How to Make Chocolate Recipes Better

When you're wanting to learn how to make chocolate recipes better there are a few things you need to remember.

1. Follow the recipe before you make changes to it.
2. Use good quality, fresh ingredients only.
3. Make sure your measurements are right e.g. tsp is teaspoons, tbsp is tablespoons, gram to cup conversions vary depending upon the ingredient/s.

The main item I would like to focus on here to help us all make better chocolate recipes is the Star ingredient - Chocolate.

Chocolate would have to be one of the best ingredients ever! I thank God for the Theobroma Cacao tree from which chocolate is made. The scientific name Theobroma actually means "food of the gods".

If we stop long enough and just think about chocolate all by itself we would quickly realize what a magnificent food it really is. Here is a food type that will cheer up anyone who is feeling sad. It says "I love you" better than any other food type. When we think of Valentine's Day chocolate, flowers and jewelry usually come to mind.

It also makes an excellent gift for birthdays, Easter, Christmas, engagements, weddings, anniversaries, is a great way to say sorry, makes a good excuse to get together, is delicious with practically any beverage, it markets and sells well generally and for charity drives, has featured in so many movies e.g. Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Like Water for Chocolate, Chocolat, In Search of the Heart of Chocolate and so many more.

Then we start to think of chocolate as an ingredient. Possibly the best place to begin is by thinking about chocolate bars. Brand names like Cadbury, Hershey's, Nestle have made very successful businesses by adding fruits, nuts and flavors to it. Change the shape and sell it again e.g chocolate chips, blocks of chocolate, little chocolate bars, milk or dairy, dark and white chocolate etc.

Put chocolate in biscuits, cakes, drinks - both non-alcoholic and alcoholic, mousse, brownies, pies, icing, desserts and the list goes on.

Chocolate really is superb!

If are wanting to know how to make a chocolate chip cookie recipe you would find a cookbook, website or blog that is dedicated to chocolate. You want to make sure that the author of the recipe/s really knows the ingredients they promote.

Also, remember the guidelines mentioned above - follow the recipe, fresh ingredients and correct measures.

Recently I decided to make chocolate brownies. A friend suggested I double the ingredients, which I did. I poured all of the brownie mix into a deep baking dish and baked it for the suggested time. Because of this the brownie recipe was a flop however, the chocolate lava cake was a huge success - thankfully. My mistake here was I should have stuck to the recipe and poured the mix into two shallow baking dishes just like it said.

Once you are confident, then experiment to your heart's desires. Have a go at using additional ingredients. For example where the chocolate chip cookie recipe calls for rolled oats, try a natural muesli. The addition of fruit, nuts and bran to these cookies is outstanding.

Finally, when most people think of chocolate they think of fun times. Chocolate and cooking are both fun, so relax and enjoy working with different recipes. This alone can improve the quality of your hard work and time in the kitchen.

Hello. My name is Geoff

I am the author, owner and photographer of http://www.chocolate-recipes-galore.com/

I have enjoyed eating chocolate as a child and have worked with chocolate in many different recipes for many years.

My passion for chocolate is seen in the recipes located at the above website. All of the recipes listed on this site are actually made and photographed by me.

I hope you are or become as passionate about chocolate as I am and that you too would share these chocolate tips and recipes with your friends and family.

Original article

Chestnut Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake with chestnut filling

I made this cake because one of my sons very often eats chestnut cream. So I came up with the idea of a chestnut filling, and I don't regret it, because this chestnut filling cake came out delicious. The chestnut cream in a jar is very thick, that is harder, and it must be mixed with whipped cream so that it is easier to spread on the cake layer. I could have made a separate chocolate cream or ness coffee cream to soften the chestnut cream, but I thought it's better to put whipped cream so as not to mix the fillings too much, and it came out very good. It takes some time to prepare this cake, but the result will be a truly special one.

Ingredients:

• 1 chocolate cake layer
• 2 chestnut cream jars
• 2 jars of cherries in cherry juice
• 1 box of liquid cream from the brand "Hulala" (500 ml)
• 2 packages of chocolate icing
• 300 gr. of nutmeats, cut into small pieces with a knife
• Raw sugar for the whipped cream, 3 or 4 spoons
• 50 ml amaretto liqueur for the syrup

Preparation:

First, we prepare the chestnut cream using the 2 jars, mixing it then with some "Hulala" whipped cream spoons. I've used 6 whipped cream spoons for 600 gr. of chestnut cream. We thoroughly mix the cream with a wooden spoon, so that the cream homogenizes well and then we put the cream into the refrigerator. We also prepare the "Hulala" whipped cream, to which we add 4 spoons of raw sugar. After that we put it into the refrigerator.

We prepare the syrup for moistening the cake layers. I've prepared it out of 250 ml of water, to which I have added 4 or 5 spoons of raw sugar, depending on your taste. We put the kettle on the fire, until the sugar dissolves entirely, and then we add 50 ml of amaretto liqueur. We pass on to moisturizing the cake layers, we add plenty of cream and on top of the cream we also add a generous layer of nutmeats, crushed or cut into small pieces with a knife. I've cut the nutmeats with a knife, because we like it to be a little bigger, not finely crushed. After we have moistened the cake and added the cream and nutmeats, on top we put the icing, the whipped cream and the cherries taken from the jar. The cake is served after keeping it into the refrigerator for a while, and then it is cut into squares. Enjoy!!!

Original article

Fannie May Chocolates - The History of an American Original

Fannie May Chocolates has had a long and somewhat tumultuous history, more indicative of the times than of their wonderfully rich brand of chocolates. Nearly a hundred years ago, H. Teller Archibald opened his now famous chocolate shop in Chicago, Illinois, intent on selling quality chocolates in the neighborhood. Over the next two-and-half decades, Archibald's dream grew to nearly 50 such stores, scattered conveniently around America. Fannie May was renowned for her gourmet chocolates and strong sense of commitment to excellence, a sense which would shortly lead to a temporary downfall.

With the arrival of World War II, many companies - not just chocolate companies - experienced an unprecedented shortage in the supplies they used to make their own specialty brands of chocolates, and so shifted their recipes temporarily to ingredients that were available. Archibald's company refused to do this, and paid the price by having to close their many retail stores much earlier in the day, when their original ingredients ran out. They simply refused to compromise quality, even to turn a profit. Sadly, the world doesn't often reward idealism, and the Fannie May floundered for a time.

Predictably, for such a candy company with a loyal base of customers, Fannie May returned to the scene in full force after the end of the War. A spirited campaign of chocolate-making vaulted off the return of their ingredients, and Fannie May introduced new chocolates that quickly became American favorites. The windfall from enabled them to buy a competitor-company (Fanny Farmer, no relation) in the early 1990s, and expand their operation.

Although Fannie May performed admirably for the half-century after World war II, their parent company - Archibald Candy Corporation - didn't do so well overall, and called it quits. This had the inevitable effect of bankrupting Fannie May, as well; although they would not be long without a capable suitor. Alpine Confections Corporation realized the utility of the history, profitability and customer base of Fannie May and bought the company shortly afterward, moving their base of operations to Ohio in the process, in the year 2004. This would not, however, be her final home.

Fannie May was always going to be worth something; particularly with the raves regarding her special Mint Meltaways, and two years after the move to Ohio, she was bought by the national conglomerate 1-800-Flowers.com, Inc for nearly $100 million, keeping the manufacture of her confectionary brands in Ohio, while allowing the headquarters to remain in her birthplace, Chicago Illinois. She has expanded her repertoire beyond chocolates and candy, and now delights her ever-growing fan base with gift baskets, gourmet foods other than chocolate (and, of course, as well as chocolate), and uniquely delicious trademark chocolate combinations.

Fannie May chocolates is one of the most popular chocolates in America, with its long line of delectable milk chocolates and sweet combinations. Perfect for sharing with a friends or loved ones during the holidays, Chris fell in love with their mint-melt-aways when her husband introduced them to her. Whether as decorations for a Christmas tree or presents for Valentines Day, you simply can't go wrong with Fannie May.

Original article