Happy Easter folks!

Odd and unusual chocolate flavoured items

 

For more unusual chocolate flavoured items, visit : http://www.chocolate-world.net/chocolate-weird-news

and
http://purpleslinky.com/humor/food/12-odd-unusual-chocolate-flavored-items

Chocolate festivals, museums & competitions

Chocolate festivals

http://www.festivalofchocolate.com/
A chocolate festival in Orlando, Florida, March 6th -7th, 2010

http://www.chocolate-festival.org/
Colorado chocolate festival, May 7th -8th 2010

http://www.chocolateshow.com/
See calendar for amazing chocolate shows all around the world

http://www.salonduchocolat.fr/
See agenda for chocolate events around the world

http://www.eurochocolate.com/it/home.html
Perugia, 15-24 October, 2010


Chocolate museums in the world

http://www.chocolatewrappers.info/chocomuseums.htm
Yippee! Happy travelling!

http://europeforvisitors.com/europe/articles/chocolate_museums3.htm
European chocolate museums - Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, France, England, Germany

http://www.galenfrysinger.com/barcelona_chocolate_museum.htm
A chocolate museum in Barcelona

http://www.mucc.be/EN/index_en.htm
A chocolate museum in Brussels

http://www.nydailynews.com/real_estate/2009/10/16/2009-10-16_mmmm__top_10_chocolate_museums.html
An amazing article from the NY daily news: Top 10 chocolate museums

http://blog.hotelclub.com/chocolate-museums/
More chocolate museums!!!


Chocolate competitions

http://www.ffc.ca/chocolate_competition.pdf
Lindt Chocolate competition , Calgary – Alberta, March 14th , 2010

Which film featured an actor eating chocolate on screen for the first time in cinema history?

 

Jean Harlow eating chocolate in the film 'Dinner at Eight'

Happy Valentine's Day folks!

 

Still from the film "Como agua para chocolate" 

Cool Chocolate Gifts for Valentine's Day

It’s Valentine’s Day next Sunday and chances are that you will be tempted to try some chocolate, whether you celebrate or not. If you do celebrate however, why don’t you try something different this year, other than the usual box of chocolates? You have a week to decide.

I am suggesting:

Chocolate- opoly

A decadently delicious property trading game for chocolate lovers! Dark, milk, bittersweet, semi-sweet, in a shake, filled with caramel, covered in nuts, or as a warm, frothy brew - there's nothing the cocoa bean can't do. In Chocolate-opoly players buy favorite chocolate properties, collect chunks of chocolate and trade them in for chocolate factories. Sounds easy enough but pay your conching fees, suppress your cravings or get sent to Chocoholics Anonymous and it becomes a little more difficult...and a lot more fun! So choose your token and roll the dice! Who knows? You may be chosen as a "Supertaster" or you may experience Death by Chocolate. Here's a game for the true chocophile! For 2-6 players, ages 8 to adult.




A Chocolate Chess Set

You play it like normal chess but you get to eat each other's pieces as you take them out. Milk and white chocolate. It comes with moulds so you can make more chocolate chess pieces after each game.

Buy the chocolate chess set here!


A Chocolate Bar USB Drive

It looks like a regular bar of chocolate but just pull the top off to reveal the hidden USB connector. It is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux. It comes in 2GB, 4 GB and 8 GB sizes and prices ranges from $17 for the 2GB version, $22 for the 4GB and $29 for the 8GB. Available from Brando.


Oh! There's even a cuter one from the same company!

And if you are feeling extremely generous...

A Chocolate by LG

Did you know that the LG Chocolate phone was made and released for Valentine's Day?

The Chocolate - Strawberry LG phone

Chocolate by LG

How to remove chocolate stains from clothes and the carpet

How to remove chocolate stains from clothes

-Allow melted chocolate to dry and harden.
-Scrape away its remains with a blunt knife.
-Pour hot water through the back side of the cloth to melt it. This will allow it to come off the fabric faster.
-Use a stain remover or detergent (in powder form together with hot water) to retreat stain.
-Wait for at least 10 minutes.
-Gently fold the cloth and rub the fabric together to agitate the soap and stain.
-Wash as usual.
-If the stain persists, you can dub it with dish detergent for 15 minutes and throw it in the washing machine.
-If you have a chocolate catastrophe, soak the cloth in a gallon of whole milk for at least 30 minutes before you throw it in the washing machine.

How to remove chocolate stains from the carpet

-Allow melted chocolate to dry and harden.
-Scrape away its remains with a blunt knife.
-Vacuum the crumbs with a hand vacuum or hose.
-Arrange a layer of paper towels on top of the stain and iron them at the lowest non-steam setting to soften and absorb the stain. Keep the temperature steady so as not to spread the chocolate.
-Repeat with clean paper towels until the chocolate is gone.
-Treat dark spots with a cleaning spray, carpet remover or dish detergent, blot with a clean towel and leave to dry for at least 10 minutes.
-For stubborn stains, use products for tough stains.

From eHow.com

What’s an Eskimo Pie and a Chipwich?

Eskimo Pie, a chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream bar wrapped in foil, was the much anticipated solution (and should have won, “invention of the year”) for every child who had just enough money to buy either a chocolate bar or an ice-cream. Kristian Kent Nelson, a Danish immigrant from Iowa, experimented with different ways to adhere melted chocolate to bricks of ice cream and in 1921, he began selling his invention under the name I-Scream Bars. While, ice-cream per se is old news, this was the first dessert of that kind to be sold in the United States.

Eskimo Pie ad, as it appeared in the Iowa City-Press Citizen on November 3rd, 1921.

What’s a Chipwich?

A Chipwich is exactly that, an ice-cream sandwich; ice cream between two chocolate chip cookies, another American invention, this time from The Sweet Tooth, a New Jersey based confectionary retail store, in 1976. The ingenious name of the product “Chipwich” was the result of a name contest held by The Sweet Tooth, while the brain behind this delicious treat and its branding was Richard LaMotta. On January 24, 2007, both the Eskimo Pie and Chipwich brands were sold to Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Inc., an indirect subsidiary of Nestlé.

3 ideas to make your chocolate drink...chocolatier, and their calories.

Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup

Perfect for every occasion, ideal for flavored milk or ice cream.

Serving portion: 2-3 tbsp

Total Calories : 100
Calories from fat: 0
Carbohydrates: 24 g
Sugars: 20 g
Protein: Less than 1 g.

There’s also Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup with Calcium, there’s Special Dark Syrup and Whoppers Chocolate Malt Syrup by the same company.

Ovaltine Rich Chocolate

Serving portion: 2-3 tbsp

Total Calories: 80
Carbohydrates : 19 g
Sugars: 18 g
Protein: 1 g
Vitamin A: 10 %
Vitamin C: 15%
Calcium: 4%
Iron: 20%

Nesquik Chocolate

Serving portion: 2-3 tbsp

Total Calories: 180
Fat : 0,5 g.
Carbohydrates: 14 g
Sugars: 13 g
Protein: less than 1 g.

National Chocolate Cake Day!

It's National Chocolate Cake Day today in the United States. Send a yummy e-card to all your American friends!

Send this eCard !

Where does the name Häagen-Dazs come from?

Have you ever wondered where the name Häagen-Dazs comes from? Personally, I thought it was Dutch, because of the two “aa” or even because of Den Haag. In fact, this famous ice-cream brand was established by two Polish immigrants (well done Poland!) Reuben and Rose Mattus in the Bronx, New York, in 1961. Häagen-Dazs are made-up words that are meant to look (but are not) Scandinavian to the American eyes. This form of foreign branding served one purpose, to make the product look exotic and thus exciting enough to try. The Mattus couple had even included an outline map of Scandinavia in their early labels together with the names Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen to reinforce the Scandinavian theme.

But the name Häagen-Dazs was merely the outcome of a word game of random nonsensical words that Reuben Mattus started in order to find a combination that pleased him.

News: Chocolate Wonderland set to open in Beijing, China in January 2010!

An entire theme park dedicated to chocolate, complete with the Great Wall of China and life-size edible chocolate replicas of the Terracotta warriors is set to open in Beijing, China on January 29th 2010. Read more…

News: Kraft to buy Cadbury in friendly $19.5 billion deal

For more information on the deal that will make Kraft the world's biggest chocolate and confectionery producer by revenue, please visit:


Kraft to buy Cadbury in $19.5 bln deal

Top chocolate manufacturers in the world

If you ever wondered who were the top 10 global chocolate manufacturers in the world, Candy Industry has the facts. Although, the data is a bit old now and a lot of the companies have changed their name over the years (as you will read further down), you can rest assured that these are still the movers and shakers of the chocolate industry today.

Total Sales in US$millions

Mars Inc (USA)----------------------- 9,546
Cadbury Schweppes PLC (UK)----------- 8,126
Nestlé SA (Switzerland)------------- 7,973
Ferrero SpA (Italy)----------------- 5,580
Hershey Foods Corp. (USA)------------ 4,881
Kraft Foods Inc. (USA)-------------- 2,250
Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd. (Japan)------ 1,693
Lindt & Sprüngli AG (Switzerland)---- 1,673
Barry Callebaut AG (Belgium/France)-- 1,427
Ezaki Glico Co (Japan)-------------- 1,239
Reference: Candy Industry, January 2006


1.Mars Inc. is ranked as the 6th largest privately held company in the US by Forbes and was founded by Frank Mars in Washington in 1911. In 1923, Milky Way was introduced, its best-selling candy bar, whilst the Mars Bar was launched in the UK, in 1932. Its famous chocolate products include: Mars, M&Ms, Milky Way, Bounty, Snickers, Twix, Dove, Galaxy, Skittles. www.mars.com

2.Cadbury plc is a British confectionary and beverage company. It was founded by John Cadbury in Birmingham, in 1824 and today, it has its headquarters in Uxbridge, UK. The firm was known as Cadbury Schweppes from 1969 until 2008. Its famous chocolate products include Cadbury, Fry’s, Green & Black’s, Boost, Brunch Bar, Crispy Crunch, Crunchie, etc. www.cadbury.com

3.Nestlé SA was founded by Henri Nestlé in Vevey, Switzerland, in 1866. Its famous chocolate products include Aero, 100 Grand Bar, Kit Kat, Nestlé Crunch and Rolo. www.nestle.com

4.Ferrero SpA is an Italian chocolate manufacturer founded by Pietro Ferrero, in 1946 and based in Pino Torinese, in Italy. Today, it has got its headquarters in Alba, Piemonte. Its famous chocolate products include: Ferrero Rocher, Pocket Coffee, Mon Chéri, Giotto, Confetteria Raffaello, Kinder Surprise, Fiesta Ferrero, and the Kinder Chocolate series. www.ferrero.com

5.The Hershey Company was founded in 1894 by Milton Snavely Hershey, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where it still has its headquarters. Milton Hershey began planting cocoa trees in his hometown Derry Church, in Pennsylvania, in 1903, and the job has taken off since then. The Hershey’s Chocolate Bars are among its famous chocolate products. www.hersheys.com

6.Kraft Foods Inc was founded in Chicago, in 1903 by Canadian-born James L. Kraft, of German origin. Today, the company is headquartered in Chicago and has its European headquarters just outside Zurich, Switzerland. Although, chocolate doesn’t exactly come to mind with Kraft , the company is in fact the colossus behind Milka, Oreo, Nabisco, Jacob’s, LU. www.kraftfoodscompany.com 

7.Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd. was founded in Tokyo, in 1916 where it still has its headquarters. Its famous products include Hello Panda and Yan Yan. www.meiji.co.jp/en

8.Lindt & Sprüngli AG is more commonly known as Lindt. It was founded by David Sprüngli- Schwarz and his son Rudolf Sprüngli- Ammann in Zurich, in 1845. Today, it has its headquarters in Kilchberg, Switzerland. Johann Rudolf, son of Rudolf Sprüngli acquired Rodolphe Lindt’s chocolate factory in 1899 and the business thus changed its name to incorporate both family names. Lindor is a famous chocolate type produced by Lindt. www.lindt.com

9.Barry Callebaut is the result of a merger that took place in 1996 between the Belgian Callebaut and the French Cacao Barry. Cacao Barry was founded by Charles Barry in 1842 and Callebaut by Eugenius Callebaut in 1850. Callebaut began as a brewery which started producing chocolate bars in 1911. In 2005, Barry Callebaut introduced ACTICOA, a healthy chocolate which contains higher levels of polyphenol antioxidants than any other chocolate. www.barry-callebaut.com

10.Ezaki Glico Co. was founded by Toshikazu Ezaki in Osaka, Japan, in 1929. Many chocolate products have come out of this company: Pretz, Pocky, Bisco, Kiss- mint, Papico, etc. www.glico.co.jp/en/index.htm

Japanese Chocolate and Strawberry Pocky

Bigger, Better, Best Chocolate World Records!

There is a reason why we like World Records so much. It’s because it’s always all about the biggest, best, largest, most… something. So, here’s what the World Records Academy can tell us about chocolate:

-The Biggest Chocolate Crepe Cake World Record was set by Gus Kazakos in New Jersey by building a 300 pounds, 40 inches tall French crepe. The crepe was made from 120 pounds of flour, 140 eggs, 80 liters of milk, 80 pounds of chocolate, 40 pounds of bananas and 40 pounds of strawberries.

-The Biggest Chocolate Castle World Record was set by Krunoslav Budiselic in Zagreb, Croatia. The castle measured 3m (10ft.) high and was made with more than 100,000 chocolate bars, from a local producer Kras. It weighed 10 tonnes.

-The Biggest Chocolate Éclair World Record was set by The Swallow Bakery in Chichester, UK which created an 11 ft 10 inches long chocolate éclair with 8 pints of double cream and a kilo of chocolate.

-The Largest Box of Chocolates World Record was set by Thorntons Moments in London who broke the World Record by building a 16.5 ft (5m) tall and 11.5 ft (3.5m) wide box containing over 220,000 chocolates. The box weighed over 2 tonnes.

-The Largest Cup of Hot Chocolate World Record was set by the Serendipity Three Restaurant in New York, which made a 4-gallons hot chocolate for its 55th birthday: 12 pounds of cocoa powder blended with 14 different cocoas, 8 quarts of heavy cream and 1 pound of fine shaved French chocolate.

-The Largest Slab of Chocolate Fudge World Record was set by the Lansing Community in Michigan, who made a slab of fudge that weighed 5,500 pounds : 705 pounds of butter, 2,800 pounds of chocolate and 305 gallons of sweetened condensed milk.

-The World’s Largest Hershey Kiss was made in 2007 and weighed 30,540 pounds. It took 152 people and 9 days to make it and it stands 12-feet tall, 10.5 feet wide and is covered in 16,460 ft of foil.

-The World’s Biggest Chocolate Easter Egg was made by Belgian chocolate producer Guylian and it took 50,000 bars of chocolate (1950 kg of chocolate), 26 men and 525 hours in total to make it. It measured 8.32 m. high.

-There is also the World’s Largest Chocolate Fountain in Las Vegas.

-As for the World’s Largest Chocolate Bar…well, there seem to be a lot of people claiming first prize but according to the Guinness World Records, in 2007, Elah Dufour Novi in Liguria, Italy made a chocolate bar that weighed 3,580 kg.

My question is …what do they do with all this chocolate, once it starts melting???

Make your own m&m character!

Hello boys! Meet Natali and Natali...

If you want to make your own m&m characters, visit
Make your own m&m characters

Some trivia, statistics & curiosities

Well, 61% of Japanese seem to like chocolate. That’s good but it could be better. :-)


Did you know…?


1. The average American eats 10-12 pounds (4.5 kg) of chocolate a year. The average Swiss eats 21 pounds a year, making Switzerland the biggest country of chocolate consumers.

2. Chocolates can absorb other flavors and scents, and should be kept away from other household chemicals.

3. Children are more likely to prefer chocolate when they reach 10-11 years old than when they are younger.

4. Cocoa is a misspelling of cacao.

5. In the Pre-Colombian Mesoamerica, you could buy a rabbit with 4 cocoa beans, a prostitute for 10 beans and a wife for a 100.

6. During WWII, American soldiers were given 3 chocolate bars, each one containing 600 Kcal, as part of their daily diet. Hershey was the first company to make chocolates resistant to the hot sun, up to a temperature of 60 C (140 F) .

7. In 1624, chocolate was condemned by Johan Franciscus Rauch in Vienna. It was considered an inflamer of passions and Rauch wanted to ban it among monks.

8. Casanova considered it to be an excellent aphrodisiac and drank it often at Café Florian in Venice.

9. A chocolate bar contains more protein and B2 vitamin than a banana or an orange.

10.Chocolate contains calcium which is good for your teeth!

11. Fiji and Ghana display cacao on their national coat of arms.

12. Annual world consumption of cocoa beans averages about 600,000 tons.

13. It takes about 400 cocoa beans to make a pound of chocolate.

14. Hawaii is the only US state that grows cocoa to produce chocolate.

15. In the 1800s, the Swiss were the first to invent methods to turn cocoa into solid chocolate candy.

The above 15 trivia were compiled with the help of: a) Loedahus Chokladkult at www.chokladkultur.se, b) Criss White at ezinearticles.com , c) A Guide to Chocolate at www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Je suis fou du chocolat Lanvin!

Happy New Year peeps! Wishes for a successful New Year with lots and lots of chocolate !!!