Chocolate Is Healthy » healthy chocolate

Healthy Chocolate Bars, Also Delicious, From Olivia Chocolatiers

sarita — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:26:37 +0000

Frustrated with the taste of healthy chocolate? Try as you might to enjoy minimally-processed chocolate for better health and pure enjoyment, you may find the taste unpleasantly bitter. Bitterness in chocolate comes from underfermented or over-roasted cocoa beans, or other missteps in the manufacturing process. (You may have noticed something similar happens with coffee beans). As a result, many people associate fine, high-quality, high cocoa content chocolate with bitterness, when that doesn’t have to be the case.

Enter Olivia Chocolat, one of Canada’s newest and finest chocolate makers. Not only does Olivia Chocolate produce fine, dark, “bean-to-bar” chocolate bars. Founder David MacDonald developed a way to remove any natural bitterness from chocolate to produce a smooth, unrefined, pleasantly sweet taste. This is sure to satisfy anyone interested in exploring dark chocolate, but who may be uneasy with the bitterness.

With each batch of chocolate taking 10 days to prepare, Olivia Chocolatiers is a small-but-growing chocolate company that incorporates local ingredients into their offerings such as maple sugar from Quebec. They currently distribute their chocolate throughout Ontario and Quebec.

What’s next? In addition to producing more delicious chocolate, Olivia is working on a chocolate recipe for diabetics using low-glycemic palm sugar. Another healthy chocolate success!

Check out a related article in the Ottawa Citizen. Also, visit Olivia Chocolatiers.

Healthy Chocolate Handling Basics: How To Store and Handle Chocolate

sarita — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:39:12 +0000

Like much of baking, working with chocolate is not without its mysteries. Have you ever noticed that when you have refrigerated chocolate, it develops a white colored exterior? What about when the flavor of chocolate changes once melted?

Temperature and humidity are key when storing chocolate and maintaining its freshness. Keep your chocolate stored between 50 and 70 degrees F. This consistency of temperature is essential.

Make sure packages of chocolate are tightly sealed so that neither air nor light can penetrate the chocolate.

If you’re melting chocolate, do so using a double boiler. It’s a gentler way of heating than a typical stovetop pan or microwave. This raises the temperature and changes chocolate’s texture more gradually to help avoid scorching and keep its smooth, glossy appearance. It also helps it to maintain its natural flavors.

DIY Organic Healthy Chocolate Kits From Navitas Naturals

Chocolate Health Tips Courtesy of Glamour

sarita — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:47:24 +0000

Glamour provides the Dos and Don’ts of how to eat chocolate, and how to maximize its health benefits.

One of the first rules of eating healthy chocolate is to look for dark chocolate that is 70% cacao. However, the article raises a great point about dark chocolate and how it can be an acquired taste, particularly for people accustomed to very sweet milk chocolate. Doctors make the following recommendation:

“Shara Aaron, M.S., R.D, and Monica Bearden, R.D., the coauthors of Chocolate—A Healthy Passion, have a helpful tip: “You can develop a palate for the dark stuff by gradually increasing the percentage of cocoa in your chocolates and can even find some milk chocolates with 50 percent cocoa or more.”

The Dos and Don’ts of Chocolate: Health & Fitness: glamour.com.

Chocolate: Good Fat vs. Bad Fat

sarita — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:43:13 +0000

While we’re often told to steer clear of saturated fats, some of the saturated fat found in chocolate is actually not harmful and doesn’t raise cholesterol. So does this make chocolate heart healthy? Cocoa butter still contains fat and calories that can contribute to weight gain. So much of healthy chocolate consumption depends on how it is consumed. Here’s what Cooking Light suggests when it comes to having your chocolate and eating it too.

“Some researchers argue, however, that, regardless of stearic acid, chocolate is still a high-fat, high-calorie food. Small amounts can be worked into a healthy diet, but large quantities aren’t a recipe for good health, particularly when you consider how many Americans are overweight, says Penn State University nutritionist Penny Kris-Etherton, Ph.D. She suggests a leaner way to get that chocolate fix: Opt for cocoa, the powder formed when cocoa beans are ground and stripped of cocoa butter.”

Healthy Chocolate? – CookingLight.com.

Healthy Halloween Chocolate and Candy

sarita — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:32:30 +0000

There’s still time to offer healthy, organic Halloween chocolate treats, instead of the unnatural processed candy found in the supermarket.

We came across this great roundup of all natural Halloween treats. Options include fair trade certified chocolate coins from Ghana, Clif Spooky S’mores Energy Bars, organic gluten-free chocolates from Equal Exchange and vegan Bluestocking peanut butter cups. Any of these will deliver the delights of chocolate, without the additives and preservatives.

6 Healthier Halloween Eco-Treats for Kids (No Tricks, We Promise!) | Inhabitots.