Do these make you think of summer?

It's summer - thinking about swimming in the ocean or hanging out by the beach? I was looking through the website thinking which of our products said summer more than anything else. I came up with these great chocolate fish. One of our favorite products here and the kids all love them. Especially those that have allergies to milk, or nuts, and peanuts. Vegans also seem to be enjoying these. They come in a pack of 12 -  foil wrapped in gold of course.

Keep Calm and Eat a Piece of Dark Chocolate

A new study from the Swinburne University of Technology found that eating dark chocolate could calm you down. How? Apparently, it all has to do with antioxidant-rich, Polyphenols. Found naturally in dark chocolate, polyphenols respond to brain receptors associated with anxiety. Even more interesting, common anxiety medications and polyphenols may work through a similar biological system to target anxiety receptors, according to the study.

Looking for more reasons to up your antioxidant intake and enjoy more dark chocolate? Here are 3 (as if you need any):

·         According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “Polyphenols are the most abundant antioxidant in the diet.” Their total dietary intake makes their antioxidant rate 10 times higher than the intake of vitamin C and 100 times higher than the intake of vitamin E.

·         Dark chocolate is versatile. You can enjoy it in a traditional bar, or melted and poured over your favorite sweets. For just a hint of something sweet, dark chocolate also tastes great added to granola, yogurt or cereal.

·         Because of is high pure cocoa content, dark chocolate contains a greater percentage of powerful polyphenols. So, look at the cocoa percentages in your favorite dark chocolate, ideally 60% or higher.

Now, next time you satisfy your chocolate craving, reach for dark chocolate and you could feel more relaxed while boosting your antioxidant intake. It’s good for you!

5 Replacements for Your Favorite Dairy-Based Foods

Many baked goods, sweets and snacks are made using traditional dairy products. However, this can be a problem for people suffering from food allergies. Whether you’re interested in finding ways to work with a food allergy or you simply want to modify your diet, there are many dairy-free and egg-free options to help you still enjoy your favorite foods.

Ice Cream: A delicious dessert favorite packed with milk and cream.

What to use instead: Any “vegan” marked ice cream. Coconut milk is often a tasty substitute for milk in ice cream. Also try all natural fruit sorbet to pacify your sweet tooth.

  

Butter: Used as a staple for many baked goods and desserts.

What to use instead: Vegan margarine. Look for brands that are whey, lactose, casein and caseinate free.

Milk: Popular in baked goods, desserts, chocolate, cereals or granola, or alone.

What to use instead: Soymilk, almond milk or rice milk are easily found at most grocery stores. Look for items that are made with these cow’s milk substitutes or are labeled vegan or lactose free.

Cheese: Often used in casseroles, on pizza, sprinkled on top of meals, used as a spread, or eaten alone.

What to use instead: Look for alternative cheese products made with vegetable oil, nutritional yeast or soy protein that mimic traditional cheese. Avoid products with casein or caseinate.

Yogurt: A healthy snack on the go or a creamy additive in different recipes.

What to use instead: Soy yogurt, rice yogurt or coconut milk yogurt.

Ultimately, a good rule of thumb in finding delicious milk-free substitutes is to look for any label that states it is 100% vegan. Enjoy making your favorite meals dairy-free!

What is your favorite dairy-free product (besides our chocolate of course!)?

Making Dairy-Free Chocolate

As we continue to create a variety of delicious vegan, gluten-free and nut-free treats, a lot of people ask us about how our dairy-free chocolate is made. What is surprising to most people is that our process is basically the same as the traditional way chocolate is made. The core difference between dairy-free chocolate and traditional milk chocolate is the choice of ingredients, like using soymilk instead of cow’s milk.

Here is a look at how we make the chocolate for our signature Milkless Bars, chocolate-covered pretzels and more.

It’s all about the ingredients:

Our chocolate is made using about four fundamental ingredients including cocoa liquor (a.k.a liquid chocolate, which is finely ground cocoa beans), cocoa butter, sugar, and soy milk powder. Although we skip the dairy options, our chocolate still looks and tastes very similar to that signature smooth, creamy, rich chocolate so many people love.

Crafting chocolate:

We first put our ingredients in a machineiin called a conch, with rollers made out of stone. The conching process, which develops the flavor and make the chocolate velvety smooth, blends the ingredients for 12 to 15 hours until it grinds the mixture down to extremely small particles that are invisible to the taste buds, except in flavor! Eventually, these particles blend into one smooth, creamy result.

Next, the smooth chocolate goes into the tempering phase. Tempering is the step that makes the chocolate glossy by heating and manipulating the mixture. By repeatedly raising and lowering the temperature of the chocolate, the mixture becomes shiny and ready to be molded. Once it’s poured into the desired mold, we let the chocolate cool and prepare it for one of our various tasty forms.  

What do you find most interesting about how dairy-free chocolate is made?

The cups are finally here

 We've said they were coming. They have finally arrived. This is one giant step in our quest for a full candy line for those on special diets. This follows the Milkless bars and chocolate pretzels and is just a glimpse of what is coming. We are listening to you feedback. See them here

Dairy-Free Chocolate is the Original Chocolate

Those with food allergies might think that dairy-free chocolate is a modern development, created for those who cannot tolerate dairy products or choose not to eat it for personal beliefs.  But, did you know that the original chocolate products, created by the Aztecs, did not contain milk or sugar at all?

The Original Dairy Free Chocolate
In the book The True History of Chocolate, authors Sophie and Michael Coe say the earliest linguistic evidence of chocolate consumption goes back up to four millennia, to pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica, including the Aztecs.

Etymologists trace the origin of the word "chocolate" to the Aztec "xocoatl," a Nahuatl word meaning “bitter water”.  The Latin name for the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao, means "food of the gods." For several centuries in ancient Latin America, cacao beans were so valuable they were uses as currency. According to a historical 16^th Century Aztec document, one cacao bean could be traded for a tamale or 100 beans for a turkey hen.

Cows did not exist in pre-Columbian Mexico, which means the Aztecs did not even have milk or dairy products. Cows came over with the Spanish conquistadors, with whom the Aztecs shared their bitter chocolate drink.  It was too bitter for the European palettes, so milk and sugar were added when the Spanish took the cacao bean and its products back to Europe.

 Adding milk and sugar certainly lessens the health benefits of chocolate, which is why traditional dark chocolate is considered a healthier choice in the modern diet.  Of course, we think that dairy free chocolate is the best. After all, it was really the “original” chocolate!

The History of Mothers Day

For Mothers Day, we always think of bouquets of flowers, sentimental jewelry and, of course, delicious chocolate. But do you know why we celebrate our mothers on a special day each year?  Many societies have had similar celebrations for centuries, such as the Roman Festival of Hilaria or the Christian Mothering Sunday. Mothers Day as we know it today, however, is a purely American invention.

In the 1870s, an activist named Julia Ward Howe suggested a Mothers Day for Peace and even wrote the Mothers Day Proclamation urging women to unite for peace around the world.  Howes Mothers Day was held on June 2^nd in Boston for a number of years but was ultimately unsuccessful.

A few years later, Anna Jarvis established the modern Mothers Day. Anna never had children of her own, but wanted to honor her late mothers memory. So she handed out carnations to her churchs congregation, as they were her mothers favorite flower, and she felt they symbolized a mothers pure love.

In 1912, Anna created the Mother’s Day International Association. She stated that mothers should “be a singular possessive, for each family to honor their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world.” This same definition was used in the Joint Resolution President Woodrow Wilson signed in 1914 making Mother’s Day an official holiday that would fall on the second Sunday of May. Many other countries have adopted this version of Mother’s Day, though most modified the date to fall on existing celebratory days of motherhood.  

How do you celebrate Mother’s Day?  If your mother is a chocolate lover (and who isn’t?) order by Tuesday, May 7^th and receive your gift in time for Mother’s Day! 

Happy Mother’s Day to our moms and all of the wonderful mothers in the world!