Posted on 12/28/2022 6:30:18 AM PST by Red Badger
NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CANDY DAY
National Chocolate Candy Day offers an opportunity for us to polish off the last of the specialty candies we received as gifts. Celebrated on December 28th, the day points us to the truffles and chocolate oranges tucked into stockings. Check those boxes of candy that may or may not have guides to help us choose cream-filled or ganache.
#ChocolateCandyDay
The word “chocolate” comes from the word “xocoatl” or “chocolatl.” Mayan “school” means hot or bitter, and the Aztec “atl” means water. Chocolate comes from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia and grows in Mexico, Central America, and Northern South America. The earliest known documentation of using cacao seeds is from around 1100 BC.
When is National Chocolate Day?
But before it was ever made into a sweet candy, it was ground into a beverage. In the ruling class society, the beverage was used for medical purposes.
In 1828, Dutch inventor and chemist, Coenraad Van Houten, developed a way to produce chocolate in solid form. His hydraulic press made it possible to remove the cocoa butter from the cacao. His invention leads to producing a powder opening the way for the first chocolate confections. It’s thanks to Van Houten we can enjoy the variety of chocolates we do today.
Chocolate Facts
Whitman’s produced their first box of chocolate in 1842.
In 1847, British chocolate company J.S. Fry & Sons combined cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and sugar-producing the first edible chocolate bar.
The invention of the conching machine by Rodolphe Lindt in 1879 ushered in the mass production of the creamy treat.
The first chocolate Easter egg was made sometime in the early 19th century. In 1875 John Cadbury introduced his first chocolate egg.
When Allied troops stormed the beach of Normandy on D-Day, part of emergency rations and in soldiers’ packs included the D ration bar designed by Hershey Chocolate company for the U.S. Army.
Americans consume 12 pounds of chocolate each year.
HOW TO OBSERVE CHOCOLATE CANDY DAY
There are so many different kinds of chocolate candy. What’s your favorite? Enjoy a piece or two. Do you have leftovers? Host a chocolate candy party. Taste and sample all the varieties. Discover new favorites. Trade out the ones you don’t like. Bring some to work to share. How will you celebrate? Let us know by using #ChocolateCandyDay to post on social media.
NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CANDY DAY HISTORY
While we finish our bonbons and chocolate-covered cherries, National Day Calendar continues researching the origins of this chocolate holiday.
Chocolate Candy FAQ
Q. Where is the world’s largest candy store?
A. M&M’s Leicester Square location in London, England, is the world’s largest candy store.
Q. What is a chocolate map?
A. Did you receive a box of chocolates as a gift? Well, most boxed chocolates include a map that labels the kinds of chocolates in each section. It comes in handy when you are craving chocolate but don’t want to eat mom’s favorite by accident or if you don’t like cherry-flavored fillings.
Chocolate Candy Ping!........................
We need a national chocolate candy give-away day right after Christmas.
I receive a load of chocolate candy from Santa - several boxes of See’s, a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts from Hawaii, and several “gourmet” chocolate bars with names I cannot pronounce.
All but maybe a piece or two of See’s to be given away.
NOW your speakin’ my language!
Hersheys........there is no substitute
African American Chocolate Day is more appropriate in these woke times ya know.
We need a national chocolate candy give-away day right after Christmas.
I receive a load of chocolate candy from Santa - several boxes of See’s, a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts from Hawaii, and several “gourmet” chocolate bars with names I cannot pronounce.
—
When I was young, our family would receive multiple boxes of chocolate at Christmas. Mom would hide the boxes of chocolate, “for our own protection”. I was dubious.
See’s is what Whitman’s Sampler should have been. Their Chocolate Peanut Brittle bar is amazing.
Please don’t tell my wife.
I just finished my four oatmeal cookie breakfast and now you tell me I have to eat chocolate today?
Try being a little more “inclusive”, will ya?
= = = =
Ingredients in white chocolate:
White chocolate is the youngest of the three main types of chocolate we enjoy today, having only been invented in the 1930s. Sweet, light and indulgently sweet, this chocolate can be divisive — some find it irresistibly delicious, while others find it sickly.
White chocolate’s pale ivory colour and smooth texture comes from its unique composition. It consists of dried milk and sugar added to cocoa butter – no cocoa powder at all. The result is a bar of chocolate with rich creamy flavours, gently underlined by a hint of floral cocoa butter.
Just as in other forms of chocolate, the precise taste and texture of white chocolate varies based on its ingredients and manufacturing process. The good news is that this leaves ample room for experimentation. Take quality white chocolate, for example. It should highlight all of the natural flavour of cocoa butter with minimal sugar and no replacement fats or oils. That’s what we’ve achieved with our award-winning Single Origin Dominican White Chocolate, made with 42%
I am hereby announcing that I am
boycotting National Chocolate Candy Day.
I am going to bake a batch of brownies instead - to celebrate my freedom of thought and action, and in rebellion against the conventional
boring norms of society - or something...
/s
(Besides, I've eaten all of the blueberry muffins. They're gone.)
(Yeah, yeah - they'll sugar free.)
Pardon. Brain and typing fingers disconnect.
(Due to low blood sugar, no doubt.)
Ate M&M’s already this morning, so I’m good to go!
Every Christmas my granddad would buy a box of Whitman’s
chocolates for the family. We young’uns would spend a
goodly amount of time researching the availity of our favorite pieces. Large, double layer boxes, no Whitman’s samplers for
his family.
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