Did you get enough chocolate over Valentine’s Day weekend? Is there even such a thing as enough chocolate? If you’re anything like us, 3:00 in the afternoon usually hits at about the same time as a serious craving for chocolatey goodness. In a quick poll around the office, we each claimed the following as our favorites, but you know we don’t discriminate against chocolate in any form.
Jenna – Crunch Bar
Brittany – Almond Joy
Julie - See's dark w/ almonds
Liz – Kit-Kat
Kim – Scharffen Berger
Shelly – Reese’s
Christine – Ghirardelli squares with gooey caramel
Tired of your same old chocolate routine? We just came across a new chocolate product with a fun historical twist!
American Heritage Chocolate is the newest product from the Mars Company and we were lucky enough to get our hands on a sample of the handcrafted chocolate sticks. The chocolate has a unique Colonial Era-esque blend of spices including anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange and vanilla making this chocolate goody truly one-of-a-kind.
Mars is also leading the effort to uncover the mysteries and stories surrounding the origins of chocolate. Findings will be published in a book out this month titled Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage. Did you know that chocolate actually played a very important part in American history and was even used as medicine, for military rations and was enjoyed by many prominent figures including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin? Even the Sacramento Bee has picked up on the story!
If you want to check it out for yourself, American Heritage Chocolate is available in Chocolate Sticks, Chocolate Blocks and Finely Grated Chocolate Drink Mix. We’re dying to try the historic Chocolate Tart recipe below – but if you get to it first, let us know how it turns out! For more information and recipes, visit www.americanheritagechocolate.com.
Chocolate Tart
Ingredients:
1 tbsp. rice flour
3 tbsp. white sugar
5 medium egg yolks or 4 large
1 tbsp. whole milk
1 pink heavy cream
1 five oz. American Heritage Chocolate Bar
1 prepared frozen 9 inch pie shell
Grate the chocolate into a bowl and set aside. Combine salt, egg yolks, rice flour and milk in a separate bowl and set aside. Pour all the cream and the chocolate into a sauce pan and heat to a boil, stirring continuously. Add the sugar and cook until both the sugar and the chocolate are melted. Take a quarter of a cup of the hot mixture and slowly add to the egg yolk and rice flour mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk, to prevent scrambling. Stir the warmed egg yolk mixture into the sauce pan and bring all the ingredients to a boil for about a minute. Set aside and allow it to cool to room temperature. While the mixture is cooling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour the chocolate mixture into the frozen pie shell, set it upon a cookie sheet to prevent spillage and bake for 40-45 minutes until set. Remove from oven and let it cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight.
Oligos says
I am amazed that none of you said Godiva…???
Sherrie says
Or a piece of the divine chocolate from Ginger Elizabeth’s..
At the Amgen race I had the pleasure of tasting a hot chocolate from Ginger Elizabeth’s..it was amazing… the best ever.. no comparison.. I had the classic but I understand that there are different types of hot chocolates served there!!!