| Chocolate Report

Cheesecake Factory Review and Recommendations

Go for the appetizers and dessert.

The Cheesecake Factory offers a wide selection of food drinks and decadent, artisan cheesecakes. From what I've seen, the Cheesecake Factory builds its restaurants in major cities, often inside a shopping district, such as a mall. In Florida I live somewhat close to Tampa, which has two restaurants that are situated in the International and Brandon Mall. The Orlando Cheesecake Factory is located in the Mall of Millenia off of Interstate 4. The company offers diners an upscale setting for moderate to high prices, depending on what you order.

Easy Fudge Recipe

Do you love fudge but don’t know how to make it? Well, you are in luck as I have an awesome and easy fudge recipe for you to try!

3 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1 can Eagle Brand Condensed milk (you can use the light version if you prefer)

A dash of salt

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla

½ cup chopped nuts, optional

Melt the chocolate chips and then stir in the Eagle Brand milk, salt, vanilla and nuts. Spread into a 8 x8 pan which has been lined with wax paper. Then place it in the fridge for two hours until it is fully chilled and is firm. Turn onto a cutting board and peel off the waxed paper and cut into squares. Read more about Easy Fudge Recipe

Valentine's Day Chocolate Cookie Pops

I saw this recipe on hershey.com and just had to post it because the chocolate cookie pops look like an easy, low-cost way to celebrate Valentine's Day. The recipe makes 12 cookies and is recommended by Hershey website as suitable for beginners. I couldn't resist the cute toppings that you can add to these super easy cookies.

Things You'll Need:

2/3 cup of softened butter or margarine
1 to ¼ cups of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 egg
1 to ½ cups of flour (all-purpose)
½ cup of Hershey’s Special Dark or regular Hershey's cocoa
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of baking soda
12 ice cream sticks (wooden)
White and pink frosting
Decorations of your choice (sugar, colored sprinkles)

Chocolate-Dipped Fortune Cookie For Valentine's Day

Are you looking for a unique gift to give someone this Valentine's Day? Turn to chocolate-dipped Chinese fortune cookies as a way to express your love to your significant other. You can either purchase the cookies online or make your own at home using a full recipe. Another alternative to baking them is to purchase the cookies at a Chinese restaurant or at a store and then dipping them in microwave-melted chocolate at home. Pen your own loving fortune and add it to the cookie for a personalized touch.

Nothing Says Valentine's Day Better Than Chocolate Covered Strawberries

I love chocolate covered strawberries and wouldn't mind receiving or making a few for Valentine's Day, which is less than a month away. With this delicious dessert you can indulge without worrying about any health related side effects. Read more about Nothing Says Valentine's Day Better Than Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Healthy chocolate? Yes please!

Many of us love chocolate and feel that life is not worth living without it. But what if you knew that chocolate was healthy for you and that it is good for you to eat. Well, it is! Just like anything, you do need to eat it in moderation or else it is no longer healthy for you. But here are the benefits you get from chocolate.

Flavonoids – This is a sub class of antioxidant which helps to lower your blood pressure as well as helping to protect with heart disease. For this reason, chocolate manufacturers are being pressured to develop a method of processing the cocoa beans to preserve this content. Current processes destroy up to three-quarters of the flavonoids

Fat – Unfortunately, you do need to remember that chocolate still contains a lot of fat. Forty grams of dark chocolate can contain 210 calories as well as 13 grams of fat of which 8 grams are saturated fat. Read more about Healthy chocolate? Yes please!

How to Purchase High-Quality Chocolate

"Use one or all of these tips the next time a craving for chocolate hits"

Ever taken a bite of chocolate and you just know it is good without realizing exactly why it melts in your mouth? I love chocolate and as such a self-confessed chocoholic, I have tried many types from different companies. What I've found is that a tell-tale pattern exists, giving me the ability to distinguish the good from the bad. Other not so known reasons that let you know whether or not the chocolate is high-quality includes the percentage of chocolate, the placement of ingredients and the type of wrapper used by the makers to place the candy in.

Check to see where the word “cocoa” appears on the ingredient list. Cocoa showing up at the beginning is a good indicator that what you're about to eat is considered high-quality chocolate. Cocoa that's listed further on down the list indicates that the candy you're about to consume contains a higher amount of sugar. The origin of the chocolate has no real bearing on its quality; however, it can alter the taste, depending on where it originated from.

Purchase chocolate that contains up to 60 percent of cocoa in it because; otherwise, you will find the candy has a bitter taste. Reserve chocolate with 80 percent cocoa for baking that requires a high percentage of cocoa.

Hershey's Air Delight

It's pretty tasty, but as consumers, we have to draw the line somewhere

I was pretty skeptical of this new form of Hershey's chocolate.

I am not a snob about Hershey's, mind you. I'm one of those oddball chocolate lovers who really enjoys a Hershey bar now and again. Ideally the kind with almonds, but just a regular old Hershey bar can be pretty darned satisfying.

No, I was skeptical about this "air bubbles" thing. No one has ever, to my knowledge, been eating a chocolate bar and thought, "What this thing needs is a bunch of air bubbles to make it feel kind of, like, FOAMY." Adding air bubbles is so clearly the work of a management committee. Who else would want chocolate that is - to use the word on the wrapper - "aerated"?

Chocolate and Bacon

Enough Said

Sir Francis Bacon might be the one who made chocolate bacon brittle popular in the gourmet grocery stores like Dean and Deluca, but now you can attempt to make your own. Check out this recipe for chocolate-dipped smoked almond-bacon brittle.

Makes 3 pounds.

Note: From "I Love Bacon," by Jayne Rockmill.

• 1/4 lb. bacon

• 2 c. smoked almonds

• 11/4 c. sugar

• 1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. light corn syrup

• 1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. water

• 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-in. cubes, at room temperature

• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp. crushed pink peppercorns

• 8 oz. (60 percent cacao) chocolate, chopped

Read more about Chocolate and Bacon

Wake Up to a Chocolaty Good Breakfast

"What's Better than Indulgence First Thing in the Morning?"