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.

Cocoa Mulch

Can you image! Cocoa is not only good for your body, but for fertilizing your yard as well. Recently, I came a cross National Cocoa Shell, a company that distributes cocoa shell mulch or cocoa mulch. The mulch is created from the shells of the cacao bean. After the cacao bean is harvested, dried, fermented, roasted and winnowed/hulled, you are left with a cacao nib which is processed into chocolate and the outer shell. It is the outer shell that is used to create cocoa mulch.

According to the website, cocoa mulch adds nutrients to the soil and leaves a nice aroma for two to three weeks after it is spread about the yard. I’ll take that over manure smell any day!

Hot Chocolate Recall

Green & Black’s voluntary recalled a batch of their Organic Hot Chocolate, 300 g, with lot code L7348, due to glass fragments found in the product. The recall only involves the Organic Hot Chocolate Drink, 300g.

Houston Chocoholics

According to the Houston Business Journal’s February 15 – 21, 2008 issue, Houston, Texas and Louisville, Kentucky, are tied for fourth place for chocolate candy sales based on market size. Per The Nielsen Co., both cities purchased 21% more than expected during a study that ended the week of February 17, 2007.