How Chocolate Is Made

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20th Century Chocolate Pots

August 23, 2010 in How Chocolate Is Made by annie | No comments

Update: Apologies for anyone looking for marshmallows; they have been moved here

Most of the chocolate pots from the 20th century were manufactured in the years between 1900 and 1949. During this short period, there are many changes in design in chocolate pots. Floral designs were still popular, but more companies started using specific species of flowers on their chocolate pots. Scenic designs also became popular depicting people, animals and geisha. The color palate also became more diverse offering very bright and vivid colors as well as subdued colors.

Each country began to show their specific style in chocolate pots. The Germans were bigger at the top and were more rounded towards the top. The handles were more elaborate and were often gilded in gold. Silver was used less and less as it became more expensive to use and own. Porcelain was less expensive, so that was the material of choice. The Germans still preferred the old-fashioned floral motif with roses being the prominent flower in their designs.

The French continued making chocolate pots that were big and round at the bottom. They were mostly white, the color palate was subdued and the design consisted of small clusters of flowers scattered throughout the design or it would depict a scene on one or two side of the chocolate pot. Gold was used, but mostly as an accent.

England manufactured a huge variety of chocolate pots during this time period. They made chocolate pots out of copper, pewter, silver and porcelain. English chocolate pots were shorter than those found in other countries, but they still manufacturer some tall designs. The metal pots were all very simple and plain. The porcelain chocolate pots found in England depicted a vast number of subjects including flowers, animals and landscapes.

The Japanese pots, once again, were not used all that much in Japan. Instead, they were exported to North America and Europe. They were wide at the top and the bottom and skinny in the middle – more of an hourglass shape. The Japanese used the chocolate pots almost like a canvas and depicted flowers, animals (both real and mythological), landscapes and people (mostly geisha).

There are few chocolate pots remaining from this time period. Mostly because there were not many manufacturer in this era. It is thought that less chocolate pots were produced since it was more fashionable to drink tea and coffee. Drinking chocolate was considered passé. Since there has been a growing interest in chocolate, drinking chocolate (both hot and cold) have seen a resurgence. Perhaps the idea of the chocolate pot will again became all the rage.

Tags: chocolate pots

All About Cocoa Powder

August 2, 2010 in How Chocolate Is Made by annie | No comments

cocoa powder
In 1828, the way the world had experienced chocolate was about to change. A Dutch chemist named C.J. Van Houten, took out a patent for a process he invented to manufacture chocolate with a reduced fat content. This chocolate was made in block or cake form and could be easily reduced to a fine powder. Van Houten accomplished this by using a hydraulic press. This powdered chocolate could now be made on a large scale, meaning that it would become more affordable for the mass population. Another benefit is a lower fat content making the cocoa easy to digest and less likely to go rancid than chocolate with the usual higher fat percentage.

Today, hydraulic presses are still used in the manufacture of cocoa powder. Roasted cacao beans are cooled, then the shells are cracked by large rollers. Puffs of air are used to blow the broken bits of shells away leaving the edible part of the bean called cocoa nibs. The nibs are then crushed and ground into a fine paste. This process breaks open their cellular structure and causes the release of the cocoa butter in the nibs. Friction during this process produces enough heat to melt the cocoa butter, and the combination of crushed, ground nibs and cocoa butter produces chocolate liquor, also known as unsweetened chocolate. This chocolate liquor (which contains no alcohol) is compacted by powerful hydraulic presses so that much of the cocoa butter is pushed out of it. The resulting blocks or cakes of cocoa are crushed to make the cocoa powder.

There’s more than one kind of cocoa powder available to today’s consumers. There are variations in fat content, depending upon how much cocoa butter is pressed out of the chocolate liquor. Standard cocoa powder is listed as “10/12”, which means it has between a 10 and 12 percent fat content. But there’s also “22/24”, cocoa powder with a fat content of between 22 and 24 percent.

Originally, Van Houten processed his cocoa with alkaline salts. This alkaline cocoa powder came to be called “Dutch processed” cocoa. Dutch processed cocoa has been treated with an alkali which helps neutralize cocoa’s natural bitterness. It’s a richer, darker and slightly milder powder that is perfect for hot cocoa and other chocolate beverages. Dutch processed cocoa powder has a darker color, a more alkaline pH, and is easier to blend into liquids than non-Dutch processed cocoa (also known as “natural” or “non-alkalized”cocoa). Natural cocoa has a strong, bittersweet flavor that is great for baking. Natural cocoa is what to use when cocoa is called for in Mexican recipes. Use three tablespoons of cocoa plus one tablespoon fat (shortening, butter, etc.) to replace a one ounce square of unsweetened chocolate. Dutch processed cocoa powder also has a milder chocolate flavor. Substituting one type of cocoa powder for the other in recipes can be difficult. The acidity levels vary enough to cause them to react differently to some chemical leavenings, such as baking soda. There are a few other varieties of cocoa powder as well, including a black cocoa powder (also known as “Black Onyx” cocoa). Black onyx cocoa powder has been alkalized to the extreme, producing a beautiful dark, purplish black cocoa that when used in baking makes for an exquisite black-as-coal colored end product. Because black onyx cocoa has less fat, it does tend to create a drier texture. When using black cocoa powder, it’s best to use a 50/50 mixture of black cocoa and Dutch cocoa to add more fat. If you do want to use 100% black onyx, then be sure to increase the fat in the recipe. This will also alleviate the dryness issue. It may take you a few tries to get it right, but the outcome will be phenomenal once you do.

There’s also a controversy about Dutch processed cocoa these days. Perhaps a decade ago, Dutch processed saw a rise in popularity within the United States. It was all the rage among many famous chefs, and a lot of recipes called for its use and it became much easier to find. More recently, however, Dutch process cocoa has fallen out of favor. It’s been claimed that the Dutch processed is used to cover up a cocoa powder made from beans of inferior quality. I’m not sure if this is true, but currently there is no way to tell otherwise unless the company specifies the beans being used. One thing I can advise against is using the Hershey’s Special Dark Dutch Processed Cocoa. They reformulated the brand and started adding salt to the cocoa. So there’s a cocoa powder for all of your cooking, baking and confectionery needs. Experiment, learn and taste the difference each variety of cocoa can bring to your table.

Annmarie Kostyk, Chocolate Goddess

Tags: cocoa

Dutch and English Chocolate Innovations

July 13, 2010 in Chocolate, How Chocolate Is Made by annie | No comments

Drinking Chocolate - Plain, Organic

Prior to the inventions the Dutch and English provided to the chocolate world, there was not much chocolate eaten. Chocolate was consumed in the form of hot chocolate made from a chocolate paste, sugar, vanilla and water. It was rather thick and grainy. The concept of using milk instead of water developed in the late 17th century in London chocolate houses which are similar to our coffeehouses of today. The reason? Solid chocolate was not particularly palatable in its current form. The chocolate was not only coarse, but also rather crumbly.

In 1828, Conrad van Houten saved the day for us chocolate lovers. Van Houten was a Dutchman whose family ran a chocolate business in Amsterdam. They had been experimenting with different techniques to make the hot chocolate less oily and lighter in texture and flavor. The reason for the oiliness? The cocoa bean is half fat which we know as cocoa butter. Van Houten developed a screw press that removed the cocoa butter from the ground beans. He then sold the de-fatted cocoa powder to make hot chocolate. Everyone became extremely happy

No one realized that this invention of cocoa powder would lead to more than a better tasting chocolate beverage. It became an important by product of the cocoa bean that has been used ever since. In fact, we owe a debt of gratitude to van Houten because, if it was not for his brilliance, we would not have chocolate today as we know it. Cocoa butter could now be added to the ground cocoa beans with a bit of sugar to make a smoother paste than what they previously had to make drinking chocolate.

The next invention to come from this? The first solid chocolate called “eating chocolate” (as opposed to “drinking chocolate”) was invented by Fry and Sons in 1847. Fry and Sons was an English company which remained in existence until it merged with Cadbury in 1919. Eating chocolate was something that everyone had to have and it spread through Europe and the United States within months. The need for chocolate in all forms has been growing every since.

So I say thank you to the Dutch and English!

Annmarie Kostyk

Tags: Chocolate

Restoration Goes Rococo School of Chocolate

July 13, 2010 in How Chocolate Is Made, Rococo School by Tom | No comments

This post was meant to come to you a few weeks ago after I spent a Saturday morning at Rococo Chocolates’ School of Chocolate in Motcomb Street.

A small but perfectly formed group of 5 ladies gathered together to learn the art of tempering Chocolate with Rococo’s ‘Prof du Choc’, Laurent Couchaux.

Who knew that melting chocolate was such a science? Without wishing to bore you – because this all fascinates me – chocolate is made up of 6 individual crystals, each with a different melting point, which means that the process of melting chocolate correctly (tempering) has to be done in stages. When this process is followed correctly, chocolate can be melted and re-set many times without losing its texture.

The process of tempering (which is super precise and has to be done with a thermometer and everything – making me feel like a proper scientist!): the chocolate is heated to a high temperature, then stirred until the temperature reduces. The whole bowl of melted chocolate is then poured out onto a marble slab and almost paddled to reduce the temperature still further.

The chocolate then goes back into the bowl and a small quantity of hot melted chocolate is added to the mix, which is then stirred to reach the magical working temperature. It is a lengthy process but you have to work fast to avoid missing the important temperatures!

Then the fun bit… we were given a piping bag, the famous Rococo fish moulds, and a sheet of acetate.

I made 8 yummy fish, some dark chocolate and rose wafers (like really thin chocolate buttons), some chocolate buttons (because I am an overgrown 6 year old at heart), some random shapes, and I even managed to write my name in chocolate! Oh and I had a bash at the Restoration crown too!

You can find the Rococo School of Chocolate course guide here: http://rococochocolates.com/chocolate-school My 3 hour class cost £100 and included all materials, a chocolate tasting, and all my lovely chocolates to take home! I cannot recommend this enough.

via Restoration Cake: Principles of Pleasure: Restoration Goes Rococo.

Flowers and Fruit and Cocoa Pods of Theobroma Cacao

June 28, 2010 in Chocolate, How Chocolate Is Made by annie | No comments

Theobroma Cacao Grandiflorum Flower

Everyone knows the goodness of chocolate whether it’s dark, milk or even white. Some people know all about the tree where the cocoa bean comes from – Theobroma cacao, also know as the Cacao Tree, the Cocoa Tree or the Chocolate Tree. I don’t think many people know how magnificent this tree really is in all its splendor. The flowers vary in size and color depending on the variety and region of the tree, just like the cocoa pods. The flowers are absolutely exquisite. They resemble orchids.

Out of all of the flowers on the tree, only 3 out of 1000 flowers actually get pollinated to become the cocoa pod fruit. It takes about 5-8 months for the flower to blossom into the fruit and become a pod. Both the fruit and the flowers are on the tree all year long which is an oddity in the world of fruit producing trees. When you see the Theobroma cacao, you will be surprised that the flowers grow on the main stem, or trunk, of the tree. That’s the only place you’ll find them. Oftentimes they will be waves of flowers covering the entire trunk. It is a sight that will quite literally take your breath away!

Another oddity? Out of all of the flowers on Theobroma cacao, the white flowers never smell. Alan Young, who is a biologist, says that Theobroma cacao have over 400 distinct smells. For comparison purposes, the rose has 14 and an onion has 7. How complex and intricate is that? There are more flowers on the tree at the beginning of the season rather than at the end of the season. Pollination occurs in the morning hours and if it doesn’t happen within 24 hours, the flowers dies. That’s why you never see these gorgeous blossoms at the florist.

Ripe Cocoa Pods

Once pollinated, the flowers slowly grow into magnificent pods. They also stay right there were the flower was, right on the trunk. While a pod is growing, it will be green in color. When it is a large ripe pod, however, it will become jewel tones of citrine (yellow), amber (orange), ruby (red) or amethyst (purple), and some stay various shades of green turquoise, emerald and patina copper (green). The pods vary in size, shape and texture depending upon the variety of Theobroma cacao. The size is usually about 10-40 cm when fully mature. Once a pod is ripe, it may be left on the tree for up to three weeks without spoiling. If the pod is too ripe, it won’t open. A sign from nature that its life is over. The sticky pulp inside the cocoa pod is edible. It’s doesn’t taste like cocoa or chocolate though. Some say it tastes like mango. It has the density and texture of an apple. The bean is where the cocoa comes from.

So even though we really only know and appreciate Theobroma cacao for the chocolate and cocoa it provides for us, it’s nice to take the time to appreciate the full tree that really stands out from nature itself in all ways. It provides fruit all year feeding both man and animal, it flowers and bears fruit all year, it’s extremely beautiful with its colorful pods and flowers, and it is different in that the flowers and pods will only grow on the trunk. This is one amazing tree. No wonder so many ancients worshipped the tree and its products and no wonder we are finding that the products from Theobroma cacao are super foods!

Annmarie Kostyk, Chocolate Goddess

Cocoa Pods on the Trunk

Mast Brothers show how to downscale

June 8, 2010 in Grococo, How Chocolate Is Made by Tom | 1 comment

Here is one of the small bean to bar makers following in the footsteps of the Grenada Chocolate Company using small machines to create small batches of chocolate using hand selected and blended beans. We’re hoping to show the latest developments from our plantation in Grenada as soon as we have digested the video that landed here yesterday.