Homemade Chocolate Recipes

Cut the chocolate in fine bits.

Put the milk on the stove in the double-boiler, and when it has been heated to the boiling point, put the chocolate, sugar and water in a small iron or granite-ware pan, and stir over a hot fire until smooth and glossy.

Stir this mixture into the hot milk, and beat well with a whisk.

Serve at once, putting a tablespoonful of whipped cream in each cup and then filling up with the chocolate.

The main ingredient of the chocolate as everybody knows is cocoa powder. Cocoa powder is made from pinkish almond-shaped cocoa beans that grow in the equatorial area of the planet (planet of Earth, of course).

The first European who ever tasted the cocoa in any form was the Spanish conqueror Cortez. It was in the form of a beverage served by no other than the Great Aztec leader Montezuma.

Subsequent Spanish additions of sugar, cinnamon and vanilla improved substantially the taste and made the beverage wildly popular.

By 1800s slowly chocolate candies started to appear...

As I promised there is a "sticky" recipe below. For plain chocolate use the one that contains cocoa of 65% or more since it is better for your health and use less sugar. You may try a combination of sugar and a healthy sugar substitute of your choice.

Grate the chocolate.

Beat the butter to a cream, and gradually beat in the sugar.

Beat in the milk and vanilla, then the eggs (already well beaten), next the chocolate, and finally the flour already mixed with the baking powder.

Pour into two well buttered shallow cake pans.

Bake for twenty-five minutes in a moderate oven.

As I already mentioned cocoa trees are cultivated mainly in the equatorial area in countries like Ivory Coast in West Africa, for example.

While doing my research I learned that the change of policy of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Africa affected negatively the farmers, cocoa producers.

Unable to negotiate fair prices for their product with big multinational corporations, the cocoa producers turned to slave child labor to keep the production cost down. First they took their own children out of school so they can help with cocoa production and then started to buy children slaves from human traffickers.

Needless to say I was devastated to learn about that. And what makes me really cry is that very often parents themselves were giving children to farmers because they were unable to feed them.

As Carol Off, the author of the "Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet" book, found out these people don't even know WHY they grow the cocoa, WHAT is made from it. They say "We grow the cocoa beans because you do something with them".

They've never seen the final product...

With deep gratitude I realized how BLESSED I am to be able to send my child to school and to have food everyday on my table and for endless other everyday things we usually don't pay attention to.

If you want to know more about this issue, buy the "Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet" by Carol Off on Amazon - see the link below.

There are many speculations about the health benefits of chocolate. I don't want to go into too many details, just want to mention that this is an amazing product with numerous health benefits. Here are some benefits in a bullet form:

- Chocolate is high on antioxidant bioflavonoids and contains vitamins and minerals - some of them are vitamins B1, B2, D and E and minerals magnesium and potassium. See the "resources" after this module on more details on these vitamins and minerals.

Click the links below for the detailed articles on these vitamins and minerals:

- A research conducted in the USA discovered that a single serving of chocolate contains more anti-oxidants and cancer-preventing properties than green tea and red wine!

- Chocolate is good for cardiovascular health; it also can help lower cholesterol and high blood pressure.

- 66.6 % of fats in chocolate are the healthy ones - 33.3% of oleic acid (monosaturated, found in olive oil), 33.3% of stearic acid (saturated, but according to a research has no effect on cholesterol) and 33.3% of palmitic acid (saturated, can affect negatively the cholesterol level).

- While chocolate products contain sugar the antioxidant properties of the cocoa in chocolate prevent this sugar to contribute to tooth decay.

- Chocolate contains mood elevating substances (L-Tryptophan, serotonin) hence it is good for depression and a good cure for emotional "lows".

Make sure to choose the dark chocolate variety with 65% cocoa and more to enjoy the benefits.

Put the milk on to boil in a double-boiler. Put the flour and one cupful of the sugar in a bowl; add the eggs, and beat the mixture until light.

Stir this into the boiling milk, and cook for twenty minutes, stirring often.

Scrape the chocolate, and put it in a small saucepan. Add four tablespoonfuls of sugar (which should be taken from the second cupful) and two tablespoonfuls of hot water.

Stir over a hot fire until smooth and glossy. Add this to the cooking mixture.

When the preparation has cooked for twenty minutes, take it from the fire and add the remainder of the sugar and the cream, which should be gradually beaten into the hot mixture.

Set away to cool, and when cold, freeze.

Are you trying to lose weight? Are you also a chocolate lover?

I have good news for you.

Chocolate has some properties that can help you lose weight. But before you rush and stock up piles of chocolate, let me tell you more details.

Chocolate will help you increase your mood and this will decrease the cravings for junk food you might have.

Visit the Chocolate for Weight Loss for more details.

However it is high on fat and hence needs to be consumed in moderation.

Buy high cocoa content or "dark" chocolate and eat one 200 g bar during 5-7 days meaning no more than 50 g per day.

Chocolate has been associated with love and affection for ages.

What do we give as presents on St-Valentine's Day?

What other food will show our loved ones that we care?

The smell of homemade, fresh chocolate products mixed with cinnamon and vanilla can fill every home with warmth, love and affection.

Visit the homemadechocolaterecipes.com for more recipes.

The part of the proceeds will be donated to increase the awareness of the "slave labor" that unbelievably exists in 21st century in a modest attempt to help eradicate it.

Visit the Homemade Chocolate Recipes now for more details.