fudge

On Sunday, November 2,  Chocology had the honor of participating in the Long Island Chocolate Festival and what a day it was! People young and old came out to taste, look at and experience chocolate at it’s finest. We got to meet lots of people and give samples of our great chocolate, including our new product, Fat Ass Fudge. The event coincided with the announcement of our newly acquired company, Fat Ass Fudge. We had the opportunity to hand out samples of our new fudge and it wasn’t long until there was a sea of people standing in line to buy it.  We were pleased to hear, “This is the best fudge I’ve ever had,” many times throughout the event. Fat Ass Fudge, made with organic goat’s milk and butter, was a hit.  We pretty much sold out by the end of the festival. We also sold our new test product, Espresso Ganache Truffles. The truffles were meant to be samples, in an effort to discover if they would be popular enough to sell. When participants began to ask if they could buy a box to take home though, we shifted gears and put it up for sale at the event. Several people left with a box of the Espresso Ganache Truffles before we even officially have it on the market! Our testing efforts seem to be a success. We sold out. Madeline truly got a chance to shine with her doggy treats. She worked hard before the festival to choose treats that were all organic and safe for puppies. She tested them out on her dog Logan well beforehand and also designed the Chocology Pets logo, made banners and signs and created the doggy treat packaging. She was a world-class entrepreneur on Sunday, presenting the puppy products to passersby. Madeline’s doggy treats sold out in the first two hours of business. Madeline also had 197 voters register for her “Delicious Data” research project entitled What’s Your Favorite Chocolate? -to find out the results you will have to go to her ChocologyKids.wordpress.com blog next week.  Now that’s success! All in all it was a wonderful day. We met lots of great people and were proud to offer products that everyone enjoyed. If you weren’t able to get out to the Chocolate Festival, you can still try our Fat Ass Fudge. We’re having a “Chocology Sugar Rush” from now until Monday, November 24. Get ½ pound of fudge for $15 or a full pound for $30. Don’t miss this opportunity to serve this delicious organic fudge at your Thanksgiving table! You can order the fudge by emailing us through the contact page at our website. We want to thank the following people for sharing Chocology! You are all winners of some fabulous prizes:

The winner of the 24-piece “You Can Have it All” Chocology Chocolates, is Ted Cart. Thank you Ted for helping us spread the word about Chocology.

Winners of our Fudge giveaway are Candy Johnson, Nitsa Swain,Tricia Folliero, DanTeresa Loos, Wesi Tresi and Beda Nelson. Thank you all for participating in our contest and sharing your love of Chocology with your friends and family.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our give aways! Be sure to connect with us on Facebook and Twitter so that you will stay updated on all of the contests and specials we are having during the holidays. Have a terrific, chocolate filled week! ~ Linda Johnson

Wow, Madeline and I have been learning a lot about chocolate lately! In addition to all we are discovering in our chocolatier class, we are getting ready to make a big announcement on Sunday about our upcoming fudge line. We're also gearing up to participate in the upcoming Long Island Chocolate Festival! There’s a lot to learn and since we are a company based on the study of chocolate, this is a good thing! We’re so excited about the knowledge we’ve acquired and naturally we love passing all of this new information on to you. So, this week we decided to create a chocolate glossary, for all you chocolate lovers out there! Did you ever wonder what the difference was between a cocoa nib and a cocoa bean? Or maybe you thought that a cacao bean and a cocoa bean were the same thing. Have you ever been at the grocery store trying to decide between semi-sweet, bittersweet or milk chocolate chips but didn’t really understand the difference? What about tempering? What exactly is that and how is it done? Well, read on. You’re about to find answers to many of the questions you’ve always had about chocolate.

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Chocology Chocolate Glossary

1. Bittersweet Chocolate –Contains at least 35% chocolate liquor for bittersweet. Other ingredients include extra cocoa butter (in some cases), sugar, lecithin and spices.
2. Cacao Bean – The seeds of the fruit, called Pod or Cabosse, produced by the Theobroma cacao tree, pronounced kah KOW.
3. Chocolate Liquor – The ground cacao nibs, which contain their inherent cocoa solids and cocoa butter (approximately 50%). The term “liquor” comes from the Latin term liquor meaning “liquid” which is what happens to roasted cocoa beans when they are ground into a paste. Correctly pronounced as “licker”.The heat of the friction in the grinding process melts the cocoa butter making the mass “liquid” until it cools and hardens. Sold in the consumer market as “unsweetened” chocolate (also referred to as Cocoa Liquor, Liquid, Solid, Mass, Masse, Pate de Cacao). The liquor can be compressed to release the cocoa butter and separate it from the cocoa solids – the result is called cocoa cake or presscake. Liquor can be made from a blend (or “cuvee”) of different cocoa beans. “Varietal”, “Single Origin”, or “Vintage” are all labels for blends or single bean formulations that come from a specific region and are often named by the area or tree species from which they are grown.
4. Cocoa Bean – In the industry, once cacao beans (or seeds) have gone through the fermentation process, they are then called “cocoa beans.”
5. Cocoa Butter – The pale yellow vegetable fat in the cocoa bean with a melting point of 84 – 95 degrees F. (32 – 35 C) Its crystallization properties demand that chocolate containing cocoa butter be tempered in the final process before cooling.
6. Cocoa Nib – Cocoa beans break into smaller particles/sections called nibs after they are dried and roasted. These natural breaks are caused because the inside of the cocoa bean is not a solid mass but consist of the tiny stem and unfurled leaves. Also called grue.
7. Cocoa Powder – Ground cocoa cake. Cocoa powders can have different percentages of cocoa butter.
8. Milk Chocolate – Contains at least 10% of chocolate liquor. Other ingredients include sugar, lecithin, milk or cream powder and spices such as vanilla.
9. Semisweet Chocolate – Contains at least 15% chocolate liquor. Other ingredients include extra cocoa butter (in some cases), sugar, lecithin and spices.
10. Tempering – The heating-cooling-heating of the chocolate in order to stabilize the cocoa butter fatty acids. Referred to as temperage in France.
11. White Chocolate – Contains at least 20% cocoa butter. Other ingredients include sugar, milk and vanilla. Since it does not contain any chocolate paste, white chocolate is not considered a chocolate product.

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We hope this glossary gives you a little bit better understanding of chocolate, one of the world’s favorite delights. It sure has helped us to understand our business better and our appreciation of all that goes into making chocolate has expanded tremendously! Would you like to learn more about chocolate? Did we answer all of your questions in the glossary or do you have more? Let us know in the comment section. Or send us a Tweet or comment on Facebook. We may use your questions as a basis for another chocolate covered blog post! We have a great week planned! To celebrate the days leading up to our first chocolate festival on Sunday, we will be giving away sweet treats to our loyal followers. Share our message through your favorite social media and to show our gratitude, your name will go into a daily drawing. We're excited. SHARE AND WIN! Oh, and if you're in the area, come see us this Sunday at the Long Island Chocolate Festival! We'll be announcing our new fudge line, so you won't want to miss it. It's sure to be a fun chocolate filled day!

What a wonderful week! I want to thank all of you who helped make my birthday so very special by sharing Chocology with your family and friends! All the birthday wishes on Facebook, Twitter, private messages, Linkedin and Instagram made me smile too. Chocolate lovers are GREAT people! Our Happy Birthday to Me contest was a big hit! Thank you ALL for participating. Chocology would like to congratulate Ted Cart for winning the 24-piece box of Chocology chocolates. And since we had so many entries, we've added a second prize. Gretchen Ting, you've won a Chocology Gift Certificate in the amount of $27.50. Thank you Ted and  Gretchen for helping us spread the word. Be sure to contact me within 48 hours so that we can get you your prizes. [caption id="attachment_512" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A Full Box of Decadence - From the 24-Piece Chocology Collection[/caption] In keeping with all of the chocolate celebrations this month, we thought we would gift everyone with a couple of our favorite brownie recipes! The first is a grain-free low-sugar recipe that is to die for. Originally posted by PaleOMG, it is our go to recipe when we want something healthy and sweet.   [caption id="attachment_495" align="alignleft" width="300"] SWEET POTATO BROWNIES[/caption]          

1 sweet potato 3 eggs, whisked ¼ cup Coconut Oil, melted ⅓ cup raw honey ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract 3 tablespoons Coconut Flour 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder ¼ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon cinnamon pinch of salt ½ cup Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

Bake the sweet potato. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees, use a fork to puncture holes all around it, then throw in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Once your sweet potato is soft and cooked through, peel off the skin and mash it up in a bowl. Turn your oven down to 350 degrees.

 Add your wet ingredients: eggs, coconut oil, honey, and vanilla to the bowl and mix together.

Then add your dry ingredients: coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and chocolate chips.

 Mix well.

Pour into an 8×8 glass baking dish.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Let rest to cool a bit.

If you’re looking for a decadent, super easy recipe for brownies, our favorite is right off the back of the Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate box. One-bowl brownies are so simple to make; you can be eating this sweet treat within 40 minutes, start to finish! We substitute chocolate chips in place of nuts (of course we do, we LOVE chocolate). So, if you’re feeling a bit wicked, whip out your ONE bowl and make a batch of these. They’re sure to please all those chocoholics in your family!   [caption id="attachment_496" align="alignleft" width="224"] ONE BOWL BROWNIES[/caption]                  

1 pkg.  (4 oz.) BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate ¾ cup  butter or margarine 2 cups  sugar 3 eggs 1 tsp.  vanilla 1 cup  flour 1 Cup Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

HEAT oven to 350°F.

LINE 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Spray foil with cooking spray.

MICROWAVE chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and chocolate chips; mix well. Pour into prepared pan.

BAKE 30 to 35 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool completely. Use foil handles to remove brownies from pan before cutting to serve.

If you try one of these recipes, please tell us about it. Did you make them both? Which was your favorite? Please share with us in the comments section here or on our Facebook Page or take a picture and send it to us on Instagram! We'd love to hear all about it. Thanks again to everyone who participated in our Happy Birthday to Me Give Away! Stay tuned for more contests in the near future. We appreciate your support!