Hot Chocolate in New York

Take a trip to New York's fabulous hot chocolate shops.

Found it!

I found Roy's Chocolate Souffle Recipe from Roy's Restaurant (and a previous post)! Yahooooo!

Yield: 4 Servings
Ingredients:
6 tbls Unsalted Butter
4 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate
¾ c Sugar
1- ¾ tbls Cornstarch
2 Eggs, plus 2 Egg Yolks

Preparation:
Melt butter and chocolate together in a double boiler.

Combine sugar and cornstarch. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs with yolks. Add chocolate mixture to sugar mixture; combine thoroughly. Add eggs and whisk just until smooth. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking oil. Spray molds with oil and line with parchment. Spray parchment with oil. Scoop batter into molds so they are 2/3 full.

Bake on top rack of oven 20 minutes, or until sides are set but center is still undercooked. Remove from oven. Holding each mold with tongs or potholders, slip a metal spatula underneath and transfer to a plate. Slip a butter knife between the parchment and the mold to loosen cake; slip off mold and peel off parchment. Serve.

Click here for a PDF copy.

Enjoy all!

Central American’s cacao production revitalization

The Ngobe Indian people of western Panama in Central America are returning back to their roots! For centuries, the people of Central America grew, harvested and indulged their own chocolate beverages. In the 1990’s, they moved away from growing and harvesting cacao due to poor prices and a fungus infestation. With a global upswing in chocolate consumption, the indigenous people are reviving their cacao plantations.

Like other cacao growing regions, cooperatives are being established allowing growers to secure proper prices and profits for their beans as well as manage the relationships with buyers. As more chocolate manufacturers look for fair trade products, Central America as an edge over the Ivory Coast, the largest cacao grower in the world, which has been tied to child-slave labor. The native people of Central America work their own plantations thus removing the child-slave labor stigma.

Personally, I think it is nice to see people from Belize to Panama return to an industry they perfected so long ago.