It’s the weekend – kick your feet up and relax with a chocolate martini!

It couldn’t be any easier to make. All you need is 6 parts vodka, 1 part chocolate liqueur, garnish of choice.

Combine the vodka and liqueur in a mixing glass with ice cubes and stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a chocolate curl, strawberry, or chocolate powder. That’s it!

[image: flickr]

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This is fantastic: these guys decided that if you’re going to take a break, take a BIG break and while you’re at it, make it yourself!

They gathered 30 packages of Saisbury’s Luxury Belgian Milk Chocolate, 3 ScotBlok Chocolate Flavour Cake Coverings and 6 packages Loacker Quadratini chocolate wafers, and with the help of a wallpaper trough and a floor tile made a humongous Kit Kat bar!

The end product actually looks pretty tasty and you can see how proud they are of it too! Would you attempt something like this?

[image: sxc]

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Indiana Jones, that is! This great shot, taken using a Lego action figure, chocolate walls, and a delicious chocolate treat in the distance, is from flickr user thrig. Love it!

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Five Minute Chocolate Cake

You’ll need:

4 Tablespoons cake flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil
1 Mug

Instructions:

Mix flour, sugar and cocoa. Spoon in 1 egg and pour in milk and oil, and mix well. Put in microwave for 3 minutes on maximum power (1000watt) and wait until it stops rising and sets in the mug. Tip contents out of mug onto saucer and enjoy!

Make sure you use cake flour – all purpose tends to make it way too dense and thick. A few drops of real vanilla extract also gives it an authentic “cake taste!” Serve with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, fresh fruit, and/or ice cream.

[image: sxc]

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I could so go for an ice cream sundae today! We’ve had some rain which, sadly, doesn’t cool anything down, it just adds some humidity to the mix!

These two videos show how to make a basic one scoop sundae and a Swiss top sundae.

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Yes, chocolate for breakfast – and it’s actually good for you!

I had the opportunity to try some Antioxidant Indulgence cereal recently and am very happy to report that it was delicious! Because of its health factor I was expecting it to be vitamin-y or at the very least bland, but the crunchy whole grain flakes perfectly carried the dark chocolate flavor, and the real strawberries and Goji berries had the usual condensed, sweet flavor of dried fruits. The kids even loved it!

Like I said, the cereal is made with dark chocolate, strawberries and Goji berries which are all touted as great sources of antioxidants, which provide a boost to the body’s immune system and help neutralize free-radicals. It’s also low-fat and high in fiber (6 grams per serving) and is made with all-natural ingredients, providing 16 grams of whole grains per serving and is a natural source of vitamin C, niacin, iron, magnesium and selenium.

It’s one of three new cereals in the Natural Living line, which also include Omega-3 Harmony and Artisan Inspiration.

Each 10 oz box is about $4 and can be found at most grocery stores, including Whole Foods, Vons, Safeway, Albertsons, Ralph’s, Wegman’s, and Publix.

[image used with permission from Organic Milling]

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There are few chocolate combinations I like as much as chocolate with almonds – probably second only to chocolate with walnuts (and not even counting chocolate by itself!).

Tomorrow is yet another chocolate “holiday” – National Chocolate with Almonds Day! If you’re not able to get your hands on a delicious chocolate bar or bag of chocolate-covered almonds, you can always make some yourself!

And as always, don’t forget the e-cards!

Chocolate Almond Bark

1 (12 oz) package chocolate chips (milk or semi, your preference!)
1 tbsp vegetable shortening
1/2 c chopped toasted almonds

Optional:
1/2 c raisins
or 1/2 c crispy rice cereal

Combine the chocolate and vegetable shortening in double-boiler or microwave until melted. Stir until chocolate and shortening are combined and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup almonds and/or the raisins or crispy rice cereal.

Spread into wax-paper lined 9 x 13 inch baking pan (paper should overlap ends so that candy can be easily lifted out). Sprinkle remaining almonds on top. Chill about 30 minutes. Before serving, break into bite-size pieces. Yields about 1 pound.

[image: sxc]

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9 ounces (1.25 cups) dark chocolate, chopped
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

Prepare a cookie sheet by covering it with aluminum foil or parchment. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler. Stir until completely smooth.

Add in the walnuts and marshmallows, stirring until they are completely covered with chocolate. Drop by teaspoonfuls on the cookie sheet, and chill in the refrigerator until set.

[image: flickr]

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This is a fast and easy treat to make for a Fourth of July picnic or barbecue. An added bonus is that you can get the kids to do it and keep them occupied while you finish preparing the rest of the meal!

All you need are some cleaned, fresh strawberries, blueberries and white chocolate (or substitute vanilla chips if you don’t like white chocolate). Melt the white chocolate in the microwave in one minute increments. Make sure the strawberries are completely dry and lay them on wax or parchment paper.

Either dip the strawberries halfway into the white chocolate (you still want to be able to see the berry!) or, after it’s cooled a bit, put the white chocolate into a piping bag or a plastic baggie with a corner snipped off and pipe in lines over the strawberries. Let the the berries sit on the paper until the chocolate is completely set and then arrange on a plate or platter. Sprinkle the blueberries into and around the dipped strawberries and enjoy!

[image: sxc]

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Scientists are still spending time on chocolate, except this time around it’s not to tell us that it’s bad this week, good the next! Apparently they’re analyzing the more than 400 million parts of the cacao bean in an effort to help diminishing crops and possibly make chocolate taste better.

The dissection of the genome began this past Thursday and is expected to last five years. Mars, Inc. is funding the program by more than $10 million which doesn’t seem like much when you learn that fungal diseases cost the farmers approximately $700 million annually.

The research will allow them to see what parts of the bean are susceptible and give the scientists and farmers a better understanding of the bean. They also plan to release their findings publicly when it’s over because there will be more information than just one company can cover. Good for Mars!

It’ll be really interesting to see how this pans out or if, like a fair amount of research projects that get a lot of attention when they first start, it’ll just fade into history without any conclusion.

I’m also conflicted on the taste aspect. Quite a few companies are already getting it right (and the ones who aren’t used to but care more about the bottom line now), and I think “improving” on the taste of chocolate means it’s simply going to change it. I think it’s great that they want to make the crops more fungus resistant but I just don’t see how you can improve on the taste. What do you think?

[image: sxc]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes