My not so new toy

This time, I'm gonna introduce you to my new chocolate toy, my mol d'art choc melting machine. After few months waiting for it and going thru a lot of trouble with the wrong order from the distributor and waiting again and again and again, I finally got my dream machine. He is no Asimo but he's very handy for me when making large batch of chocolates. Its actually a mol d' art choc melting machine but I don't know why the distributor sells it as Callebaut Choc melting machine. Basically the "Callebaut" logo were just sticked onto tha machine for I don't know whatever reason. If you look underneath the machine, you'll see a big embossed logo for mol d' art hence I knew the original brand of this machine. Probably this is one kind of the mak angkat , kakak angkat kind of thingy kot. Whatever it is, I' so happy coz this is also the machine used by the World's most famous chocolatier, John Pierre Wybauw.... Huhuhu... I hope the chocs I made would one day be as good as his... coz the cost of this machine itself would also make me cry huarghhh.....


The capacity for this machine is around 6 kg I think. Using this machine is not as easy as it looks. Unless I get one of those ChocoVision tempering machine, then tempering chocolates can never be easy. If the quantity that I'm making is small, I'd rather use the tabling method than this. To just melt a few kg of chocolates in this machine would need a few hours!!! Plus the time it takes for the seeding and bla bla bla would be another thing. However, if the quantity is big, then its worthit la coz this machine would be able to hold the temperature of the chocolate in its tempered state for some time. All in all, I'm really excited about this machine and am longing to use it soon.

November Updates in December

It's been quite sometime that I haven't been pouring anything to this blog. I think since raya aidilfitri lagi kot. A lot of things have happened lately and I just don't have much time to spend on blogging. The most significant being the loss of my beloved Abah ke pangkuan Allah on the 19th of Oct 2008. Semoga Allah merahmati rohnya dan menempatkan dia di kalangan hamba2nya yang beriman. Amiinnn.

Anyway, just 2 days before that incident, I had also resigned from my job as a Research Analyst at one of the IT co that I had been working at for almost 4 years tu. And now I am recuperating myself from all these shocks of my life and at the same time trying to adjust to my new life schedules as a freelance IT consultant( which I hope is for temporary only...), as a cupcakeist ( always because of bidan terjun), and a chocolatier (something I've been dreaming of becoming ). hahahah... QUE SERA SERA.. whatever will be will be.... lalalalala. Hrm.. , did I mention that my reason to resign from my previous work was merely to concentrate on my family??? Sighh!!! Yeah.. whatever happens and whichever path that I chose... my life still goes on.. After all, what really matters is gaining Allah's blessings on whatever I do, insyallah...

Raya Specials - Open for orders till 31st Oct 2008!!!

Open For orders ....

Agak terlambat sedikit posting untuk my hari raya specials. Anyway, berikut adalah senarai chocolate untuk promosi raya. Offer adalah sah sehingga 31st Oct 2008. Semua produk coklat adalah menggunakan real milk chocolate. Insyallah semua produk kami adalah dipastikan halal. So people, place your order now for these fabulous offers only on this Hari Raya Celebration.



Code : MC 01
Milk Choc With Gummy Jelly Center
PRICE : 20.00
Qty : 26 pcs





Code : MC02
Milk Choco With Almond
PRICE : RM 20.00
Qty : 25 pcs






Code : MC03
Milk Choc Clusters ( cornflakes,almond and raisin in milk choc)
PRICE : RM 20.00
Qty : 24/25 pcs






Code : MC04
Peanut Butter Cups
Price : RM 20.00
Qty : 24/25 pcs






Code : MC 05
Plain or orange flavored milk choc
PRICE : RM 20.00
Qty : 26 pcs




Code : MC 06
Milk Choc with Rice Krispies
PRICE : RM 20.00
Qty : 36 pcs



Please note :

1) All products can be self collected either in Serdang/Seri Kembangan or Bandar Country Homes Rawang. Free deliveries in other klang valley area can be considered for orders amounting more that RM 100.

2) Please order early to avoid dissappointment.

3) Any enquiries please don't hesitate to call me at 019-3593458 ( Ain)

4) No deliveries within Cuti Hari Raya ( tentatively bet 29/9 - 5/10)

To order

1) give me a call or sms at 019 - 3593458 (Ain) or

2) drop an email to me at myblossoms@ymail.com

with your order code and quantity. Kindly make your payments before deliveries can be made.

Thanks.

Cookie Bouquet

These are some samples of cookie bouquet for Engagement. More to come later.




Six pcs heart shaped cookies in a bouquet. Including the basket from RM20. Also includes a printed gift tag that can have any custom messages. Pls contact me for further detail.







Six Pcs of love themed cookie bouquet. Including the basket from RM20. Also includes a printed gift tag of your own messages.
Pls contact me for further details.





Note :

For delivery purpose, the bouquet will be wrapped in a clear cellophane plastic.

Assorted Chocolates

These are our selection of assorted chocolates. They consists of a mixed types of chocolates eg. with nut filling, coffee creams, milk orange ,dark coffee , fondant fillings etc.



2 types of chocolates are encased in this clear box with single almond in milk chocolate and dark chocolate with coffee cream fillings. Contains 9 pieces.

Price : RM 12.50








2 types of chocolates are encased in this clear box with single almond in milk chocolate and dark chocolate with coffee cream fillings in the center. Contains 12 pieces.

Price : RM 16.00









A combination of coffee cream filled dark chocolate and a refreshing mint fondant filled dark chocolate to a total 18 pcs. Encased in two layer clear plastic box.

Price : RM 23.00









Almond filled milk chocolate wrapped in gold foil with mint fondant filled dark chocolate. Contains a total of 18 pcs of chocolate encased in a luxurious, heart shaped box. (Note: 2 layers)

Price : RM 28.00








Three types of chocolate in this box, Mint Bon Bon, Milk Almond Cups and Almond Stuffed Dates enrobed in milk chocolate.

Price : RM 14.00

Pralines - Dark, Milk or White Chocolate For Wedding or Party Favors

Here are some of our chocolate selections. Our pralines are using real chocolate or so called couvertures . For more info on the difference between real chocolate or couverture as compared to compound chocolate, read up our "intro to chocolate" section. Tapi senang cakap kat sini, beza dia kalau u all nak imagine, antara makan chocolate cadbury dan makan sabun la... huhuhu. Well, I'm just exaggerating here ( wink wink). But these pralines are flavorful chocolate with no complex textures. Only one word, they are "luscious". Available in boxes of 2, 4, 9, 12, and 24. You can choose from the various packaging we have. For big orders above 500 boxes, we can also customize your packaging,eg. with your logo, name or pics on the boxes. Do contact us for more info on that ya.. Oh btw, you can also ask us to wrap your tiny obsession with gold foil for that classy look.

Choice of 3 or 4 pcs of dark or milk chocolate in a simple plastic container, with gold base.
Price : RM3.50 - Rm4.00

4 pcs of dark or milk chocolate praline in die cut chocolate box.
Price : RM 5.00

A choice of 2 - 3 pcs of gold or silver wrapped chocolate pralines in tiny gold or silver baskets, suitable for wedding favors. (Gold Baskets designs depends on availability)
Price : RM 4 - RM5

3-4 pcs of gold wrapped pralines in square straw box.
Price : RM4.50- RM5.00

Assorted pralines in heart shaped, clear plastic container. 15 pcs per container.
Price : RM 15.00

A pair of milk and white praline encased in a box. Suitable for wedding favors.
Price : RM 2.80

Kami ada juga menawarkan flavored chocolates untuk packaging seperti di atas. Buat masa ini, perisa yang available :

1) Orange Flavor
2) Coffee Flavor

Ordering FAQ

1) How to contact us :

You can contact either one of us below by phone or email for further info or ordering :

Ain (019-3593458)
Email : myblossoms@ymail.com

Siti ( 012-2789885)

2) How to place an order

Once you have confirmed on what to order, do contact us so that we can give you our payment particulars.

Glossary and terms

• What are pralines?
  

The term Pralines differs according to country. In the US, pralines are some kind of confections made from nuts and sugar syrup. Normally their pralines are some type of hard candy, meaning the texture tu agak keras la gak with some kind of nuts in it. In some other countries, pralines means powder or paste filling for handmade filled chocolates. (These are gorgeous.....urggghhh) . Tapi kat Mesia ni, pralines refer to moulded chocolates as in the picture here. They can come as milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate as well as nut filled chocolate. And BTW, my chocolates here are pure cocoa butter chocolates , bukan compound chocolates or also known as cooking chocolate. For more info on the types of chocolates nie... go to my articles on Chocolate Types.

Catalog-Bonbon

A selection of fruity and refreshing fondants molded into dark , milk or white chocolate. These are also called Bonbon. Some are with fruit or nut centers.


Mint Fondant filled dark Chocolate (after dinner mints)

Dark chocolate filled with refreshing and melt in your mouth mint fondant.

Memoirs of a Chocolate

Have you ever had a piece of chocolate and the memories and taste of that chocolate still lingers until today? As I can remember, the best ever chocolate experience I had was masa kecik2. My dad came home with a hamper full of chocolates and biscuits given to him during CNY by one of his Chinese friend. Masa dulu-dulu, time raya cina memang seronok. Coz we got lots of hampers. Nowadays, the only thing we always get are lokam and lokam ( at the office of coz... ha ha ha)

Back to the choc story tadi. I picked up a chocolate bar, with strawberry filling in it. Hrmm.. never tasted that before. During my time, the only chocolate yang kitorang slalu makan was Kandos ha ha ha.. Anyone remembered that? yer la coklat murahan...When I chew into that chocolate with the strawberry filling tu... errrmmmm..... the outer bar was a bit snappy.When it gets into my tongue, it melts.. Then came a slimy, creamy strawberry filing rushes into my mouth,it is liquid but not so liquid..( alaaa.. just like susu pekat like that) And its strawberry flavored... huhuhu.... arrrghhhh... sedapnyer... That was the only one time I had that chocolate. The chocolate is not sold anywhere in JB , KL or anywhere in Malaysia. My father's friend must have gotten that from overseas.

Until now, I remembered that experience. I do find some chocolates by Cadbury yang ada cream centers ni.. But too bad, the ingredients always had some bahan2 yang mencurigakan coz they aren't manufactured in Malaysia and of course no halal logo. Terketar gak bila pegang those chocolates... so tempting. Tapi tak apa la... Now I have found my own cream center recipes. Soon when I perfected my recipe, maybe I'll make it as one of my own HALAL cream centered chocolate.... But I'm afraid that even before I managed to sell it off, I might have chomped it all in my mouth. And another pest for my chocolate would be my kids. Geram bila tengok tetiba ada jer coklat yang kita buat tu hilang.. But then again... that's the joy. I hope they remembered and cherish every moment lavishing on my chocolates when they grow up....

How to taste your chocolate ?

Are you a chocoholic? How do you measure the degree at which you enjoyed your chocolate. According to the experts, in order to become an expert chocolate taster, you need to use all five senses.

Touch The point is to observe the speed of melting. The quicker - the better. The quick melt indicates a high cocoa butter content. Chocolate should start to melt if held in the hands for a few seconds. Cocoa butter melts because it is solid up to 91.4F degrees temperature and melts at 93.2F degrees.

**note : These are the reason why some chocolates just simply melts in your mouth and some don’t. ( especially the cheap ones… duhhh) . One good indication differentiating good chocolates from the lower quality is the price. But not all expensive chocolates are of good quality. But for sure those cheap ones are of course of lower quality. No “tokey” coklat would want to sell a good chocolate cheap.

Sound The crystaline structiure of the cocoa butter is what gives chocolate its distinct crisp snap. You can definitely hear the snap of a fine chocolate.

This is if you’re snapping the chocolate in a moderate room temp like in an air conditioned room. If you’re trying to snap your chocolate under the hot and humid sun in KLCC for example, you’ll surely get a good mush of chocolates in your hands. (Chocolate in its liquid state actually even taste better. Urggg hhh… )

Sight Gloss and condition of chocolate can quickly be assessed just by looking. When a bloom is observed it is generally caused either by heat or moisture.

A good chocolate normally shines. This would applies for molded chocolates and the like excluding those which are already wrapped in some foils or something.

Heat bloom indicates the chocolate was not tempered correctly or that it has been allowed to get too warm, then cold. The cocoa butter crystals rise to the surface and recrystalize. This does not affect the flavor of the chocolate but should be seen as a warning that the chocolate was not stored correctly. It can be rectified by tempering the chocolate again, thereby realigning the crystal structure.

Moisture bloom known as sugar bloom is caused by the moisture settling on the surface of the chocolate which happens if the chocolate is stored in a damp atmosphere. It draws the sugar crystals to the surface, the sugar dissolves in the water, and later recrystalizes on the surface - destroying the texture of the chocolate. The whole appearance of the texture will be grey and gritty. This chocolate must be thrown out.

The redder and the lighter in color the cocoa, the finer the flavor.

Smell It is the nose which is the most highly tuned instrument to detect the greatness of food. Too much sugar interfered with the smelling process, just like in wine tasting. Too much salt can overwhelm the palate. Smoking dulls smelling and strong flavors, such as peppermint and chili, affect smell.

Taste Although we do not spit out chocolate as do wine buffs, neither do we eat it. A small piece of chocolate should be placed on the tongue and allowed to melt of its own accord. Try three or four different chocolates with a water sip between each taste session.

Book Review - Candy making

Hi again. Recently I just bought 2 candymaking books from Kinokuniya in KLCC. After browsing the aisles for hours and hours..(lucky my hubby is pretty understanding in my passion for shopping... duhhh!!!) ,I ended up picking 2 books in which I hadn't even had a plan to even visit the bookstore at all. It was an impulse buying I know... but what the heck. After all, all my candymaking or chocolate making experience up till now were learnt thru the internet and one chocolate making course only.So I have a reason to spend here. Anyway, there aren't many books in candymaking on the aisle itself, only 4 I think. But there are quite a number of books about cupcakes. I once had tried to look for books on cupcakes in that same store 2-3 yrs back but it wasn't as many as it is now. Probably becoz its picking up the trend of "cupakeing" in Malaysia right now. I guess candy making isn't so popular in Malaysia as it is in the US or other European countries.



Anyways, the 1st book I got titled "Marshmallow". I've tried making marshmallow a few times and it turned out right. So, I think I may need to widen my knowledge on making what I did right. First thing, the book caught my attention becoz of its simple yet cute looking cover.. But don't judge the book only by its cover. So, I flipped over the pages and saw all sort of variations for making marshmallows. Eerrrmmmm.... these are yummy indeed, I wish I could just tear the pages away and sample those yummy looking marshmallow pictures. You should see me when I looked at those pages... with my ooohhhs and aahhhss.... I gotta have this book. Confirm!!!



Then, being greedy and curious on knowledge ( ehem ehem.. look who's talking here..) I think I have to have another book on making other confectionary as well. After all, I only had the chance to visit KLCC like 2-3 times a year only.. ( I used to have lunch in KLCC every day when my office was at Jln Yap Kwan Seng before. And Kino is my usual lepak place after lunch actually.. sorry boss!! the he he). So, I have enough reason to get a 2nd book which you guess what... "CandyMaking for Dummies" ha ha ha... I didn't choose it because I'm such a dumbass in Candymaking, but simply because I knew this book would be able to tell me what I had done wrong or right during my experiments in candymaking. Its a pretty basic book and think its pretty suitable for a person with hours and hours of sitting in front of the laptops whom initially do not even know how a candy thermometer looks like. So I picked up this book as well. As soon as I finish reviewing the contents of the book later, I'll share it again in here. Ciao....

Peanut Brittle

Salam semer. Well..lama dah tak bermadah kat sini. Today terasa cam nak makan peanut brittle la plak.. Hrmm nak kata mengidam tak jugak. Kalau ikut psychologist, we'll develop cravings when our body lacks something, and I know what that is... Sugarr....Time to fill up with high octane sugar rush.... Anyways, here's the recipe for peanut brittle that I'd like to share with all.. I actually get this from the net. But at least , this one is a tried and tested one lar and menjadik....

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups peanuts
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. butter (or margarine pun boleh)
  
• 2 tsp. baking soda

Instructions

Heat and stir sugar, syrup and water in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Add salt. Cook over medium heat to soft ball stage (234 degrees). Add peanuts at 250 degrees. Cook to hard crack stage (290 degrees), stirring often. Remove from heat.

Quickly, stir in butter and soda. Beat to a froth for a few seconds. Pour at once onto 2 well-buttered 15-1/2x10-1/2x1-inch pans, spreading with spatula. If desired, cool slightly and pull with forks to stretch thin. Break up when cold.

Yield: About 1-1/2 pounds of peanut brittle.

TIPS :

• You can also use cooked peanuts. If let say u use cooked peanut, add the peanut lepas dah angkat dari api, and add together with the butter. If you're using salted peanuts, omit the salt in the recipe.
  
• Cairkan butter terlebih dahulu so that butter tu akan lebih sekata bila di mix sekali.

Ok.. that's all. Selamat mencuba. If anyone has any probs or questions you're always welcome to ask.

Peanut Butter Cups

Reese's Peanut butter cups is really my hubby's fave. This was actually my first attempt to make homemade and handmade chocolate few years back. It wasn't that hard. I would say it scored 5 from a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of complexity. Anyway, after my hubby tasted these homemade peanut butter cups, takder dah dia mengidam those reeses's pb cups lagi. Hrm... kalau nak beli reeses's ni pun ada ler dekat 2 hengget setengah utk 2 biji jer tau kat luar tu!!!!! So why not make your own peanut butter cups??? Anyways, below is the recipe. Enjoy.......

Ingredients

• 2 Cups milk chocolate chips (or compound milk chocolate use for coatings)
  
• 2 tbsp shortening
  
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar (icing sugar)
  
• 2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs (variations.. boleh gunakan juga biskut marie kalu kat mesia nie, hancurkan sedikit halus just like doing crumbs for cheesecake)
• Mini muffin cups
  

Instructions

1) For the peanut butter filling, gunakan pan. Letakkan atas stove. Gunakan api yang kecil. mix in the peanut butter and the butter into the pan.Stir it, sampaila kedua-duanya cair. Then stir in the the cracker crumbs and the icing sugar dan angkat mixture tadi dari atas api. Mix everything sampai sebati dan biarkan ianya sejuk.

2) For the chocolate coating. Melt the chocolate and shortening using double boiler technique. Kalau nak senang gunakan microwave ajer.. Senang sikit. Then, microwave chocolate chips bersama dengan shortening tadi on medium for 1-2 minutes or more if needed. Sekiranya anda gunakan compound chocolate, make sure anda potong chocolate tadi kecik2. Ermm. jangan ler kecik sangt.. memadai dlm sebesar duit 50 sen jer .. Sentiasa check chocolate didalam microwave tu dan sentiasa kacau2 sebab kalau dia dah hangit... errmmm... masuk tong sampah ler jawabnyer. Just make sure dia betul-betul cair dan tak berketul-ketul jer.. Normally kalau anda masukkan shortening, kelikatan dia akan berkurangan. So senang sket masa nak bubuh dalam acuan nanti.

3) So ok, now you have your chocolate and your peanut butter. Gunakan sudu dan masukkan sedikit chocolate tadi ke dalam mini cups tu anggaran dlm sesudu kecil. Then swirl the chocolate dlm cups tu just to make sure that it coats all the sides inside the tiny cups. Sometimes people likes to use brush to brush the chocolate inside the tiny muffin cups tu tapi rasa macam leceh ler pulak.. Ikut ler mana cara yang you all berkenan. Then, biarkan chocolate to keras sebentar. (dlm 10-15min). Now its time to put in your peanut butter fillings into the cups. You can use a spoon to fill in the fillings about 2/3 full. Then, pour in the rest of the chocolate into the muffins cups till it barely touches the rim of the cups. Leave it to cool about 30 minutes or so.

4) Enjoy.....

Gula-gula babi anyone???

Dah agak lama juga isu gula-gula jeli babi yang banyak terjual di Malaysia yang telah digembar-gemburkan. Kalau tak silap, dari tahun 2006 lagi dah isu ni. Kebanyakan gula-gula ni selalalunyer di impot secara bulk dari China dan kemudiannya di'repack' semula oleh sesetengah syarikat pengeluar gula-gula di Malaysia ni yang kebanyakkannya dimiliki oleh kaum Cina. Bukannya saya berniat untuk memburuk-burukkan mereka ini. Cuma yang saya kesal, mereka ni tidak sensitif kepada hak pengguna islam di Malaysia ni. Sejauh mana lagi kah kita nak lihat majoriti Islam di Malaysia ni ditipu oleh Syarikat-syarikat yang hanya rakus mengaut keuntungan sahaja. Sosej babi, ayam sembelihan tak sah status halal, mee yang dijual bersebelahan kandang babi... Isy isy isy... entah berapa banyak la benda2 haram ni dah masuk dalam urat darah kita tanpa kita sedar. Patut ler gejala sosial berlambak2 kat Mesia ni kan.. Nauzubillah..mintak di jauhkanlah dari anak2 saya yang sedang membesar ni semua.

Ok... back to my intention of putting up this blog... saya nak kongsi bersama cara-cara pembuatan candies ni. Sebenarnya bukan susah sangat pun nak buat sendiri all these confectionaries di rumah. So... tunggu posting saya nanti tentang Candy.

For more articles about gelatine, go to this site.
http://halalgelatine.com/Artikel_satu.html

Whimsical Iced Cookies (aka. Sugar Cookies)

Salam all, dah lama dah tak update blog nie. Here are few pics of my Sugar cookies collection. These are just samples. There are a few others yang belum sempat upload lagi. Harap bersabar ek.. Harga setiap cookie adalah RM 2.00. ( Harga barang semer dah naik daa.... Nak buat macam mana...) . However there are discounts for big orders. So.. order la banyak banyak muahaha.. Just kidding ( but its true duhh...). For orders outside of KL , we can courier your orders by poslaju. Paling lama pun it takes about the most 3 days. Tu pun kalau poslaju tu merangkak he he he.. Normally it should only take around 2 days. Orders will be shipped 3 working days after ordering. When making your orders pls state whether you want your cookies on a stick ( I call it "cookielolly" or no stick. Each cookie will be wrapped in clear plastic tied with a fancy colored twist tie. Ok.. so here are my single cookies, going by theme. Min orders are a dozen.


Hearts

Butterflies









Smileys

The Wedding Chocs Project

Its time again for the wedding season and here are some pics of our choc making project in our choc studio. My sister said that the room looks like an Operation Theater.. hahah..Also here you can see my Quality Control Engineer. Whatever that does not pass thru the QC Test goes down her throat.. Anybody else would like to volunteer as my QC? Then u'd have to contest the post with her first. Such and obedient worker she is.. she never curi tulang one..

Chocolate Jokes

Finding a bottle on the beach, Jake uncorks it and releases a genie.

"Ah, now you get three wishes," says the genie.

"Great!" Jake replies. "First, I want one billion dollars."

Poof! There's a flash, and a paper with Swiss bank account numbers appears in Jake's hand.

"Next, I want a nice ocean-side house in Hawaii."

Poof! Another flash, and he is holding the deeds to an ocean side property in Hawaii.

"Finally," Jake says, "I want to be irresistible to women."

Poof! There's another blinding flash ...

and Jake turns into a box of chocolates.

What's more irresistable than chocolate?!#^#%#*$(?

Eat Chocolate and look younger

Chocolate as an anti-aging technique, is this some type of joke? Nope! The facts are in chocolate is bursting with antioxidants. An antioxidant is a molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules. The chemical reaction of oxidation can produce free radicals, which start a chain reaction of cell damage. Antioxidants actually stop these negative chain reactions. Many fresh fruits and vegetables have a high quantity of antioxidants, but pure raw chocolate is chocked full of flavonoids, which are some of the most powerful antioxidants on earth.

There is a trick to the chocolate though, you have to eat it raw. Now you are wondering, what is raw chocolate? Well, it helps to start from the beginning. Until recently I never really took much thought about where chocolate comes from. I just figured it came from the Hershey chocolate factory. But there is in fact a "chocolate tree." The tree was named Theobroma cacao, in Latin that means 'food of the gods.' Well, this 'food of the gods" is actually cacao beans. They grow on the tree. Some people call them nuts, but they are actually seeds. Once you remove the skin you have the cacao or chocolate. Now, before you roast it, process it, and load it with refined sugar -that is raw chocolate.

Heating the cacao beans kills most of the antioxidants and other minerals and vitamins in the chocolate. In order to preserve the nutrients the beans must be dried at a low temperature, typically below 120 degrees. Then they can be enjoyed whole as nibs (the bean with the skin removed), in bits, or as a powder.

Raw cacao has a bitter flavor like dark chocolate. Some enjoy it just like that. Others prefer to sweeten it by blending it with other natural ingredients like fruit or honey. I prefer it mixed into a fruit smoothie with other raw, fresh fruits.

Any way you enjoy it raw cacao is one of the most, if not the most, nutrient rich and complex foods known to man. Loaded with antioxidants, it neutralizes free radicals-rogue oxygen molecules that can accelerate aging and the problems that come with it. So to help you look younger, feel younger, and live longer -eat chocolate it is important to your health. Visit your local health food store and pick up some organic, raw chocolate today!

Carolyn Pennington is the author of this article and editor of http://www.raw-food-for-families.com Raw food for families is a web site dedicated to helping families incorporate more fresh fruits, vegetables, and living foods into their diet. Whether they eat a raw vegan diet or simply want a few tips to add more live nutrients into their existing diet they can help.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carolyn_Pennington

MIBC 2008 pics

I've had these pics sitting in my pc for quite sometime. This was taken during my visit to the Malaysian International Baking and Confectionary Convention in Midvalley Megamall sometime this year. Couldn't remember when it was. But overall, it was breathtaking.. So people, enjoy these slide show.