Chocolate Consumption Boosts Demand

Sounds like the story behind the rising fuel costs. China’s chocolate consumption is increasing 10 to 15 percent a year The result is an increase in the demand for cocoa.



Another issue affecting the price of cocoa is the tightening supplies from Africa and growing demand for chocolate. In London cocoa climb to its highest since at least 1989.

So far this year this year, according to data provided by Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant Ltd., China’s imports of cocoa beans rose 13 percent to 15,543 metric tons, while imports of cocoa powder gained 22 percent to 6,342 tons,
Most Chinese chocolate products sold, worth about $2.9 billion a year, are in the medium to lower range of the market, containing less cocoa . Ironically, China’s per capita chocolate consumption ranks very low.
Crops in Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest grower, are threatened by disease has also added to the lowered cocoa supply.

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Peppers & Chocolate? Really?

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Chocolate Malt Shake

Seems like a great time of year to treat yourself to a Chocolate Malt Shake.
It's easy to do.

Ingredients

1/2 cup chocolate ice cream
1/4 cup chocolate soy milk
1 teaspoon malted milk powder



Blend ingredients in a blender until smooth.

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Cheater's Fudge

INGREDIENTS

* 2 cups milk chocolate chips
* 2 1/2 cups prepared chocolate frosting
* 1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

• Line one 8x8 inch square pan with foil.
• Lightly grease or spray the foil.
• Melt the chocolate chips over low heat, stirring constantly.
• Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and stir in the frosting and the nuts stirring until smooth.
• Pour into the prepared pan and refrigerate until firm.
• Once firm cut in small squares.

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maintain the seductive and lustrous brown gloss of chocolate,

Researches tell how to maintain the seductive and lustrous brown gloss of chocolate.
Canadian and Swedish scientists have shown that understanding the sweet's microstructure is key to stopping those unappetising looking, and sounding, "fat blooms".
The study is published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal, Soft Matter.

The researchers have found new clues to understanding the microstructure of chocolate and what happens when it turns grey with age.

The researchers used temperature-controlled environmental electron scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to look at the needle-like spikes of cocoa butter that scatter light and make chocolate turn grey either if it has been stored too long or has been exposed to even small fluctuations in temperature as small as 2 degrees Celsius.

Fat blooms occur because chocolate is extremely sensitive to temperature. Just a 2°C fluctuation will cause the cocoa butter to melt, then recrystallise, forming needle-like structures that scatter light, giving a dull appearance.

The team studied the surface of chocolate as it aged using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), which fires electrons at the surface and measures the electrons knocked back from it to build a picture of the surface with very high resolution.

They found that where the chocolate surface was rough, blooms were far more likely to form.

The research suggests that if manufacturers were to minimize the amount of surface imperfections, this would be a good way to reduce blooms.

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