| How is chocolate made you are wondering? | | | | a cake of solid cocoa. After the butter is removed it |
| Chocolate is derived from a cocoa bean removed | | | | is then refined for future use, such as use in the |
| from the pod of the cocoa tree. Cocoa trees are | | | | cosmetic industry. Once the cocoa solids have been |
| found growing in equatorial zones in the South | | | | extracted and ground into a coarse fine powder it is |
| America region. Once the Cocoa beans have been | | | | then mixed together with other ingredients to |
| harvested they are then placed into large shallow | | | | become the chocolate candy we enjoy today.To |
| pans to be heated. This is also known as the | | | | produce the bitter sweet dark chocolate the powder |
| fermentation process. In some regions where the | | | | is mixed with cocoa butter and some sugar. Milk |
| climate is warm the beans may be fermented by the | | | | chocolate is made by mixing the powder with a |
| sun. Throughout this fermentation workers stir them | | | | minimum amount of cocoa butter, sugar and milk. |
| often to ensure that all the cocoa beans have been | | | | White chocolate is produced by combining all the |
| equally fermented.One of the first things that | | | | ingredients and by adding real vanilla flavoring as an |
| industrial chocolate manufacturers do is dry roast the | | | | emulsifier.Once all the ingredients are combined they |
| beans. The process of dry roasting helps develop the | | | | are all stirred together under heat to make a molten |
| flavor into what we enjoy when eating it. The cocoa | | | | chocolate. The mixture is then placed into larger vats |
| nibs, otherwise known as beans are comprised of | | | | where it will be conched. The conching process is |
| two very important ingredients: cocoa solids and | | | | done by large smooth granite rollers that keep the |
| cocoa butter. The cocoa butter is basically a fat while | | | | chocolate mixture stirred and continue to grind the |
| the cocoa solids are predominantly coarse cocoa | | | | powder into relatively small pieces. To make the |
| powder. The seperation of the two ingredients is | | | | smooth velvety texture, the mixture is conched by |
| very crucial in producing a smooth, high quality | | | | very small granite rollers. The conching process takes |
| chocolate candy.The process of removing the cocoa | | | | several days at a time.After all these steps have |
| butter from the cocoa solids is to convert the nibs | | | | been completed the chocolate is then poured into |
| into a non alcoholic liquid called liquor. Once this is done | | | | molds where it is then allowed to cool and then |
| the liquor is then sent into high pressure to press and | | | | removed and placed in a wrapper. Then the famous |
| squeeze the butter from the solids. What remains is | | | | candy treat is ready to be dispersed to enjoy. |