How to make chocolate ?

It's easy to make chocolate but it's hard to make chocolate well. This is why there are so few excellent chocolate makers in the world and those who are very good at it retain their respective titles.

You can try making chocolate at home, but after a few attempts, unless you're a hobbyist, you'll probably resort to buying it from the store in the future.

The first thing you'll need to do is select your beans. The Forasteros bean has a slightly bitter taste and weak aroma but due to the fact that it grows in high yields, it's the most popular cocoa bean in the world, accounting for most of the world's chocolate production. The Criollo bean is of higher quality than the Forasteros but more expensive. The Trinitario is a hybrid of the Criollo and the Forasteros, while the Nacional has a nice aroma but it's hard to grow, making it one of the less popular cocoa beans.

After selecting your cocoa beans you'll need to roast them until the hulls crack. It can be anywhere from 10 minutes to a half hour at a temperature range of 250 to 300 degrees. It's important to keep an eye on them so you know when the shells crack and you can take them out before they burn. Use the same method you might use to roast chestnuts and Christmas time.

Remove the husks. It's possible to do this with a hammer and a thick cutting board. Next you'll need to grind the beans to a powder and refine the powder by grinding them again. Since cocoa beans have a pulp and a moisture to them, don't grind them using a wheat grinder, as it will cause the wheat grinder to clog and create a paste rather than a powder.

Next, agitate the chocolate by folding it over and add sugar, lecithin, and milk if you want milk chocolate. This process takes quite a long time and you might need to use a machine that mixes automatically. Some bread mixers work quite well for this.

Finally, temper the chocolate by heating the mixture. This makes the chocolate smooth and shiny, though it's difficult to do it perfectly and if it doesn't temper properly your chocolate could either turn out burned or it might succumb to "bloom," which is when a white covering develops on the outside of the chocolate. Bloom doesn't ruin the chocolate but it does make it less attractive.

After all your hard work, enjoy your final product. Remember, after all, that chocolate contains alkaloids that are similar to the hormones your body produces when you're falling in love.

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How to make home mad chocolate?

The easiest way to make chocolate is to buy cooking chocolate from your local supermarket, melt it down, and pour it into molds. Cooking chocolate usually comes in four different flavours: milk, white, dark, and caramel. You do not, however, have to restrict yourself to these flavours as any store bought chocolate can be melted down and used. Now, we will take a look at the different steps used in making your chocolate.


Break or chop up the chocolate and put it into a bowl; this makes it easier to melt. Next, place the bowl into a microwave oven and put it on high. Another method is to place the broken up chocolate into a ceramic or glass bowl, which is then placed over a pot of boiling water. The aim is to use the steam to melt the chocolate, so never let the bowl touch the boiling water.

If the chocolate retains its original shape - thereby slowing down the melting process - one can stir it, with a wooden spoon, halfway through the process. This will keep it from overcooking. Note: different kinds of chocolate melt at different rates. White chocolate melts the fastest, while dark chocolate takes twice as long. Cooking chocolate, on the other hand, is the slowest melting chocolate of all three.

If the melted chocolate is too thin to use for decorating, add glycerine, as this thickens its consistency.

Once the chocolate is melted, pour it into a mold and leave it to harden. Generally, molds can be brought at your local supermarket; for more variety, you might want to go to a catering supply store. Alternatively, you can make your own molds by using aluminium foil or hygienic non-toxic plastics. If you are on a budget, ice trays can make good mold. You should not, however, use copper as it releases a poisonous residue that can be harmful.

For variety, one can melt two or three different types of chocolate and pour them into the different sections of the same mold. For example, if you have a mold of the Easter bunny, you could pour white chocolate into the mold of his head, milk chocolate into his body, and dark chocolate into his legs. Mixing different kinds of chocolates into the same mold will give you a unique looking chocolates and a variety of tastes. Another idea is to fill the mold almost to the brim with milk chocolate then, while it is still in liquid form, pour white chocolate in a spiral into the same mold, creating a beautiful whirl effect. The possibilities are endless! Bon appetite!



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Tips For Making Homemade Chocolates

Chocolate is used in a lot of desserts. These include ice cream, soufflés, custards and a host of other dishes. Almost everyone loves it because studies have shown that it is an aphrodisiac. If you are too lazy to go to the store to buy one, why don't you make it yourself by following these tips.

First, you have to get ready all the materials and ingredients you will be using. The two most important happen to be the chocolate and the mold both which can be purchased at the craft store.

Chocolate comes in many flavors. Some examples of these are bitter sweet, milk, dark, semi-sweet, sweet and white. These are often sold in blocks if you don't have the time to convert these from cocoa beans. As for your molds, make sure that these are made from FDA approved food grade plastic.

You will also need sugar as this is a basic ingredient in most chocolates recipes. When you buy this from grocery, make sure that this does not have any trace of flour, salt or other kitchen ingredients.

Another important ingredient is unsalted butter. This is because the kind that contains salt is hard to ascertain and there are instances where it could spoil the taste of your dish. You must never substitute butter with margarine if you don't have any because this will just make the cooking time longer as the water content here is much higher than that of butter.

There are three ways to liquefy chocolate before shaping this to its final form. You can heat this using the microwave, a double boiler or the oven. When making these into candies, it will be a good idea to also use a thermometer so you are able to monitor its temperature.

If you are using a thermometer that has a bulb, make sure that it does not touch the sides of the pan because this could give you the wrong reading.

When the chocolate is ready, this is the time that you put these into the mold. So it doesn't look messy, get some using a teaspoon and pour this into the cartridges. This is also the time you should add in other ingredients like peanuts, marshmallows or candy sprinkles.

If there are air bubbles, remove them by holding the mold a few centimeters from the ground and dropping it on the table. You may have to do this several times to make sure that there is nothing left then you put these in the freezer.

You should check on your chocolate molds after 5 to 10 minutes. The bigger the mold, the longer it takes but you can check if it is ready by looking at the back of the mold. If a graying figure appears on the bottom, this means it is ready to be removed from the mold.

Once they are removed, put this in a plate or in a box if this is going to be given away. As for your molds, wash them in hot water and never with soap because this will remove its stickiness.

It should be dried thoroughly using a dry piece of cloth and stored properly so it looks good as new when you need to use it again.

You won't have any problems making home made chocolates as long as you follow these tips. Who knows, this could open new doors for you like starting your own business.

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Why Homemade Hot Chocolate Makes You Feel So Good?

You know that hot chocolate tastes good but why does it make you feel good too? Better yet, why does the homemade stuff taste better than anything else? The answer may surprise you.

You likely already know that chocolate is good for you. It’s a fact that chocoholics sing from the rooftops. Chocolate contains flavonoids. These handy little guys act like antioxidants and help protect our body against cell damage. Flavonoids also have a positive affect on our red blood cells and the production of certain hormones. In fact, chocolate has been tested and shown to have a positive affect on a person’s mood. Perhaps it is the creamy texture or perhaps it is a chemical in the chocolate itself.

What you may not know is that some chocolate will make you feel much better than others. Take for example hot chocolate made from scratch. You’re simply combining warm milk and chocolate. There are no ‘extras’ that you might find in a commercial mix. No preservatives. No artificial sweeteners and no tropical oils.

What do tropical oils have to do with it? Tropical oils are extremely saturated fats. Quite often they’re found in snack foods and yes, you guessed it, many commercial hot chocolates. This high level of saturated fat may have a good enough taste but it doesn’t make you feel good. It makes you feel heavy and lethargic. Homemade hot chocolate makes you feel youthful and happy. The best of both worlds can be found.

You can get a homemade cocoa feeling from a hot cocoa mix. Just look for a mix that is free of tropical oils and 99% caffeine free like the McSteven’s hot cocoa mixes. One cup of this cocoa mix and you’ll feel like you’re drinking the feel good homemade cocoa your grandma used to make. Mysecretpantry.com carries a variety of cocoa mixes and hot chocolate makers. Stock up for winter!

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