Holiday shopping season starts tomorrow! Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate :)

I recommend zChocolat for Holiday shopping. Try delicious European chocolates straight from Aix-en-Provence in France. Warning - their offer is hard to resist! :)




United States: The shipping cost is $17.25 per delivery address regardless of the size or weight of the order plus a fuel surcharge of $3.75 per item purchased. Until December 24th, the shipping is free to the US if you order a minimum of 3 boxes delivered to a single location!

Chocolate cheesecake by Nigella Lawson

Today we're going to watch Nigella Lawson preparing her chocolate cheesecake. Bon appetit!

Nigella Lawson - old-fashioned chocolate cake

Looks pretty delicious and not complicated, why don't give it a try? :-)

Chocolate tasters not needed anymore?

Malvern Instruments launched its new device to measure the quality of chocolate. "The Morphologi G3 analyses chocolate in terms of particle size, shape and intensity to provide an easy and reliable method for determining mouth feel." While it's not really an alternative to tasting panels, maybe it is some step forward in the field of quality control and therefore will make our chocolate experiences more predictable.

Lovely promo video from British chocolatier

Chocolate fueled car

"University designers have come up with a Formula Three model racing car which is powered by chocolate oils." :D

More :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/coventry_warwickshire/8034540.stm

Child labor - bitter truth about chocolate

International Labor Rights Forum published 2009 Chocolate Company Scorecard concerning the issue of child labor in chocolate production. 

"The major US chocolate companies signed an agreement in 2001 (called the Harkin-Engel Protocol) committing to ensuring that they were not purchasing cocoa beans harvested by the worst forms of child labor, but in 2009, children continue to work in West African cocoa farms."

Results (progress 2001-2009) :

"The bitter" (the worst results) : Hershey, Mars, Nestle

"The semi-sweet" (right direction): Godiva, Ghirardelli/Lindt, Starbucks, Dagoba, Endangered Species Chocolate

"The sweetest!" (the most committed): Sweet Earth Chocolates, Divine Chocolate, Equal Exchange. See Commitment to Ethical Cocoa Sourcing