It’s getting toward that time of year when we see more eggs, pastel colors and of course chocolate, which is a perennial favorite among those of us here at NCA. Easter season is upon us. The Peeps are flocking back home and before long, Tori will be making s’mores out in the woods with her camping friends.
Thanks to Frances Civello, who makes all manner of wonderful photos, for this one. It really brings the springtime into my heart as the last of the snow seems to be melting.
Do you want your candy photos featured here? Submit them to the Candy Dish Blog Flickr group. We want to see your candy photos and so does the rest of the world!
Flickr user Gryfon submitted this photo to our Flickr group. What I like about it is the roughness of the edges of the chocolate paired with the regular flatness of the slabs, enabling them to be stacked. The white chocolate in there is a nice addition and really catches the eye.
The vertical positioning is good, being centered on a “third” line. The only way I can think of to improve this photo would be to make the background darker. However, a totally black background may not work because the chocolate would appear to be floating in the ether. I am not sure offhand how to change that. It looks really good as is, though, with the dark but not black background. I am a big fan of shooting against black and printing against white. I wonder how it would look then.
Great job!
Do you want your candy photos featured here? Submit them to the Candy Dish Blog Flickr group. We want to see your candy photos and so does the rest of the world!
This question struck my funny bone a bit and seemed appropriate to share on today, which is George Washington’s birthday. It is a question a child asked at the Washington Crossing Historic Park in Pennsylvania. The article explains the answer. No, of course he didn’t because Milton Hershey didn’t start his company until 1894 and Washington passed away in 1797, almost a 100-year gap between the two dates.
However, the underlying question struck me as interesting. What was the evolution of chocolate as a confectionery product to that point? The park’s article gives us the answer:
Solid eating chocolate — sweet bars like our candy bars today — were not around in General Washington’s day and neither was milk chocolate — they both came later, around the late 1800’s — but General Washington may have had chocolate to drink.
Early drinking of hot chocolate was probably a rare and an expensive treat.
It was mixed with many types of flavors to make it more tasty, like the following:
* Anise seeds — which taste like licorice
* Ground Almonds and Pistachios
* Nutmeg
* Cinnamon
* Orange flower or rose water
* Peppers — spicy and/or hot
Thanks, folks, for answering that question. So sometime between the late 1700s and late 1800s, chocolate evolved into something like we think of it today. I will have to check further to see what other presidents such as Cleveland, Grant and McKinley enjoyed.
George Washington by jadam.
In this photo Rachel Rappaport, one of my favorite food bloggers, is chopping chocolate to make Ovaltine Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream. I know it’s still a little cold out to be eating ice cream, but I wanted to plant this seed in your head for when the weather improves.
I love the selective focus in this photo. It was taken at f1.8, which offers a very shallow depth of field, giving it a very stylized look. The angle of view is great as well. Diagonal lines are very visually appealing. Great job, Rachel!
Do you want your candy photos featured here? Submit them to the Candy Dish Blog Flickr group. We want to see your candy photos and so does the rest of the world!
Live in Maryland? Forget to get your sweetie some sweets for yesterday? Hope is not lost. Head out to the store now, get your mitts on some discount candy and blame it on the recent storms. Gov. Martin O’Malley has declared this week Valentine’s Week. I bet the CVS around the corner has all that yummy chocolate and other goodies at 50% off this morning.
So if you didn’t stick the landing yesterday quite as well as Alexandre Bilodeau did in the Freestyle Skiing Moguls, fret no more. Just go to the nearest drug store, supermarket or convenience store and stock up. I won’t tell your secret. Just give Gov. O’Malley a thumbs-up or a high-five for saving the relationship.
Chocolate Valentine’s Sculpture by emilywjones.
NCA’s Web site has a treasure trove of recipes for you. This is one of my favorites, and possibly what my Lovely Wife will have for dessert on Valentine’s Day. She is pretty darned special to me, you know. It’s either this or some crepes. We will see which she wants. Rest assured, photos will be taken of whatever it ends up being because that’s just how I roll.
Chocolate and fruit are the perfect combination and they’re showcased in this dessert. All you have to do is prepare the chocolate mixture and the fruit. Then your guests serve themselves.
You Will Need
- 7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons water
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons orange liqueur or 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Cubes of pound cake or angle food cake
- Whole fresh strawberries
- Thick slices of banana
- Dried apricot halves
Directions
- In the top of a double boiler, combine the chocolate and water. Stir over warm water until the chocolate melts and is smooth. Add the cream, orange liqueur or vanilla, cocoa powder, and cinnamon. Stir until the mixture is smooth.
- Transfer the mixture to a fondue pan and keep it warm over a low flame. Arrange the cake and fruit on a serving platter.
- Supply each guest with a fondue fork so they can spear the item of their choice and dip it in the fondue mixture.
Yield: 6 servings
Remember: Your fondue mixture must be kept warm so that it will stay liquid. The best way to do this is to use a fondue pot that has room for a candle or a liquid heat source underneath.
Chocolate Fondue by omar_chatriwala.
Not a day goes by that I don’t hear about some new study linking chocolate consumption to heart health. No seriously, I get these daily pubmed updates e-mailed to me. They’re great. You should try them. Oh, what’s that? Normal people don’t read the latest scientific abstracts for fun? Oh well, you don’t need to be a nerd like me to know what’s going on with chocolate and health, as it is science anyone can bite into. 
Many studies in both humans and rodents have observed lower deaths due to heart disease in chocolate consumers compared to non-consumers of chocolate. This is an exciting and interesting phenomenon for us chocolate lovers, but certainly inspires wonder as to why this association exists. Tons of scientists are asking the same question, hence the growing body of research filling my inbox.
Results from most studies looking at blood pressure and chocolate consumption show that flavanols (the antioxidants in chocolate) reduce blood pressure and risk for hypertension. Studies have also found that these antioxidants fight inflammation in the heart muscles, leading to overall better heart health. Meanwhile, stearic acid, one of the fats in chocolate, is thought to have a positive benefit on blood cholesterol levels. These examples reflect some of the most common conclusions. However, scientists are coming up with new ideas about how chocolate might be beneficial to the heart all the time.
So when your sweetie gives you a box of chocolate from their heart on Valentine’s Day, remember it just might help out yours.
Editor’s note: Yes, we know it’s not Tuesday. In the midst of the blizzard coming through the DC area, some things slipped by us. I will continue to blame the oompa loompas until someone can legitimately point a finger my way.
Woven heart and passion fruit chocolates by jamescronin.
