Chocolate to become even tastier!

Chocolate may soon become even more irresistible thanks to a group of scientists who have pieced together the genetic code of the cacao tree.

It is hoped the DNA sequence will lead to chocolate that is healthier and tastier, and increase the sustainability of cacao crops and benefit millions of farmers.

The US researchers worked with a variety of cacao called Criollo that produces the world's best chocolate.

It was domesticated by the Maya people of Central America 3,000 years ago but is seldom grown in its pure form today.

Cacao farmers now prefer hybrid trees that yield poorer chocolate but are more resistant to disease.

Currently, production of fine cocoa - the raw ingredient of chocolate made from cacao beans - makes up less than 5% of the world total.

But the new genome, or genetic code blueprint, could see a return to the supreme quality chocolate enjoyed by the Maya.

The scientists assembled 84% of the cacao genome and identified 28,798 genes that code for proteins.

They also found that microRNAs - short strands of genetic material that help regulate genes - had a major influence on Criollo gene activity.

It is hoped the information will be used to develop high quality, disease-resistant strains.

Dr Siela Maximova, a member of the team from Pennsylvania State University, said: 'Our analysis of the Criollo genome has uncovered the genetic basis of pathways leading to the most important quality traits of chocolate - oil, flavonoid and terpene biosynthesis.

'It has also led to the discovery of hundreds of genes potentially involved in pathogen resistance, all of which can be used to accelerate the development of elite varieties of cacao in the future.'

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Source: BigPond News

10 More Reasons to Love Chocolate

We have previously outlined 10 Reasons to Love Chocolate. Well here are ten more!

10. There is an endless supply of it!

If you run out of chocolate all you need to do is go to your nearest shop to buy some more. If your nearest shop is not easy to get to you can always order your next fix of chocolate online and have it delivered straight to your work or home address.


9. Whatever your mood chocolate suits the occasion!

It doesn't matter if you are celebrating Christmas, relaxing in front of the TV or mourning the break up of a relationship, chocolate is perfect for the occasion.


8. It is an addiction you won't get arrested for!

Chocolate can be addictive as it contains stimulant substances like caffeine, theobromine and methylxantinesand and in some people it actually works like a drug. Making them feel happier and more relaxed. Unlike other addictions however chocolate is unlikely to get you arrested. So you can possess or consume several pounds of it with the fear of being sent to jail.


7. Chocolate is good for you!

Well dark chocolate is anyway. Recent studies suggest that chocolate, and especially dark chocolate, contains chemicals that lower the risk of cancer and heart disease. Flavanoids and antioxidants in dark chocolate have been shown to make a discernible difference in cardiovascular health. Until recently, tea was considered the main source for these chemicals. But now, scientists recommend that you have a chocolate cookie or biscuit with black tea so your body gets more of those life-lengthening chemicals.


6. You can base your holidays around it!

There are several countries around the world that make a fantastic chocolate holiday destination. You might not have necessarily thought of it amongst their other tourist attractions but a trip to New York, Paris, St Lucia or Brussels can include a taste and exploration of some of the best chocolate in the world.

5. It makes a great gift!

Everybody loves chocolate so if you're ever unsure of what to get someone for their birthday, Christmas, retirement, graduation or any celebration or occasion at all, a chocolate gift box is bound to be well received.


4. Chocolate is cheaper than Prozac!

Let's face it we all know chocolate improves our mood. And I know what I would rather have prescribed to me.


3. You can take it anywhere you go!

It doesn't matter where you go - on a flight, on the commute to work, to the cinema, park, beach or on an errand - you can take a chocolate with you to any destination. The same can't be said for other things you cherish. (Try taking your cat/dog to the cinema or your favourite Slipknot CD to work).


2. You can get paid to eat chocolate!

Most chocolate companies employ tasters to monitor the quality of their produce. Generally these tasters possess no formal qualifications in chocolate production but they do have an acute sense of taste and smell. If this is you then a dream job like this one at Green and Black's awaits. Who wouldn't want to make a living eating something they love!

1. It tastes Great!

Whether it be milk, dark or white, combined with nuts, fruit or some kind of lolly, the taste of chocolate is something we simply all enjoy. After all that is why we eat it isn't it?


Article posted by Spencer Samaroo, Managing Director, Moo-Lolly-Bar
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Chocolate companies shrink size of UK's favourite bars in bid to beat VAT hike and rising costs

Some of the biggest confectionery firms in the UK are shrinking their most popular brands in an attempt to protect their profits.

Companies such as Nestle and Cadburys have reduced the size of some of their most popular brands whilst at the same time increasing their prices to shelter profits from the rise in VAT, which is looming in January.

Poundland offers a typical example. Chief Executive Jim McCarthy said he’s agreed to cut the size of Toblerones by one triangle so he can keep the price at £1.

Similarly Dairy Milk bars will lose a couple of chunks in February whilst a bag of Maltesers will reduce in weight from 140g to 120g.

Bourneville, which was lablled a 'Scrooge' for removing the expensive chocolates from tubs of Heros two years ago, has taken more cost-cutting steps, under its new owner, Kraft.

A Cadburys spokesman, according to the Guardian Newspaper claimed they increased the price of packs due to rising ingredient costs.

Mintel analyst David Jago said the first wave of changes in confectionary value went largely unnoticed. Changes in the sizes of bars such as Mars and Twix were not obvious to most consumers, but now that companies are changing the price of bars as well, people are noticing a change.

Jago said the changes are a tactic being used by confectionary companies to keep profit margins stable when VAT is expected to rise and the price of sugar and cocoa are also increasing.

He also said manufacturers had been asked to alter the size of packs to help tackle the obesity epidemic.

The cost of chocolate has been rising since 2007 when cocoa prices hit a 33-year high over £2700 a tonne.

Customers are already seeing price rises at newsagents. Cadburys and Nestle have boosted recommended retail prices of Kit Kat, Yorkie, Wispa and Dairy Milk by a noticeable 7% – more than twice the rate of inflation.

A Nestle spokesman said the company ‘occasionally’ made changes to prices due to a change in formation or packaging.

The Office for National Statistics has said that food inflation is nearly 5%, in part due to Russia’s ban on grain and wheat exports following the summer droughts.


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Source: Daily Mail

Merry Christmas!

Moo-Lolly-Bar would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry and Chocolatey Christmas.

Hope you have a good one!

Chocolate-covered sausage?

When Jeff Tweten needed a special dessert for his grandkids last year at Thanksgiving, he came up with something very unusual — chocolate-covered venison sausage.

Tweten, of Lakewood Township near Duluth, sent some samples of that creation along to the News Tribune’s Great Venison Sausage/Jerky Contest, which was judged Wednesday at the newspaper’s offices.

Soon after he made chocolate-covered sausage, Tweten began getting grief from his buddies about the concoction.

“One of my friends said, 'Jeff, that’s wrong on so many levels'" Tweten said.

But the damage was already done. It was as if something had gone awry at a wild-game fondue party.

Tweten put toothpicks in small squares of the chocolate-covered sausage when he dropped off his samples for the contest. Just wait. This is sure to show up at the Minnesota State Fair as chocolate-covered venison sausage on a stick, although it might have to be deep-fried for good measure.

Judges at the News Tribune’s sausage contest were admittedly a bit leery about the choco-sausage-on-a-stick offerings.

“It looks bizarre,” said judge Maggie Jezierski of Duluth. “You can’t see the meat that’s inside there.”

One by one, Jezierski and fellow judges Karl Seckinger of Two Harbors and Scott Youngdahl of Duluth tried Tweten’s creation.

“Strangely good,” Youngdahl said.

“Ain’t bad,” Seckinger said. “I would have used dark chocolate, but it’s surprisingly good.”

“What’s that liquid in there?” Jezierski asked. “I feel like I’m eating a chocolate-covered cherry.”

There was no liquid in there, Tweten said. It was just venison sausage dipped in melted Dove chocolate, he said.

“The venison has to be cold so the chocolate sets up,” he added. “And you have to heat the chocolate in a double-boiler so it doesn’t burn.”

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Source: Duluth News Tribune

Chocolate Rediscovered In Peru!

Chocolate once thought to be extinct in peru has been rediscovered.

A variety of the plant Cacao, the plant used to make a version of chocolate called Pure Nacional has been rediscovered in Peru. The chocolate, which has fruit and floral flavors and once dominated the worldwide chocolate market, was pretty much entirely wiped out and considered lost when diseases plagued the Pure Nacional population in Ecuador resulting in more than 95% of the trees being destroyed.

Just recently, The United States Department of Agriculture confirmed the amazing rediscovery of the once forgotten chocolate. In 2007, Dan Pearson and Brian Horsley discovered cacao trees growing on small farms in a remote canyon in Peru’s Maranon Canyon while they were sourcing fruit in the same area. They grew curious about football-shaped pods filled with white and purple beans and sent samples to the USDA for testing who then confirmed these were indeed chocolate plants.

'The international cacao database has 5,300 entries. None are Pure Nacional with white beans. Cacao pods with 40% and 100% white Pure Nacional beans are an unprecedented discovery' said Meinhardt.

The most amazing part about this discovery is the uniqueness of these particular plants. The high canyon walls in the Maranon Canyon create a unique climate for the trees that thrive at the highest altitudes ever reporter for cacao (between 3,500 and 4,100 feet).

With the help of specialists and ongoing testing, the rare beans are now being processed and being backed by Maranon Chocolate, which was founded after the discovery. They are being produced for the public by the Swiss chocolate maker and will be present at The Institute of Culinary Education in New York City on January 11, 2011 for the launch of the chocolate.

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Source: The Institute of Culinary Education

Nestle buys Jenny Craig!

In a move that will surely raise some eyebrows, Nestle, the company behind such popular confectionery treats as Kit Kat, Violet Crumble and Aero, have announced it will soon take over the management of weight-loss giant Jenny Craig.

The multinational food company and chocolate manufacturer has confirmed it will acquire all shares of the group that controls the Jenny Craig franchise in Australia and New Zealand at an undisclosed price. When the acquisition goes through next month it will complete Nestle's takeover of Jenny Craig. A process which began in 2006 with the US$600 million buy-out of its international arm.

The move has been met with some cynicism, with one prominent nutritionist likening the deal to a perfect circle where Nestle can now profit from a person get fatter and also losing weight. However when asked about its dual interest in confectionery and weight-loss, a Nestle spokesperson reiterated that chocolate could be part of a healthy diet.

"Chocolate in moderation can be a fun part of a balanced diet, as a treat," the spokesperson said.

"However, the rise of obesity is a major public health concern around the world, and one which we share, and the Jenny Craig acquisition allows us to help many of our consumers."

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Source: News.com.au

Recipe of the Week - Lindt Truffles

A fantastic recipe for all lovers of Lindt Chocolate, these truffles are not only deluxe but also are quite easy to make. For an ultra gourmet finish try using grated coconut, finely ground hazelnuts, chestnuts, almonds or pistachios instead of the cocoa powder or powdered sugar.


INGREDIENTS (Makes approx 25)

2 x 100g bars of Lindt Dark Chocolate or Lindt Excellence Extra Creamy
8oz double cream
200g cocoa powder or powdered sugar


METHOD

1. Break the Lindt Chocolate into pieces and melt (ideally in a bain marie at 40 - 50 °C) until it has fully melted.

 2. Heat the full cream briefly, add the melted chocolate and mix together well. Cover the chocolate mixture with cling film ensuring it is air-tight and leave to chill for roughly 8 hours in the fridge.

3. Pour the cocoa powder or powdered sugar into a small bowl. Using a tea spoon, measure out some truffle mixture (approx 10 grams should suffice) and work it into a ball. Roll the ball into the cocoa powder or powdered sugar (or alternative ingredients mentioned above) and place on a serving plate.


IMPORTANT -  Keep your truffles in a cool, dark and dry place. Do not put it the fridge as the moisture will ruin it.


Recipe posted by Spencer Samaroo, Managing Director, Moo-Lolly-Bar
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Clever marketing or chocolate harrassment?

An Israeli confectionery company seems to have gone one step too far in an unusual, aggressive attempt to market a new chocolate bar.

An anonymous letter sent to dozens of Israeli women this week stated: "I saw you at lunch break next to the elevator, yielding for something new, original and unexpected. Ever since then, I have been imagining our first date at midday, I can't wait!" reads the hand written message, Haaretz daily newspaper reports.

"I don't know how to tell you this so I will be direct: let's meet over coffee for lunch or maybe for a different sort of meeting in the evening. But remember: if you don't come to me, I will already get to you," the letter concludes.

Among the women who received the mysterious note was parliament member Miri Regev who filed a compliant against the anonymous stalker.

"This was a very unpleasant thing to read" she told CNN.

Regev only found the message to be a commercial hoax when police investigation traced an advertising company as the sender.

"The revelation left me outraged. This is simply unacceptable, to be used as a woman just in order to market a product in such a manner that crosses all the red lines," she said.

Police are still investigating the story and have yet to decide whether to press charges against the creative writers and the confectionery company.

EDK advertising, who was responsible for the controversial idea told Haaretz: "The mere fact that the media is talking about the campaign means that it was a success. In any case, this is not a criminal offense."

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Source: IME Producer

Recipe of the Week - Chocolate Jalapeno Brownies

Chocolate and chilli is a fabulous combination and these delicious cookies highlight this very well. Easy to make and absolutely delicious, they go perfectly with a blob of ice cream.


Ingredients

5 oz baking chocolate
4  large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup of oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup of chopped jalapenos 


Method

1. Slowly melt the chocolate over a bowl of hot water.

2. Beat the eggs into a mixture of flour, baking powder, and salt, then slowly fold in the sugar. When the batter is smooth, blend in the melted chocolate, vanilla, and oil and stir it until it's well blended.

3. Stir in the jalapenos, then spoon the mixture into a greased rectangular pan.

4. Bake for about half an hour at 350 degrees then remove from the oven.

5. Cut into squares while it's still warm and serve with ice cream.


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Customer of the Month!

Congratulations to Trena Lyons of Noosa Heads, Queensland who is this month's 'CUSTOMER OF THE MONTH!'.

Trena has won herself $25 of free chocolates and lollies just by placing an online order with Moo-Lolly-Bar in November.

One lucky winner will win the same prize on December 31st 2010.


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