September 01, 2015
We at Chocology are so pleased to present our first guest blogger, Meaghan Sugrue, a junior at Cornell University. She is currently studying Food Science there and is about to embark on a wonderful journey to Lille, France, where she will study International food-manufacturing systems.
We are so pleased to welcome Meaghan to the Chocology blog team and look forward to hearing more about her studies in France. So without further ado, please find Meaghan's first Chocology Post below.
Chocolate Discoveries
by Meaghan Sugrue
You never know what you might stumble upon. That’s what I thought as I gravitated towards the friendly booth at my neighborhood farmers market advertising fudge and other chocolate confections. After a few samples of Chocology Unlimited’s exceptional treats and a conversation with the companies founders, I found myself more than just a box full of sweets to savor.
To introduce myself, my name is Meaghan Sugrue and I am a rising junior at Cornell University studying Food Science. From electing to read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation at age 12, to working in an old style European bakery in high school to a current dedication to nutrition, food has always been essential to me. This semester I will be off to Lille, France to study food-manufacturing systems with an international focus. After telling the Chocology Team about my plans, I was offered a spot with the company as a guest blogger. Through writing about the chocolate in each country traveled to, I will reflect on my experiences abroad with a food-centric lens, from Long Island across Europe.
I will begin my journey with some thoughts on the Chocology Unlimited truffles. After hearing about how the company aims to bring high quality chocolate to consumers looking to mindfully indulge while participating in charities and activities aimed on spreading happiness across communities, it was clear to me this is a special company. A company that not only prioritizes customers but looks to make the world better through the power of food. This introduction was complimented by a box of four expertly designed truffles, each with a detailed description reminiscent of a famous travel destination. My mom, sister and I tried these truffles the other day after dinner with the instructions to eat slowly and appreciate. They were more than sweet surprises but unforgettable, with flavors such as coffee, hazelnut and Tahitian vanilla perfectly blended, lingering on our palates and in conversations from that day on. Such an experience made me question the king-size Hershey bars found in each vending machine in every public building across America. As a very plugged-in 20 year old who can be hasty at times, I am hoping to take what I learned from that tasting with me to Europe. Perhaps all we need to feel satiated is something truly memorable and the patience to enjoy it?
August 25, 2015
August 27th marks the first year anniversary of the launch of Chocology Unlimited! Won’t you reminisce with us? It’s been quite a year and our goal of educating, giving back and growing the business has been a wonderful success! We want to thank all of our readers, customers and charity organizations for being a part of the Chocology team. We know that without you, Chocology wouldn’t be where it is today.
So what is Chocology most proud of accomplishing this year?
At Chocology, we are interested in all aspects of chocolate. We are committed to and love the study of chocolate – extending that love and knowledge to you in a new and exciting way is our mission.
Educating through blogging and our Face Book page: We love bringing you articles that inspire and inform you about all things chocolate. Through blogging, we can reach so many people from around the world and share what we know and learn about chocolate. Together we now have over 1,500 Followers and Likers. Thank you!
Farmer’s Markets – Teaching people how to taste chocolate and informing them on the different types of chocolate has been a fun and tasty way to keep the public up to date on what they eat.
U.N. International Day of Peace – Chocology sent out the ingredients for making peace pops to children around the country. Kids were encouraged to make their pops and share International Day of Peace with others in their community. Since then we were invited to collaborate with "Pathways to Peace" this year.
Our goal of giving back to the community has been such a gift to us. We think we’ve hit the mark in this area and here’s how:
We had so much fun on our Chocology Give’s Back Road trip this past spring, we got to do workshops with lots of kids and spend time with each of the non-profit organizations we help support!
Chocology Cares Campaign: We know that when we give we will always have everything we need. Our Chocology Cares campaign has been a huge success and we are so happy to be helping out some good causes. If you’d like to help these charities, simply order our Fat Ass Fudge. We love helping great organizations that are making a difference in the world.
Atria Senior Living – We enjoy our time with seniors. Our workshop entitled, “Chocolate Lover’s Fest,” is always well attended and we remain in awe of how willing the people are to learn in their latter years.
Making fine quality chocolate available to everyone and allowing chocolate lovers the opportunity to experience the delights generally reserved for the connoisseurs. Everyone gets excited about chocolate and with that, it becomes easy to educate and give back.
Launched the website in September 2014 – Chocology's approach started and remains to treat each customer with a high level of personal service while maintaining quality and variety.
Acquired Fat Ass Fudge – In November, Chocology completed the deal to acquire our much-loved Fat Ass Fudge. Since then, we have developed new flavors and done hundreds of taste tests for feedback. We’ve also loved utilizing this product to promote our charity organizations.
Participated in lots of events – Chocology has reached its goal of getting out to as many people as possible through many festivals, local events, charity events and our farmer’s markets.
Launched our Weddings by Chocology – Lots of brides and grooms have chosen our chocolates as wedding favors for their special day. We love being a part of a partnership that is beginning to blossom.
Corporate Clients --Chocology handles large orders on a regular basis to corporate clients. This has ranged from the delivery of a single plates of chocolate or fudge to corporate clients and employees to thousands of fudge samples for convention give-aways.
We are so proud of what Chocology has been able to accomplish in this first year and we thank you for making it a success! We look forward to many more years of fun, education, giving back and chocolate. We hope you’ll follow us into our second year. Thank you.
August 18, 2015
Calling All Bloggers!
Do you like chocolate? Do you like to write? Take photos or videos? If so, Chocology is looking for YOU!
Chocology is looking for a few good articles, photos and videos to post on our weekly blog, Chocology Today. We want to hear from our chocolate fans and share your love of chocolate with the world. Adults, seniors, teens and children are all encouraged to submit their projects. We would love to have a diverse selection of creative work to showcase on our blog, from people of all ages.
What we are looking for:
Your chocolate experiences – they can be funny, serious or just delicious. Tell us in about 500 words or less what you know or love about chocolate.
What you know about the history of chocolate. Do you know some interesting historical facts about chocolate? Maybe an old story that’s been handed down through your family? Or perhaps something you know about the Mayans and chocolate. We want to hear it in 500 words or less.
Chocolate Recipes – We would love to receive original chocolate recipes, especially unusual ones. Send it in and we may publish it!
Photos – Have some interesting photos of chocolate? We’d love to publish them. Gather them up and we may use them as a photo blog in an upcoming issue of Chocology Today.
Video – Have you taken interesting video of a chocolate experience? Perhaps a cool chocolate science experiment? Or maybe a video showing how to make a recipe? Send it in. It might get selected for a video blog post.
And to sweeten the deal, Chocology will send you a ¼ pound of our Fat Ass Fudge if we decide to use your submission in one of our upcoming blogs! Now that’s an opportunity worth pursuing!
Let us know if you are interested in joining our guest blogger team! Respond to Linda@chocologyunlimited.com and we’ll reply with instructions for submitting a guest blog post for Chocology Today.
Share your love of chocolate through your creative work on the Chocology Today blog! You'll be glad you did. We look forward to hearing from you.
Here’s to creativity and chocolate!
~ The Chocology Team
August 11, 2015
Don’t Chew…Don’t Swallow! It’s the perfect motto when tasting chocolate, especially new flavors.
At our Farmer’s Markets we love educating our customers on the art of tasting and really experiencing the foods we eat ~ especially chocolate! Eating our foods mindfully and consciously enables us to ignite our taste buds and engage all of our senses. Through your senses of smell, taste, hearing, touch and sight, you will experience food (and chocolate) at it’s fullest potential. The art of tasting is a much different (and rewarding) experience than simply popping something into your mouth quickly and moving on to the next thing. We generally don’t “taste” our foods, so learning to eat mindfully develops our sense of taste and allows us to slow down and enjoy life more.
Did you know that the human tongue has over ten thousand taste buds and that they are replaced every two weeks? And further, children have a higher sensitivity to tastes than adults do? Over a lifetime, our taste buds tend to slow down reproduction, making adults a little bit less sensitive to certain tastes like sweet or bitter. It’s why children delight in sweets and tend to shun the more bitter tastes like coffee and beer. Watch a child’s taste buds kick in after a bite of fudge and you’ll see their eyes light up and a big smile naturally spread across their face. All the more reason for adults to slow down and mindfully taste their chocolate!
There are over six hundred chemical compounds in cacao beans that produce the chocolate flavor. Now that’s something to slow down for! The type of tree, terroir, fermentation and ingredients all contribute to the taste and flavors that you will experience in the finished product. Since there are so many chocolates from so many different beans, it’s worth pausing when tasting to see if you can detect the complexity and flavors of each unique chocolate.
We always tell folks at our farmer’s market ~ don’t chew…don’t swallow. Place the chocolate at the tip of your tongue and allow it to melt into the roof of your mouth. The sweet taste buds on the tip of your tongue will be ignited. The olfactory receptors in your nose will take in the smell of the sweet and send a delightful message to your brain! The taste buds working with the olfactory receptors tell the brain that you are on the right track with this food. Give it a try and see if you can detect all of the flavors in the chocolate you are eating. Slow down and allow your taste buds to take you on a relaxing journey rather than a hurried jaunt.
One of the biggest things we’ve learned through all of the tastings we’ve offered is that everyone’s palate and tastes are different. Learn more about your own palate by tasting, appreciating and learning. Seduce your taste buds and let chocolate surprise and delight you. Revel in the experience and you can’t go wrong. You’ll probably even learn more about your palate, taste buds and senses than you ever knew before.
One of our favorite things about building community around chocolate tasting is to find out what chocolate our customers love best. Do you have a favorite? Please share your preferences with us in the comments section, on Facebook or on Twitter. We’d love to hear from you!
Here’s to tasting chocolate ~ Mindfully. . .
~ The Chocology Team
Links about Taste Buds:
Links for you: https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tasty.html
http://www.sciencemadesimple.co.uk/curriculum-blogs/biology-blogs/biology_week_2013_tongues
Link for the kids: http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/taste_buds.html
August 03, 2015
Last week’s blog post was all about our white chocolate tastings at the Farmer’s Market. We have so much fun with our Fat-Ass Fudge tastings and look forward to bringing new flavors to our customers to try each week.
Another hot topic around the booth these days is chocolate pairings. When we talk about pairing chocolate, many people automatically think of wine/chocolate pairings or cheese/chocolate pairings. But, what about pairing chocolate with whatever is on hand?
At our Farmer’s Market we like to get a bit adventurous and our customers love getting in on the fun. We’re not afraid to pair chocolate with just about anything! When our customers walk up with a pickle, meatballs, Starbuck or Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, even lemonade, our job is to pair them up with a chocolate that will compliment whatever is available at the moment. It’s a lot of fun and we’ve learned a lot about pairing chocolate with all kinds of food and drink.
For the customers who don’t have a pickle or a meatball in hand, we always keep a stash of Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar nearby from one of our favorite local vendors, The Amazing Olive. After spending a few hours pairing in their store, we just couldn’t keep our discovery to ourselves. The vinegars from The Amazing Olive compliment our fudge so well!
We’ve also begun to introduce cHarissa Spice, a wildly popular spicy condiment developed by a local Long Islander, in honor of his late wife. The spice paired with the sweet is amazing and our patrons absolutely love it.
Pairing these condiments with our fudge has been a very unexpected (and delicious) surprise, not only to the Chocology team but to our customers as well. Who knew spicy and vinegary would go well with chocolate?
One of our Market patrons exclaimed, ""Chocolate bliss, this is chocolate for adults," which became our tagline for the day. Another said, "I'm thinking holiday gifts!" And we agree. Some of these pairings will likely land on our holiday menu in the coming months!
For those of you who aren’t able to join us at our Farmer’s Market booth pairings, why not set up a chocolate pairing party of your own? Here are a few tips from an article we read on the SheKnows website.
White Chocolate pairs well with lemon, blueberries, strawberries, pink peppercorn and lots of other unique flavors. White chocolate paired with the right flavors can create some unique tasting experiences.
Milk Chocolate pairs well with pink Himalayan sea salt, caramel, coconut, bacon and walnuts. Try a milk chocolate that is creamy and not too sweet.
Try Dark Chocolate with lavender, ginger, goat cheese and balsamic vinegar. Dark chocolate is paired well with tangy or sweet flavors.
Whether you join us for pairings at the market or choose to do pairings of your own, always remember to be adventurous and give those ideas a try! Have fun with it. You never know what’s going to taste good together until you give it a go!
Have you paired chocolate with something unique? If so, we’d love to hear about it. Tell us all about it here in the comments section or on Facebook or Twitter.
Wishing you a week filled with fun foods and chocolate!
~ The Chocology Team
July 28, 2015
Lots of discussion and conversation swirls around our booth at the Farmer’s Market each weekend. The most popular topics however seem to veer towards three main themes. White Chocolate, Chocolate Pairings and The Art of Tasting Chocolate. Since a lot of our readers live too far to make it out to our Farmer’s Market weekends, we thought we’d bring the conversation to you! For the next couple of weeks we’ll be writing Farmer’s Market Chitchat. So what do we talk about around the Chocology stand each week? Well, read on to join our Farmer’s Market chitchat!
Every weekend Chocology offers a tasting of our mouthwatering Fat Ass Fudge to the public at our Farmer’s Markets. Inevitably each week, when we offer our White Chocolate we get at least one, “Eww. . .I don’t like white chocolate!”
With some coaxing and cajoling however, many times we can convince them that Chocology Couverture pure white chocolate isn’t your ordinary white chocolate. Often times, after our customers taste our white chocolate they’re in line the next week with white chocolate at the top of their shopping list.
All white chocolate contains at least twenty percent cocoa butter—our contains 28% cocoa butter. Other ingredients might include sugar, milk and vanilla. Since white chocolate does not contain chocolate paste or cocoa liquor, it isn’t considered a chocolate product. White chocolate can vary greatly depending on the chocolate (Compound vs. Couverture) and ingredients used and the methods with which they are prepared.
Our white chocolate contains all natural ingredients. Since we use more cocoa butter and less sugar, our white chocolate isn’t as sweet as your typical run of the mill white chocolate, making it smooth and creamy with just the right amount of sweetness. Our mixing and tempering practices enhance the flavor and texture of our white chocolate making even the most finicky chocolate connoisseur fall in love at first bite.
“Wow! This tastes super amazing, it’s so creamy and not too sweet.”
“I’ve never been a fan of white chocolate, but I”m starting to think differently, thank you for the tasting!”
“This is VERY good and it tastes incredible. Hands down the best white chocolate I’ve ever had.”
Our Farmer’s Markets are great fun and so informal. Conversations abound as people gather around to taste, pair and join in the chocolate extravaganza! Do you like white chocolate? Have you tried Chocology White Fudge? We invite you to join the conversation via the comments section, Facebook or Twitter. You don’t have to be at our Farmer’s Markets to be in on the fun Farmer’s Market chitchat!
Next week we’ll be writing about: Chocolate Pairings. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever paired with chocolate? Join us next week and find out what we pair with at our Farmer’s Market.
July 21, 2015
Our little company was a rocking chocolate machine this past weekend. With all hands on deck we managed to be in several places – all at the same time.
With three farmers markets plus a four-day weekend music festival, Chocology wielded chocolate like the pros! What fun we had making connections with people and introducing the art of tasting chocolate.
Our weekend actually started the week before in our commercial kitchen, producing three hundred pounds of our Fat Ass Fudge. Madeline and Grandma worked tirelessly around the clock assembling boxes for the fudge, while Linda performed her magic with sweets. By Wednesday, twelve hundred boxes of fudge were ready to go along with boxes of our decadent truffles.
With six workers in tow, our weekend started Thursday at the Whole Foods Lake Grove Farmers Market where we reunited with old customers and met some new ones. David took off from his corporate job to assist his family in the business of chocolate for the long weekend.
Immediately following the Farmer’s Market, we headed out to our tent for the opening of the Great South Bay Music Festival. We were surrounded by three stages while people young and old flocked out to hear emerging artists and their favorite bands. This was Madeline’s first outdoor concert and while setting up she got to hear Colbie Caillat and Rachael Platten soundcheck before their concerts—tough job but someone’s got to do it!
Our Fat Ass Fudge signs made people smile (and even laugh out loud) and our “Don’t Chew, Don’t Swallow” banners peeked their interest. Lines of people crowded around for our Art of Tasting presentations. Pairing our chocolates with wine, many of the Blue Point Brewery’s award winning creations and even CIGARS made our offerings interesting and unique, and helped us to sell out of all of our wares throughout the weekend!
Meanwhile on Friday, David tended to our customers at the East Setauket Farmers Market before closing up and joining Linda and team at the festival. Saturday, Linda, David and team worked the festival together. On Sunday, David served the customers at our Port Jefferson Farmers Market and then joined Linda for the close of the festival.
To sweeten the pot even further, we were honored to raise money for charities in our Chocology Cares campaign. We look forward to continuing to give back to these organizations with each fudge sale we complete.
We learned so much about running an event of this magnitude and plan to implement what we’ve learned at future events. For instance, instead of giving all of the fudge choices at once, we learned to have people choose dark, white or cappuccino. Then we would offer the varieties in those categories, making it easier for our lines to move fluidly and providing an overall easier experience for our customers. It’s all about education and while we are educating the public we are also educating ourselves
It was an exhilarating weekend for us all. Starting our days at 5 a.m. throughout the weekend was a challenge and manning our various events felt like a whirlwind, but in the end we felt that we had fulfilled our mission ~ to educate and share our love of chocolate with the world. What fun it was to be in an atmosphere of celebration for four straight days. By Sunday evening we were all tired but so proud to have been a part of sharing a weekend with so many beautiful people, wonderful music and of course chocolate.
If you were at any of our events this weekend, we would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter. Here’s to people, fun, chocolate and long weekends!
July 15, 2015
We had so much fun this past Saturday, July 11th 2015 at the Gardens & Landscapes of Port Jefferson event. This community experience was put on by the Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce and the Suwasset Garden Club, sponsored by the Times Beacon Record Newspaper in celebration of summer and their 40th Anniversary.
There were 9 gardens featured and Chocology was stationed loud and proud at the outstanding Gateway to Garden Splendors, home of Maria Palmer of Jolie Powell Realty. Visitors climbed the meandering stairs and were greeted with wine, chocolates, and spectacular views. Maria had a number of beautiful gardens on display at the event. The perennial borders were charming and the feeling so peaceful, it is hard to capture it accurately in words or pictures.
In addition to the beautiful gardens, we were lucky enough to pair our decadent Chocology artisan chocolates with two lovely wines ( New Harbor Sauvignon blanc and Arboreto Montepulciano) provided by Waverly Liqours of Setauket. Will Joseph, the store manager, was impressively knowledgeable about wine and everybody learned something new! The ability to allow the different notes of the wine to affect your tastebuds with a subtle flowery but sometimes slightly bitter taste and then follow up with some sweet Chocology chocolate was absolute heaven. Our 88% dark chocolate ganache was the favorite.
This was such a lovely and unique experience for us to participate in. It allowed our chocolates to be exposed to a marvelous tasting sort of crowd. We look forward to doing this again next year.
If that is something that sounds of interest, you are in luck. We do in fact do pairings, so call us up and let us know what you’re looking for and we’re more than happy to advise on which of our artisan chocolates or Fat Ass Fudge’s would taste delicious with your favorite wines, beers or foods.
As always, be sure to check us out locally at the different Farmer’s Markets in the area. We’ve added two new events to our list this week. This Thursday July 16th we’ll be at the Lake Grove Whole Food’s Farmer’s Market from 11am-2pm; this Friday July 17th we’ll be at the Setauket Farmer’s Market from 4pm-7pm; and this Sunday July 19th we’ll be at the Port Jefferson Farmer’s Market from 9am-2pm. Or come visit us Thursday - Sunday evenings at the Great South Bay Music Festival! We look forward to seeing you somewhere this weekend.
July 07, 2015
As we get into the swing of summer time Farmer’s Markets are popping up all around. As always, we here at Chocology will be in attendance every week at the Setauket Farmer’s Market (Friday’s from 4pm-7pm) and the Port Jefferson Farmer’s Market (Sunday’s from 9am-2pm) with our delicious Fat Ass Fudge. Farmer’s Markets, although tasty and fun, can sometimes be a bit of a bear to deal with so here are 8 quick tips suggested from our Port Jefferson market shoppers (and us) to make your experience more enjoyable:
1 Bring some cash. Sadly most vendors don’t accept credit cards, so if you want that special something cash is the way to go. On a side note, however, Chocology is not most vendors we do indeed accept all forms of payment!
2 The early bird gets the worm. Get there bright and early before your favorite vendor sells out of the tastiest snack (or you miss out on an unusual or new item—the best stuff goes first).
3 Insulated bags = Your BFF! Most items you might purchase at the Farmer’s Markets are perishable and walking around outdoors can do some serious damage to your purchase, so bring some nice insulated bags and maybe even some ice packs to keep your food at the right temperature so it’s just as delicious and edible when you get home as it was upon purchase.
4 Ask about pre-ordering. Did you get there too late and your favorite Dark Chocolate with Nuts Fat Ass Fudge is sold out? Not to worry! Ask us about pre-ordering some to pick up for the following week. In fact, ask most sellers for a pre-order if they’re sold out of your favorite item. Side note: We also deliver locally!
5 Everything’s not always what it seems. Explore what the vendors have to offer, ask questions. Sometimes they have much more than what’s on the surface. Although we only sell our Fat Ass Fudge at Farmer’s Markets, for example, we do (sometimes) offer samplings of our artisan chocolates for work, wedding, and more fun events. Always ask vendors about what else they do, you may be surprised at what you learn.
6. Extra canvas totes are always a nice idea there’s just something beautiful about a Tote brimming with bright green lettuce, fresh bread, freshly picked peaches and our Fat Ass Fudge.
7 Try something new each week. Step out of your comfort zone and try something different you won’t necessarily find in the grocery store. Have fun and let the kids pick out something.
Most Importantly…
8 Have Fun! Walk around, make new friends, explore the area, discover your new favorite hangout. Farmer’s Markets are a wonderful way to enjoy your local area and discover new things that may lead you on a path to awesomeness… or should we say fudgeyness!
July 03, 2015
In honor of America, this week we are sharing a special blog edition: This weekend we celebrate one of the most important days in our country’s history: the signing of the Declaration of Independence which established our separation from England. First of all, we here at Chocology would like to wish everyone a happy and safe fourth of July! We would also like to share with you some fun stories about the role of chocolate during our country’s struggle for freedom.
It all started back in 1765 when an Irish immigrant named John Hannan came to the colonies from Ireland and brought some cocoa beans with him. This started a chocolate craze throughout the colonies where back then they would grind the beans and mix them with hot water to create a very very bitter hot chocolate of sorts.
After the British raised taxes on tea with the Townshed Act of 1767, colonists got angry and united to dump all of the imported tea into the Boston Harbor (this event later to be known as the Boston Tea Party of 1773). Because of the, now, sudden lack of tea to drink, colonists turned to this chocolate drink for caffeination and comfort.
Even some of our founding fathers enjoyed the wonders of chocolate. George and Martha Washington, for example, had a cup of chocolate and water every morning with breakfast. While they were sipping their chocolate, Benjamin Franklin decided to capitalize a little from this growing craze. He decided to sell chocolate in several forms in his own printing shop, raising popularity of the sugary goodness even more.
During the revolutionary war, General Washington made sure that each soldier received at least a small bit of chocolate in their rations as it raised moral and warmed their spirits. The difficulty of this, however, was that chocolate was imported which meant they needed to sneak these ships past the British navy. This proved to be a difficult feat, but as we know now, Americans will do most anything for a scrumptious piece of chocolate.
In the midst of this war for freedom the first American chocolate factory was built by John Hannan’s business partner Dr. James Baker after Hannan was lost at sea. Baker built the first chocolate company of Baker’s Chocolate into a big success. His first product was a chocolate cake of sorts thus introducing the American public to a sweetened version of the chocolatey goodness.
So, on this weekend of celebration remember the role that chocolate played in getting us all here in our great and free country. To celebrate, stop by the East Setauket Farmer’s Market this Friday July 3rd from 4pm-7pm or the Port Jefferson’s Farmer’s Market this Sunday July 5th from 9am-2pm to celebrate what makes America great: family, friends, and chocolatey fudge!
July 01, 2015
Every Sunday you can see Chocology at the wonderful Port Jefferson Farmer's Market, and almost every Sunday it is an absolutely gorgeous day. But this past Sunday, June 28th, didn’t start off that way. When we went to set up our tent it was a complete downpour and we didn’t quite know what to expect. But, it turns out that sometimes it’s great to relax on a rainy day and sometimes it’s an even better idea to go to a local Farmer’s Market. Let’s be honest, what can be better than a rainy day, local vendors, and some Fat Ass Fudge?
The day went by so fast. In the early morning, we saw all of our regulars. We heard many comments about how they, “didn’t know if [we] would be [there],” but we would quickly reassure each one that if they were going to take the time out of their day to come and see us then we would do the same for them. We commit to being where we say we will be "Rain or Shine". As soon as they heard that, their worried faces turned smiles. This was especially true as they sampled some of our latest greatest fudge, because who can resist a delicious mouth-watering brick of fudge at least once a week?
All these regulars drew in crowds of newbies who’d never tasted our fudge. But one look at our “Fat Ass Fudge” banner, and one whiff of our fudge and they were there like a bee to a flower. It turned into one of our busiest market days. We had moments of the day where we were sold out of half our flavors, luckily we live only five minutes away so we could quickly restock all of our decadent flavors.
Chocology also had a little extra help which may have added to the fun of the day. Our newest addition to our team, Arielle, has been brought on as an intern for the summer. She decided to pop by for a visit and was put right to work, fitting in perfectly with our rhythm and style. With the extra set of hands we were able to do more tastings at once, which helped get more people to experience a proper fudge tasting.
So, from rainy day and poor outlook to new friends, new customers, new staff we turned this day around and made it into a truly fudgetastic day. We'd love to know how you spent your Sunday!
June 17, 2015
We were so busy this week we almost forgot to post our blog and say Happy National Fudge Day! Since it was National Fudge Day (what a perfect day to celebrate!) and since we have so many new follower’s we’ve decided to repost our popular blog The Origins of Fudge.
Have you ever wondered where fudge came from? Is it American or French or Canadian? What exactly is it that sets fudge apart from other candies? And why do we love it so much?
We at Chocology like to know everything there is to know about the products we offer. Since Chocology acquired Fat-Ass Fudge in early November, we thought it might be fitting to do a bit of research about the history of fudge. While we know all about the makings of fudge, since we make it in the Chocology kitchen, we weren’t quite sure about the origins of this sweet delight. So, we set out to do research and of course, when we learn something new, we like to pass it on to you.
Every story about the beginning of fudge differs a bit but it seems that it may have started in the late 1800’s in a women’s dorm room in the United States. Here’s the picture we envision:
Several women hover around a stockpot simmering on a hot plate in a dorm room. One of the women, currently enrolled in a taffy making class, stirs the pot as the others take in the aroma. The taffy student is working diligently to perfect her caramel for class the next day. Another woman stands by the door as a look out, lest they get caught cooking in their room. She whispers, “They’re coming!” The women quickly put out the fire and hide the pot behind the rocking chair.
When the coast is clear again, the taffy student stirs and stirs but realizes the caramel is a flop. They have failed to get the temperature hot enough!
Dismayed that the ingredients were now wasted, they dipped their fingers in to see what the concoction tasted like. To their delight, it was delicious! They called their new discovery “fudge”, to identify it as a mistake. The taffy student takes her fudge to class the next day and a new product is born.
We will probably never know exactly what happen that night in the dorm room. But we do know that the first fudge was sold at a Baltimore grocery store in 1886 for forty cents a pound. In 1888, Emelyn Hartridge obtained the recipe for fudge. After selling it at an auction at a Vassar College, fudge became the newest popular confection. The desire for fudge spread to other women’s colleges where new and improved recipes were developed.
The ladies in the dorm room were only two degrees away from their caramel. Lucky for us, the pot got turned off too quickly resulting in the fudge recipes we enjoy today.
Fudge is generally made by mixing milk, sugar and butter and then heating it to 240 degrees. The mixture is then blended with chocolate and beat while it cools to obtain a creamy, smooth consistency.
Over one hundred years have passed since the invention of fudge. The recipes have developed over the years and now we have access to thousands of interpretations of that first mishap. Experimentation with ingredients has yielded us the many varieties of fudge that we enjoy today.
Our Fat-Ass Fudge is made with goats milk, goats butter, sugar and the finest Belgian chocolate available. We then mix it with other quality ingredients to bring out the most decadent taste imaginable. A lot of care goes into our recipes; attention to detail, temperatures and fine ingredients are strictly followed. We think this makes our fudge one of the best on the market.
We hope you will give our Fat Ass Fudge a try. With prices starting at $10 you can’t go wrong! Choose from Dark Chocolate, Dark Chocolate with nuts, Dark & White, Peanut Butter fudge, White chocolate and White chocolate with nuts and our latest creation… Cappuccino. There’s something to please everyone’s palette! And keep checking back. We are in the process of developing new flavors to add to our fudge line in the months to come.
Plus we are proud to announce a collaboration with the following non-profit organizations who pull on our heartstrings: Back on My Feet, PA, Operation Freedom Paws, Caterina's Club, Pathways to Peace, Maritime Explorium. To sweeten the pot even further, you can help. . . simply by eating our Fat Ass Fudge! Chocology will donate $1.00 from every fudge order ($2.00 for orders over $50.00) to one of the above charitable organizations using their code at checkout..
We would love to hear from you when you try our fudge. Be sure to comment here or visit us on Facebook and let us know if you think this is the best fudge ever!
Here’s some of the feedback we’ve received so far about Fat Ass Fudge:
Linda, My fudge arrived today. I am more excited than a dog with two tails. I have eaten a lot of fudge in my day, but nothing like yours; it’s DIVINE!
I hoarded it for Thanksgiving but will buy more for Christmas to share with family members.
I can't get over how GOOD your chocolate tastes - every other chocolate maker's chocolate I have tried over the past ten years has been just awful - lots of sugar, no chocolate.
So glad you have taken over this company and are experimenting with additional varieties, also. However, your dark chocolate with nuts is TOPS with us.
The white fudge was incredible. Appearance and fragrance much better quality than other companies and it melted so deliciously "white" on my tongue.
Hi Linda - Owner and Maker of Fat Ass Fudge that I could easily become addicted to ...Your fantabulous fudge arrived on Thanksgiving morning by carrier messenger ... And it has totally changed my desire for chocolate! I had almost forgotten how delicious - truly fresh and rich chocolate can be - I LOVE IT!!! I LOVE YOUR CHOCOLATE!!!
Wishing you our loyal followers a happy belated National Fudge Day. Enjoy!