 2000 said that children, aged between 12 and 16 years old, were enslaved and sold to plantation owners. The work is hard and the hours are long – in addition, the cocoa bean farming process uses dangerous machinery and equipment such as machetes and pesticide. In response to awareness of this problem, consumers have an option to opt out of supporting these practices. The Fair Trade organization will certify chocolate (or coffee and other products) with its seal of approval when the products comply with their standards. For instance, these criteria relate to the wages paid to labourers, their working conditions and health and safety procedures and the use of environmentally sustainable methods. If you make the Fair Trade choice, this means that when you bite on a certified Fair Trade bar of chocolate or put Fair Trade coffee in bean to cup coffee machines you can enjoy the product even more.

1/2 lb. box Rich Rainforest Dark Chocolate Fudge with walnuts

Every year people look for something thoughtful and delicious to give to our sweeties for Valentine’s Day.  Have you thought of this organic, gourmet fudge with walnuts?  It is gluten-free, dairy-free and made with 70% dark chocolate from Ecuadorian rainforest farms, AND the packaging is home-compostable!

Earth’s Sweet Pleasures fudge is made with only 7 all-natural, organic ingredients.  It’s made the old-fashioned way but with 25% less fat and sugar.  There is no gluten and no dairy.  Please call  their toll-free number to order for shipment anywhere in the continental United States: 1-888-999-3191 or order on the website: www.earthssweetpleasures.com.  If you have any questions about shipping charges, please call their toll-free line.  They ship USPS priority mail and can usually find the best price for your shipping area by using USPS flat rate shipping boxes.

   Cacao beans and pod

Processed chocolate “coins”

Not only is chocolate a sweet treat for the stomach, new  research suggests that cocoa can help protect against intestinal diseases like  colon cancer.

In what they claim is the first study of its kind in  relation to intestinal pathologies, a research team out of Spain has concluded  that cocoa can act as a defense system for the body by interrupting the  cell-signaling pathways involved in cell proliferation, a process which results  in the formation of tumors.

Their study also found that a cocoa-rich diet can help  increase a natural process known as apoptosis or cell death, in which the body  eliminates old, unhealthy cells, to make way for new ones — a “chemoprevention  mechanism” that helps ward off cancer advancement.

For eight weeks, researchers fed rats a cocoa-rich diet — 12 percent — and then induced the effects of cancer.

For the rest of the article:  Cocoa Prevents Colon Cancer

Earth’s Sweet Pleasures has unveiled their new  product photos for the Gourmet Fudge Bar, in stores nationwide and online: www.earthssweetpleasures.com.

These product photos were taken by professional photographer, Dianne Griffin of San Francisco.  Leave a comment if you would like her contact info.

Pieces from Gourmet Fudge Bar

Earth’s Sweet Pleasures Rich Rainforest Dark Gourmet Fudge Bar

Yummy pieces with walnuts and vanilla sticks

Gourmet Fudge Bar – 10 to a box.  Available at many stores and online. Visit www.earthssweetpleasures.com for ordering information.