April 25, 2017 2 Comments
You all know our Fat-Ass Fudge logo and team member: this adorable happy Donkey with a big butt. He or she still needs a name though, so we’re putting a call out to the public to help us out...
November 23, 2016
What do you get when you mix chocolate with vodka? A Fat Ass Chocolate Martini – that’s what! Imagine rich and creamy Fat Ass Fudge melting into a delicate Martini glass. It’s the perfect addition to a distinct and decadent holiday celebration.
Want to include the kids? Make it a virgin and toast with the little ones in your life! They’ll love the “grown up” feel of our Martini glasses and they’ll feel special toasting along with the adults
How do you make a Fat Ass Chocolate Martini? We have the recipe below! You’ll need a martini shaker and your favorite Fat Ass Fudge and martini glass. Give your celebrations that extra kick! It’s guaranteed to take your holidays to the next level.
Fat Ass Martini Ingredients:
Instructions:
Combine melted fudge, half & half, crème de cacao, vodka and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake until chilled. Strain into chilled, dipped Fat Ass Martini glass(see below for suggestions). Garnish glass with a slice of Fat Ass Fudge on a skewer. Feel free to double, triple or quadruple the recipe as needed. Enjoy!
Virgin Fat Ass Martini Ingredients:
Instructions:
Combine All ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled, dipped Fat Ass Martini Glass (see below for more suggestions). Garnish glass with a slice of Fat Ass Fudge on a skewer. Feel free to double, triple or quadruple the recipe as needed. Enjoy!
Fat Ass Martini’s with a twist – we showcased these martinis at two events this past weekend and got these suggestions.
‘Tis the season for enjoying the holidays with those you love! Start a new tradition with Fat Ass Martinis to make your celebrations extra special! We’d love to hear what you think. Send us your martini with a twist suggestion and we’ll give it a try!
Chocology wishes you and yours a holiday season filled with joy, loved ones and chocolate. Bon appétit!
September 21, 2016
Do garlic and chocolate go together? Why, yes they do, thank you very much! In fact, chocolate helps to neutralize garlic breath, believe it or not!
Chocology spent this past weekend at the annual 2-day Garlic Festival held at the Garden of Eve Organic Farm in Riverhead, New York. We loved it so much so, we sponsored the garlic-eating contest! Participants lined up to see who could get the most stinky garlic breath on Long Island.
A big round of applause goes out to Elizabeth who actually judged the contest and chose the contestant with the stinkiest breath.
Linda, owner of Chocology, didn’t participate in the contest, however she did volunteer to give the winner a big hug!
When everyone heard that chocolate neutralizes garlic breath, they headed over for a sample (okay, maybe more than a sample) of chocolate at the Chocology tent. We had so much fun tasting and pairing chocolate with some of the amazing local vendor’s wares.
One of the favorite pairings was Arlotta Lemon Olive Oil drizzled over our white chocolate Fat Ass fudge to make "lemon drops". It was fun watching our taster’s eyes pop when this little delight melted in their mouths. They couldn’t believe how well these two items went together.
We also paired our 70% dark Fat Ass Fudge with the cabernet from Sannino Vineyard. What a delightful match that made! And we can’t forget the pairing with the Soda Shop Bar-B-Q sauce from the Killer Cook. It was all so much fun, pairing flavors that most of us would never dream would taste well together!
It was like walking down memory, watching the children play at the play area where Madeline played as a child. The playground, located directly behind the Chocology tent, ran along the entire backside of the farm. Games, pumpkin pickings, pony rides, face painting and hayrides were just a few of the fun things for kids to do at the Garlic Festival! Linda loved being greeted by the goats each morning when she arrived to set up. Music filled the tent all day long and food demonstrations were happening everywhere. The entire Garlic Festival was such a fun and festive place to be all weekend long.
We were so pleased to see several of our customers from the Setauket and Port Jefferson Farmers Market! And we were delighted by the two cutest Chocology fans (twins in a stroller) that insisted on stopping by for a taste of fudge!
Since this was, after all, a garlic festival, there were so many amazing and unusual garlicky foods. Everything was garden fresh! How about Garlic Soup or Garlic Ice Cream? It was lovely to meet Fred and Sue Forsburg and their daughter Jennifer of Honeyhill Organic Farm, who taught us to use the juice from the scapes (the end of the garlic) to make a dirty martini!
Roasted garlic is buttery, just like our fudge so we decided to create a dark chocolate cake with a roasted garlic hot fudge sauce. It may sound unusual but everyone thought it was delicious! You’ll never know until you try.
Eve, from you guessed it, the Garden of Eve, said this about the festival:
“We had a great Festival this year, with over 4,000 garlic lovers attending to get garlic for their gardens and stomachs, and a new Garlic Eating Contest record set of 27 cloves in 2 minutes!”
What a whirlwind of a weekend! We had so much fun meeting new people, eating chocolate and garlic and participating in a good ole fashioned farm fun. We can’t wait for next year’s festivities!
August 14, 2016
At Chocology, we love to learn as well as teach. That’s why when children’s author, Stephanie Sorkin, agreed to read all three of her books to our Chocology Kids at Yogo Delish in Port Jefferson this past Sunday, we were thrilled. The kids were delighted to meet the author and enjoyed hearing some of their favorite stories read to them.
Stephanie is the award-winning author of 3 children’s books, Frenemy Jane, the Sometimes Friend, Nutley and Chocolate Shoes with Licorice Laces. She recently won both the Indie award for Chocolate Shoes. She also won the Mom’s Choice award for Nutley and Chocolate Shoes.
Like Chocology, Stephanie shares our love for giving back to the community. A percentage of the profits from Chocolate Shoes goest to Soles 4 Soles and 100% of the proceeds from Nutley goes to F.A.R.E., an organization dedicated to food allergy research and education.
It is always so exciting to meet the author of our favorite books. After the readings, Stephanie shared with us a bit about how she developed her character for Chocolate Shoes. While visiting schools and doing readings for Nutley, Stephanie created a sort of "focus group" with the kids by placing her draft of Chocolate Shoes on an big piece of oak tag. She would carry this along with her to her readings of Nutley and ask the kids questions about who they thought the character should be. A girl? A boy? Five years old? Ten? She explained to the kids that when she tallied up the results, she would have her character. The kids loved the fact that they had some input on her next book. When all the results were in, Stephanie had her eight year old boy with red hair, the main character in Chocolate Shoes. As Stephanie told this story, all of our Chocology Kids eyes lit up with excitement.
Stephanie's love for children was apparent. After the reading, Stephanie autographed books for the kids. We gave out licorice laces to everyone, to go with this with "Chocolate Shoes", of course! We can't wait to read what she writes next.
For more about Stephanie and her books and to learn more about her charity work, please visit www.stephaniesorkin.com.
August 02, 2016
Owning a chocolate business is such a joy. This summer we have been busy with summer weddings, farmers markets, festivals and private events. Madeline is participating in a camp counselor program that she loves. With all of this activity, though, there hasn’t been time for a much needed spa treatment.
Since I couldn’t find a place in our schedule for a trip to the spa, I decided to create a little TLC treatment of my own. How better to do that than to incorporate chocolate into the mix?
While Madeline was in camp one day, I decided I would surprise her when she got home. I found a delightful chocolate milk bath recipe here that I hoped would relax and rejuvenate her mind, body and soul. The great thing about this recipe is that you can do it ahead. It would make a great gift for that busy person in your life or for yourself after a hard day at work. And to sweeten this recipe even more, cocoa power provides much needed antioxidants to help repair the skin! Not only is chocolate good to eat, it’s good for your skin as well.
INGREDIENTS
***As an optional treat you could add about ⅓ cup of unscented bubble bath to your warm running bath before adding in the other ingredients
INSTRUCTIONS
Before Madeline got home, I mixed up the ingredients and then lit a chocolate candle to get the room smelling extra nice. I placed the chocolate soap bar that I’d purchased from the Southampton Soap Company and a small plate of Fat Ass Fudge on the tubs edge. Voilà! A much needed spa treatment that fit into our busy schedules. This recipe makes enough for two baths, so we were set.
While Madeline was relaxing in the bath, I enjoyed a Chocolate Fat Ass Martini on the porch. When Madeline emerged she was glowing. Her escape to tranquility had restored her inner and outer well-being. What a fantastic way to take a breath and find that inner peace. This inexpensive spa treatment is one that we will incorporate into our busy schedules more often!
Have you ever taken a chocolate milk bath? If so, we’d love to hear about it. If not, try this recipe and give yourself a much-deserved break. What a sweet ending to a long and busy day.
Thanks goes out to helloglow.co for the wonderful recipe and other great DIY ideas.
July 27, 2016
Have you ever wondered what makes Fat Ass Fudge so creamy and delicious? Here at Chocology we take pride in handpicking the freshest and highest quality ingredients for our recipes. Our Fat Ass Fudge is chock full of nutritious and delicious ingredients that make our fudge a top shelf indulgence.
We start with Meyenberg goat milk products. Why use goat rather than cow products? It’s simple really. Here are a few reasons we use goat products rather than cow.
Most fudge products on the market use dairy in their recipes, making it difficult for those with lactose intolerance to enjoy them. Goat products are much easier to digest, making it a pleasure to eat, even with lactose intolerance. We’ve chosen Meyenberg goat products for the creamy, melt in your mouth texture. Plus we find that it is more nutritious for everyone and naturally gluten free. Who ever thought that fudge could taste so good while at the same time being so good for you?
Genuine Belgian chocolate comes next. We are proud to say that we import the highest quality chocolate for our Fat Ass Fudge recipes. From white to dark, rest assured the finest chocolate available is carefully incorporated into the various Fat Ass flavors showcased on our shelves. Now how’s that for quality?
We consider love and care one of our top most ingredients. Chocolate is our passion and careful attention to detail is what makes every bite of our Fat Ass Fudge an exquisite melt in your mouth experience every time. We finish with a last stir of love and hand package each and every slice with meticulous detail. To extend the love even further, Chocology donates to the #ChocologyCares Campaign of your choice, when you choose your charity at checkout. NO extra cost to you; BIG help to those in need. It’s our commitment to spreading the love.
Chocology is devoted to using simple, yet extravagant ingredients in our products. We know that you detect quality when you taste it and we are dedicated to bringing our best~ ALL of the time. From our kitchen to you, rest easy knowing that Chocology always extends distinct quality ingredients and loving care in everything we create. Guaranteed!
July 19, 2016
Want to do something fun, tasty and educational with the kids this summer? Well, grab these simple supplies and get outside for a science project that will have your kids coming back for s’more!
DIY SUN S’MORES
In this Chocology Kids Project you will learn about:
Energy, Solar Power, Sun, Heat/Melting Point, Cooking
INGREDIENTS:
Graham crackers, mini-marshmallows and a chocolate bar or (Fat Ass Fudge!).
TOOLS NEEDED:
Scissors, Ruler, Glue Stick, Plastic wrap, Tape, A Sheet of black paper, A wooden skewer or pencil, Utility knife, Aluminum foil, 2 thermometers
A Warm, sunny day—preferably 85 degrees or warmer
PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Please read ALL of the steps carefully before cutting. Adult assistance is recommended for the use of utility knife. Also, use caution when cooking with the solar oven. It can get quite hot (sometimes up to 200 degrees)
BUILDING THE OVEN
Step 1
Clean out the pizza box.
Step 2
Use your ruler to draw a rectangle on the top of the lid, about 1 inch from the sides.
Step 3
Ask an adult to help using the utility knife (and the ruler as a straight edge) to carefully cut along 3 sides of the square, leaving the side that runs along the hinge of the box uncut. Cut all the way through the cardboard on those three sides. Once your 3 sides are cut, fold the flap (near the hinge of the box) back slightly along the attached side. Prop the flap open with tape. Lastly, cover the inside of the flap with foil,(leaving the shiny side of the foil facing out) securing with glue or tape.
Step 4
Cover the opening made by the flap (in the lid) with a layer of plastic wrap. Attach the plastic wrap to the opening's edges using shipping tape or duck tape. Make sure there are no holes in the plastic wrap and that all of its edges are completely attached to the lid. No openings please!
STEP 5
Line the inside of the box with aluminum foil (shiny side out) so that when you shut the box the entire interior is coated with foil. It is easiest to do this by covering the bottom of the box with foil first and then covering the inside part of the lid (don’t cover the plastic wrap!) with foil. Glue the foil in place.
STEP 6
Glue or tape a sheet of black paper to the bottom-center of the pizza box, on top of the foil. This will act as your solar oven's heat sink. How do you think it will help cook your food?
Step 7
Lastly, use a wooden skewer or pencil (and some tape) to prop the solar oven's lid up, at about a 90-degree angle from the rest of the box.
Think about this:
Let’s Make S’mores!
Before you begin, go check your weather app to see what the temperature is outside. Is it over 85 degrees? Then let’s get cooking!
STEP 1
Place your chocolate and mini marshmallows between two graham crackers.
STEP 2
Place your S’mores inside of your solar oven
STEP 3
Take your oven outside. Be sure to place your oven in a place in a sunny place, taking care to position it to where the sunshine will refect from the foil on the flap into your box.
STEP 4
Check your box every 15 minutes to see if the chocolate and marshmallows have melted. BE CAREFUL! It might just be a pizza box, but you’ve made this into an oven! IT’S HOT!
STEP 5
Bon Appétit! Enjoy your Sun S’mores!
Think about this:
What Is Going On?
Solar Ovens convert sunlight to energy. That energy is retained for cooking food. Although there are all kinds of solar cookers, they all have similarities. For instance, many solar ovens have at least one dark surface to attract sunlight. If you’ve ever worn a black shirt on a hot summer day, you’ve probably noticed that dark colors get very hot in the sunlight. This is because dark colors hold more solar radiation than light colors. The heat absorbed by your dark paper is transferred to the food, which speeds up the process. Most solar cookers also have reflectors, which direct sunlight toward the dark cooking surface and transparent tops that let in sunlight, trapping the heat inside the cooker. Try cooking hot dogs inside of your solar oven and see what happens!
What Else?
Did you have fun with this activity? We hope so. We encourage you to try it again with different variables. Here’s some to try:
Be sure to check our blog for more fun chocolate activities to do with the kids! Learning should be fun!
May 03, 2016
Madeline and I love working together in the Chocology Test Kitchen. A little of this and a little of that (that’s how my mom taught me) and voila! New flavors emerge.
Recently, we decided to add mint to our famous, award winning Fat Ass Fudge. After tinkering with it for a bit, we decided to take it to the people. We packaged and loaded it up and handed out lots of samples at the Port Jefferson Winter Farmers Market.
After 3-weeks of customer input... Whoa, what a success! The response was overwhelming. And since we are all about the customer, we will be adding Fat Ass Fudge Chocolate Mint flavor to our product line. (a hint of chocolate at the end) We just love it when our tinkering in the kitchen delights and pleases our customers. Our mission is to continue working with our customers to bring new flavors that please the palate and delight young and old alike.
In addition, we have developed another fudge flavor that will compliment the summer months that are soon to be upon us. Our cHarissa (23 Moroccan spices) fudge is spicy and chocolaty, the cHarissa blends into our chocolate and is all wrapped into one awesome fudge delight. Chocolate with a kick at the end, just enough kick to keep you going back for more.
cHarissa Spice, is a wildly popular spicy condiment developed by a local Long Islander, in honor of his late wife. We started out last summer by pairing this spice with our patrons at the Farmer’s Market. When we took it to the test kitchen and added it to the fudge, we came up with a most pleasing spicy taste that everyone loved.
We are super excited to unveil these two new flavors on our website. We’d love to hear your feedback. Which do you like best? Chocolate minty fudge or cHarissa spiced fudge? We look forward to having you try these new flavors and are excited to continue our work in the test kitchen to develop new and unusual flavor combinations that suit a variety of tastes and preferences.
Here’s to tinkering, chocolate and inventing new flavors!
~The Chocology Team
April 19, 2016
We often write about all of the interesting people that we get to meet as we go about our Chocology business and little Alexa was no exception.
We met Beth and her daughter Alexa at the Port Jefferson Winter Market last month. What a joy it was to connect with them. When Alexa told us of a gum challenge she had done recently, we decided to enlist her help with a Fat Ass Fudge challenge as well.
Seven-year-old Alexa took home five different flavors of our Fat Ass fudge. She decided that she would recruit a couple of friends and have a fudge tasting party. Everyone was blindfolded and then tasted each of the five flavors – Mint, peanut butter, Key Lime Pie, Caramel and White Chocolate.
The first challenge was to determine which flavor was the best. Alexa found that the mint fudge was her favorite. Her friend Amy’s favorite was Key Lime Pie and her sister’s was the peanut butter.
Next, they wanted to determine which flavor was the sweetest. Alexa and her sister felt that the caramel was the sweetest. Her friend Amy was sure that the white chocolate was the sweetest of all of the flavors that they tried.
We appreciate Alexa taking the time to evaluate our Fat Ass Fudge and provide us with her results. See below to find her conclusions, written in her own words.
Do you have kids that would like to take the FAF Challenge? Email us or leave a comment and we’ll get back with you on how your kids can take part in this fun (and tasty!) activity.
And of course, check our website often. We are always experimenting with new Fat Ass Fudge flavors!
Alexa’s FAF Challenge Findings
Thank you for giving us this project.
You gave us 5 different kinds of fudge and we did a great project with it.
What we did was we put a blindfold on without knowing which type of fudge we were eating.
The 5 fudge flavors were mint, peanut butter chocolate, key lime pie and white chocolate.
Here are our resutls: My favorite was the mint, my friend Amy’s favorite was key lime pie and my sisters favorite was the peanut butter.
The sweetest for me was the caramel. My sisters was caramel and my friend Amy was white chocolate.
Thank you,
Alexa
March 16, 2016
Do you know the significance of March 19th? It’s National Chocolate-Caramel Day and you can bet we’ll be celebrating at Chocology.
Who doesn’t love the ooey, gooey merging of chocolate and caramel? It’s a tried and true combination and certainly deserves recognition in a big way. No wonder it has it’s own national holiday!
At Chocology, we recognize that chocolate and caramel deserve a special place in our line of gourmet chocolate treats. Have you tried our sweet and rich caramel fudge? Our Milk Chocolate Caramel goat's milk fudge is one of our most popular flavors. Goat's milk and goat's butter fudge is extra creamy and melts like a chocolate dream in your mouth. And don’t forget our artisan milk chocolate ganache truffles. No matter how you slice it, there’s no denying that chocolate and caramel make great companions.
We want to celebrate with you! For every order placed this week, we’ll send along a complimentary treat sized sampler of our caramel fudge. What better way to celebrate than to share with you, our valued customers?
We hope you are enjoying the updated website and blog. To stay up to date on all things chocolate don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Be sure to subscribe to our blog to get Chocology Today delivered right to your inbox.
What is your favorite chocolate holiday? We’d love to know your preference! Let’s stay in touch!
~ The Chocology Team
January 12, 2016
Happy New Year! We hope you all enjoyed a fabulous holiday season and got everything your heart desires. Perhaps you received some Fat Ass Fudge in your stocking this year? If so, we have some great information for you!
Over the holidays a question came in through the website, “How do I store the Fat Ass Fudge I got for Christmas?” We love this question and were surprised to realize that we’ve never written about storing Chocology fudge.
Fat Ass Fudge is made with the highest quality, freshest ingredients available. Fresh goats milk and butter along with Belgian chocolate make up this tasty delight. It’s rich texture and taste lends itself to savoring this sweet treat and making it last. So storage is an extremely important issue if you desire to preserve the freshness of your fudge and enjoy it later.
Moisture and heat are never good for chocolate. So keeping your fudge dry and cool when storing is of utmost importance.
The best way to store your fudge is to first package your it securely. You can do this by wrapping it in wax paper. To add an extra level of security, wrap foil around the wax paper. Then, place the bundle in a Ziplock bag being careful to push as much air out of the bag as possible and zip up.
Next, how long would you like to store your fudge? Fudge can be stored on the counter at room temperature for several weeks if wrapped properly. Placing it in the freezer will preserve it for several months. Both of these storage techniques will provide tasty fresh- made fudge whenever you are ready to enjoy it again.
Lastly, when storing in the refrigerator or freezer, be sure to set it on the counter and let come to room temperature before eating. Cold chocolate doesn’t melt in your mouth like room temperature chocolate does. And remember to practice the Art of Tasting Fudge when enjoying this confection. Who knows, you might have leftovers to preserve again!
Do you have any other questions about chocolate? If so, we’d be happy to write about them. Please contact us through the website, in the comments section or on Facebook. We’ll get back to you with answers promptly!
January 01, 2016
It’s that time of year again! As the old year passes and a new one emerges, many of us spend some time reflecting on the old and planning for the new. We look to the past to help us plan our New Year’s resolutions and determine the goals we wish to achieve.
At Chocology, this time of year gives us a chance to contemplate all that has happened in the past year. We see what worked well and what maybe didn’t go as planned, and start anew.
With diligence, we walk towards 2016 with hope and gratitude for those we have met and for those we have yet to meet. We look to evaluate where we can serve through education and giving back to the community. We determine how we might up the bar when it comes to helping the community and improving our products.
One resolution never changes at Chocology though – to keep our focus on gratitude and service every single year. We are grateful for all that we’ve accomplished in 2015 and are excited for what is to come in 2016. We value our customers and are so delighted to have you on this chocolate journey with us.
Although we have several New Year’s resolutions, rest assured we will remain diligent in our efforts to bring quality chocolate each and every day and show up with a grateful heart always. The heart of Chocology has been and always will be focused on giving, plain and simple. This mission not only helps us grow our business but we believe it also builds a better world, one chocolate at a time.
So, we bless your past and celebrate YOUR future and look forward to the year to come. Thank you for being a part of the Chocology family in 2015. We look forward to a rewarding, fun, prosperous and chocolaty 2016 and wish you all the blessings you desire.
Happy New Year!
~ THE CHOCOLOGY TEAM