No homemade chocolate delicacy can be made without using Baker’s chocolate. It is one of the most famous chocolate brands in the history of chocolate. Of course, as the name implies it is userd more for baking than for direct consumption. Which in turn means that it is a product that is often tossed into a shopping basket without a thought. However it turns out that it is actually one of the most interesting things on the shelf.

The Baker’s chocolate business began in 1765, when Dr. James Baker went into the chocolate making business with a young man named John Hannon. The company is America’s oldest chocolate company. Another interesting thing about their history is that their chocolate was also one of the country’s first packaged and branded products that was nationally available, as many other goods did not travel or store well back in the day.

Back then, their product was primarily used for making sweetened chocolate drinks. This involved grating the solid chocolate into hot water. In 1870, the company came out with their first baking booklet. It was 12 pages long and given away with many products.

The most famous recipe to originate from Baker’s is the German Chocolate Cake. This chocolate has such a name because it was originally made with Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate, a sweetened baking chocolate that was invented by an employee named Sam German in 1852. The cake on the other hand was an invention by a woman in Texas, who christened the cake after the chocolate. The company is now owned by Kraft.


tags: German Chocolate Cake, Baker’s Chocolate, Dr. James Baker, chocolate drinks

Part of the industry process of making chocolate in a chocolate factory is fermenting. Fermenting is a process brought about by yeast acting on sugar to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. There are different types of fermenting such as top fermenting, bottom fermenting, barrel fermenting etc. The science of fermentation is called zymology. Fermentation is an important industrial process in the manufacture of many foods like cheese, beer, curd, chocolates. Dramatic changes take place to the food during fermentation.

An example is transformation of cacao fruit to chocolate. Fermentation is necessary part of the process.

Only ripe cacao fruit is taken to prepare chocolate and it requires experience to recognize ripe fruit. Ripe pods are found throughout the year. The tropical region with its continuous rainfall is a very suitable climate. Anywhere in the between 20 to 50 cream-colored beans are scooped from a typical pod . The husk and inner membrane are discarded. Dried beans from an average pod weigh less than two ounces, and around 400 beans are required to make one pound of chocolate. They definitely don’t look anything like chocolate.

The cocoa beans or seeds are removed from the pods. They are then put into boxes or thrown on heaps and covered. Around the beans is a layer of pulp which starts to heat up and in the process starts to ferment. The process of fermentation lasts from three to nine days and serves to remove the raw bitter taste of cocoa. This develops precursors and components that are characteristic of chocolate flavor. The process of fermentation generates temperatures as high as 125 degrees Fahrenheit. This kills the germs in the beans. It also activates existing enzymes in the beans to form compounds that produce the chocolate flavor when the beans are roasted. The result is a fully developed bean with a rich brown color. This is a sign that the cocoa is now ready for drying which is the next step in the production of chocolate.


tags: chocolate, chocolate factory, fermenting, cocoa

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I was out partying and drinking tonight. Didn’t have time to do any research today. But here are a few links on chocolate

MSN Chocolate

ASK Chocolate

AltaVista Chocolate


tags: ask, altaVista, MSN

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