Chocolate - The Other Dark, Rich Treat You Can't Live Without

Chocolate - The Other Dark, Rich Treat You Can't Live Without

Chocolate is the one delicacy that seems to be universally loved, especially when this chocolate is combined with coffee. Chocolate is the other dark, rich treat you can't live without. Chocolate makers all over the world produce this sinfully delicious treat with expertise, age old recipes and innovative candy making that is helped along with technological devices not available a century ago. Chocolate goes hand in hand with so many of the foods and drinks that are incorporated into each culture. Take a deliciously enticing visit through gourmet chocolate that each person should experience at least once in a lifetime. It is just too good to not partake at least once of the delightful gourmet chocolate selections. Victorian parlors once held a standard silver tea set and a chocolate service as part of the room's furnishings. The chocolate service required some skill in order to use it properly and to serve an excellent cup of chocolate to your guests.

The secret to melting chocolate is all in the time you take with it. Chocolate loves to be tenderly, slowly melted into thick syrup that can be used in so many ways. Low heat will protect the integrity of the chocolate and keep the texture smooth. High heat will crystallize the sugars in the chocolate and ruin the smooth texture. Small bits of chocolate will melt more evenly and in less time than large chunks. You want to be sure all of your utensils and the container that will hold your chocolate is moisture free. Chocolate and water do not mix, chocolate is full of oils that will clump and really tear up the texture of the chocolate. Double boilers and the microwave are two good ways to melt chocolate. Being careful not to let water get into your chocolate on a double boiler, you can melt chocolate and hold it in the melted stage for a long period of time at very low heat. The microwave is a little trickier to use to melt chocolate, but again the secret is to use very small bits of chocolate for thirty seconds at a time, stirring before heating again to finish melting. A quick and delicious addition to a gift basket for Easter or other occasion is a hot chocolate kit that includes the hot chocolate mix, a mug and miniature marshmallows and of course, one box of gourmet chocolates. Another great gift idea is to dip large marshmallows skewered on bamboo into melted chocolate, let them set up and wrap in colorful cellophane. Chocolate is one of life's necessary pleasures and combined with a full bodied, aromatic coffee, is a taste sensation that could create memories of the taste delight your mouth experiences. It is not often we actually stop to savor the flavors of these indulgences, but when you are a gourmand, it makes all the difference in the world in the body, color, texture and perfection of the artistically created gourmet chocolates and coffees.