Chocolate recipes!

Chocolate recipes!

Chocolate Fruit Candy Recipes:

· Apple & Quince Chocolates
· Apricot Almond Bark
· Apricot Almond Clusters
· Cherry-Almond Clusters
· Chocolate Berry Boats
· Chocolate Caramel Apples
· Chocolate Caramel Candy Bars
· Chocolate Chip Cookie Bark
· Chocolate Coconut Haystacks
· Chocolate-Covered Cherries
· Chocolate-Dipped Apricots
· Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
· Chocolate-Dipped Watermelon
· Chocolate Haystack Fireworks
· Crispy Coconut Balls
· Coconut Cream Patties
· Cranberry-Cashew Chocolate Bark
· Lemon Chocolate Bark
· Marbled Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
· Red, White and Blueberry Bark

Chocolate Nut Candy Recipes:

· Almond Delights
· Almond Toffee
· Chocolate Almond Acorns
· Chocolate-Dipped Caramelized Nuts
· Chocolate Fondant Cups
· Chocolate Fondant Nut Clusters
· Chocolate Macadamia Caramels
· Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
· Chocolate-Peanut Butter Easter Eggs
· Chocolate Peanut Butter Grahams
· Chunky Peanut Butter Bark
· Crispy Almond Clusters
· Crunchy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
· Hazelnut-Chocolate Bites
· Kitchen Sink Chocolate & Nut Clusters
· Nutty Chocolate Chex
· Pistachio-Chile Bark
· Rocky Road Towers
· Rocky Road Candy
· Sugar-Free Chocolate Nut Clusters
· Sugar-Free White Chocolate Peanuts
· Turtle Cups
· Turtles

Other Chocolate Candy Recipes:

· Candied Cacao Nibs
· Candy Cane Chocolate Bark
· Candy Corn Chocolate Bark
· Candy Monsters
· Candy Pizza
· Candy Spiders
· Cheerio Clusters
· Chewy Wheat Squares
· Chocolate Bacon Bark
· Chocolate Caramel Popcorn
· Chocolate Caramels
· Chocolate Cornflake Clusters (video)
· Chocolate-Covered Potato Chips
· Chocolate-Dipped Cookies
· Chocolate-Dipped Honeycomb
· Chocolate-Dipped Marshmallows
· Chocolate-Dipped Pretzels
· Chocolate Fondant
· Chocolate Ghosts
· Chocolate Kiss
· Chocolate Malt Truffle Cups
· Chocolate Marshmallows
· Chocolate Peanut Popcorn
· Chocolate Plastic
· Chocolate Pretzel Chews
· Chocolate Toffee Bars
· Cinnamon White Chocolate Pumpkins
· Crunchy Cereal Drops
· Dark Chocolate Nougat
· Deep-Fried Candy Bars
· Double Chocolate Easter Eggs
· Elegant Chocolate Boxes
· Fall Chocolate Medallions
· Inside-Out S’mores
· Mint Chocolate Cups
· Nutterfingers Candy Bars
· Peppermint Chocolate Spoons
· Peppermint Patties
· Rum Balls
· Silky Way Candy Bars
· S’mores Pops
· Snackers Candy Bars

· Sugar-free Fudge Balls
· Three Amigos Candy Bars

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF CHOCOLATE!!!

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF CHOCOLATE

Yes, it's true, Chocolate which is high in cocoa solids (70% or more) is now recognised as having many qualities that are beneficial to health,

· Chocolate contains essential trace elements and nutrients such as iron, calcium and potassium, and vitamins A. B1, C, D, and E.
· Cocoa is also the highest natural source for Magnesium. Magnesium deficiency is linked with hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, joint problems and pre-menstrual tension (PMT or PMS).

There are benefits in Chocolate for both men and women:

· the high Magnesium content of Chocolate is beneficial for the Cardiovascular System and hypertension -
· the fat in high quality plain chocolate (although technically a 'saturated fat') can be considered cholesterol free as it does not fur up the arteries or contribute to high cholesterol levels.
· It's a pre-menstrual drop in progesterone levels which is responsible for the violent mood swings familiar to so many women (and their families), adding magnesium to a sufferers diet has been proved to increase pre-menstrual progesterone levels, thus alleviating the problem.

THE HEALTHIEST CHOCOLATE

It's a fact that plain dark chocolate products containing a minimum 70% or more cocoa solids are the healthiest and the best way to satisfy a craving for chocolate, without consuming too much sugar and saturated fat or HVO.

Chocolate lovers go wrong by choosing cheap (& not so cheap) "brand name" chocolate or chocolates, low in chocolate solids (ave is less than 20% chocolate solids, but some can contain less than 7%), all are high in sugar content, saturated fats and other health hazards such as HVO (Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil) and consequently can be disastrous for both teeth and health. If your a Milk or White Chocolate lover, choose products with a minimum of 30% chocolate solids (Milk Chocolate) or 30% chocolate butter (white chocolate).

Incidentally, filled chocolates, both the commercial variety and (sadly) many handmade chocolates varieties, are some of the worst culprits with fillings consisting almost exclusively of flavoured Fondant and Praline, fondant is virtually 100% sugar and pralines can be just as bad.

WHO LOVES CHOCOLATE?

WHO LOVES CHOCOLATE?

It's a well established fact that most people love chocolate, in year (2001) chocolate lovers in the UK alone, spent over £4 billion ($7.5 billion) on well over half a million metric tons of chocolate products (including biscuits etc)!
U.S. Consumers spent more than $10 billion (£4½ billion) and ate 2.8 billion pounds (1.3 billion kilo's) of chocolate alone (not including coated biscuits etc), representing about half of the world's entire chocolate production (2001).
The average U.S. citizen eats over 12 lbs (5.45kg) of chocolate products annually, but British and the Swiss top the league, with the Swiss consuming a staggering 22lbs (11kg) per person per year. Unfortunately the bulk of the money spent by the average Briton and American is wasted on mass produced low chocolate, high fat, high sugar products.
On the other hand, the Swiss spend their money far more wisely on very high quality chocolate, as anyone who has tasted Swiss chocolate will testify, but you don't have to go to Switzerland to get good Chocolate!
Aphrodite chocolates are made from only the finest quality, high cocoa chocolate:
· 70%+ cocoa solids for plain Dark Chocolate
· 40%+ cocoa solids for Milk Chocolate
· 33%+ chocolate butter for White Chocolate
and finest natural ingredients with little or no added sugar.

Types of Chocolate

Types of Chocolate

Cacao
aka Cacao Nibs, Raw Cacao, Roasted Cacao, Ground Cacao

This is the cacao bean, minus the shell, and nothing else. You can buy cacao raw or roasted. Whole cacao is the whole bean, cacao nibs are crunched up pieces of bean, and ground cacao is powdered. Really the healthiest form of chocolate there is, cacao can sometimes be quite bitter.

Chocolate Liquor
This is the basis of all types of chocolate, formed by grinding cacao nibs into a smooth, liquid paste. Nothing is added, and it is not alcoholic. It naturally contains about 53% cocoa butter (fat).

Unsweetened Chocolate
aka Chocolate, Baking Chocolate, Pure Chocolate, Bitter Chocolate

Chocolate liquor that has been allowed to cool and harden. It is used for baking and to make other types of chocolate. Many bakers prefer this type of chocolate for baking because they have more control over the flavor and sweetness.

Bittersweet Chocolate
aka Semisweet Chocolate, Dark Chocolate

Contains at least 35% chocolate liquor, plus cocoa butter and sugar in varying amounts. There is no technical difference between bittersweet and semisweet types of chocolate, and they are often referred to as "dark." Note that there is such a thing as "bittersweet (or semisweet) baking chocolate," which is sweetened cocoa liquor without the added cocoa butter.

Sweet Chocolate
Contains at least 15% chocolate liquor, plus cocoa butter and sugar in varying amounts. Some people mistakenly refer to this as "bittersweet."

Milk Chocolate
Contains at least 10% chocolate liquor, plus cocoa butter and sugar in varying amounts, and at least 12% milk (milk, cream, milk powder, etc).

White Chocolate
White chocolate is not technically one of the types of chocolate because it does not contain any chocolate liquor. It must contain at least 20% cocoa butter and 14% milk, plus sugar in varying amounts.

Cocoa
aka Cocoa Powder, Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, Unsweetened Cocoa

Is made by slamming chocolate liquor with a hydraulic press to expel the fat, i.e. the cocoa butter. What's left is allowed to harden, and then it is crushed into a powder. There is roughly 10-20% fat remaining in the powder. Cocoa powder is often used in low fat cooking because it retains the chocolate flavor but has much of the fat removed.

"Dutched" cocoa is formed by washing cocoa powder with an alkali solution of potassium carbonate. This darkens the color and neutralizes the acidity of the powder. Very alkalized cocoa is called black cocoa, which gives Oreos their unique look.

How do you know which to use in a recipe? Most American recipes use plain cocoa powder - good ol' Hershey's is plain cocoa. If a recipe needs Dutch cocoa, it will usually specify it. In general, regular cocoa is used in recipes with baking soda (which is alkali), and Dutch cocoa is used in recipes with baking powder (which is acidic).

Ground Chocolate
aka Powdered Chocolate
Not to be confused with cocoa powder, this is regular eating chocolate that's been ground to make a powder. It is generally used for making drinks, and should not be used in place of unsweetened cocoa powder in recipes.

Baking Chocolate
aka Baker's chocolate (Baker's is also a brand name)
What is up with baking chocolate? Does it have sugar added or not? ARRRRG! Well, here's the thing: although the FDA sets the guidelines for what types of chocolate can be labeled "unsweetened, bittersweet, semisweet, milk, and white," they don't specify what can be labeled baking chocolate.

You can find all of the following types of chocolate labeled "baking chocolate":
1) unsweetened chocolate

2) bittersweet baking chocolate (chocolate liquor + sugar, but no cocoa butter added)

3) bittersweet chocolate (chocolate liquor + sugar + cocoa butter) Most chefs wouldn't consider this true baking chocolate because of the added cocoa butter, though you might find it labeled as such.

4) baking-resistant chocolate, i.e. chocolate chips (bittersweet chocolate with less cocoa butter added, so that it won't melt easily)

So how do you know which to use? Hopefully your recipe specifies! In general, recipes will usually specify at least "unsweetened baking chocolate (#1 above)" or "bittersweet baking chocolate (#2 above)." Whether there's cocoa butter added or not probably isn't going to make or break your recipe.

One thing you should avoid, though, is using chocolate chips in place of other types of chocolate when the recipe calls for melting. The low cocoa butter content makes chips bad for melting.

Chocolate Coating
aka Compound Chocolate Coating, Summer Coating, Chocolate Flavored Coating

These are vegetable fat-based coatings that contain sugar and some amount cocoa powder, chocolate liquor and/or cocoa butter for flavor. They are not true chocolate. The advantage to using them is that they typically do not "bloom" in high heat. They are best used in making chocolate decorations.

Couverture
aka Coating Chocolate

Chocolate coating or coating chocolate? Aaaaaaah! Couverture is the good stuff - usually some type of dark chocolate with extra cocoa butter added to make it melt nicely for enrobing (drizzling onto the outside of a chocolate confection). Because the high cocoa butter content (roughly 35-45%) makes it melt well, it is ideal for chocolate fountains, and usually no oil need be added.

Gianduja
aka Gianduia, pronounced zhahn-DOO-yuh

Chocolate made with toasted hazelnuts ground into powder. It still has a smooth, chocolatey texture, but has the wonderful flavor of hazelnuts. An Italian or Swiss invention, depending on whom you believe. Who cares? It's yummy.

Single Bean Chocolate
aka Origin Chocolate, Single Origin, Estate Chocolate, Grand Cru, Single Cru

Oh dear. So many names, so little to define them. In general, we're talking about types of chocolate that are made from a single type of bean that's grown in a specific region, or even a specific plantation. But not always. We might be talking about a bunch of types of beans all grown on the same plantation. Or a single bean from a bunch of different plantations in the same geographic region. Or heck, a blend of the finest of the same exact type of bean from locations around the globe. It's hard to say.
The point is the manufacturer is carefully selecting the beans to create a unique flavor, but some people argue this is a gimmick. After all, Hershey's selects its beans to create a unique flavor too! In general, however, these types of chocolate are of high quality.

Cocoa Butter
When chocolate liquor is pressed to expel the fat and make cocoa powder, the fat expelled is cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is added to chocolate liquor to make the type of chocolate we enjoy eating; it gives chocolate that smooth, melt-in-your-mouth texture we love.

Cocoa butter is also used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Because it melts at about 97° F, it smoothes into the skin nicely. Also, it has healing properties and is resistant to spoilage.

Chocolates
aka Chocolate Candies, Truffles, Creams, Pralines, etc.

When people speak of "chocolates" in the plural, they are typically referring to chocolate candies, like truffles, chocolate creams, chocolate-covered nuts, and that sort of thing. "Chocolates" are candies made from other types of chocolate.

Chocolate Extract
Chocolate extract is a good way to add chocolate flavor to your cooking without adding fat, but the flavor can be a bit strong. It is made like vanilla extract; cacao beans are soaked in alcohol.

Chocolate Oil
Alas, there is no such thing as a chocolate oil. If you see chocolate oil, it's most likely a chocolate perfume oil, entirely manmade, and not for cooking.

How Chocolate Is Made

HOW CHOCOLATE IS MADE

Chocolate is made from the cocoa bean, found in pods (illustrated above) growing from the trunk and lower branches of the Cacao Tree, Latin name 'Theobroma Cacao' meaning "food of the gods".

· How Chocolate is made
· Who Loves Chocolate?
· Mass Produced Chocolate

CHOCOLATE AS WE KNOW IT

Chocolate as we know it today was largely made possible by three events:
· In 1828, Dutch chemist Johannes Van Houten, invented a method of extracting the fat or "cocoa butter" from ground cocoa beans. The resulting 'cocoa' powder was much less bitter tasting and, when combined with sugar or honey, made a drink much more palatable to our taste.
· This process known as the Van Houten process made it possible for Fry & Sons of Bristol, England to manufacture and sell the first solid chocolate bar in 1847. In 1875 a Swiss manufacturer, Daniel Peters also used the Van Houten process to successfully combine chocolate with powdered milk to produce the first milk chocolate.

HOW CHOCOLATE IS MADE

Producing chocolate is a time consuming and complicated process, but we have endeavoured to provide a simplified guide which we hope you will find easy to understand:
· The first step is the harvesting of the cocoa pods containing the cocoa beans.
· The Pods are crushed and the beans and surrounding pulp extracted and fermented naturally for about six days in either open heaps or boxes after which the beans are dried.
· The finest chocolate is produced when the drying process is done naturally by the sun for 7 days or more.
· Accelerated or artificial drying is quicker, but produces inferior quality chocolate, mainly used in mass produced products and cake coverings.
· The next process is shared with coffee in that the beans are first graded, then roasted. Roasting times depend on the type and size of the beans, like coffee this can also affect the final flavour of the chocolate.
· Light Crushing separates the kernel or 'Nib' from the shell or husk (like shelling a nut), the husk is then separated or 'winnowed' out and discarded.
· At this stage most manufacturers put the Cocoa Nibs through an alkalisation process to help develop flavour and colour. However, some purists producing the finest chocolate prefer to rely on the quality of the beans and natural processing to produce the best colour and flavour.
· The nibs, which are very high in fat or cocoa butter, are then finely milled and liquefy in the heat produced by the milling process to produce cocoa liquor. When cocoa liquor, otherwise known as cocoa mass, is allowed to cool and solidify.
· At this point the manufacturing process splits according to the final product. If the end product is chocolate, some of the cocoa liquor is reserved, the rest is pressed to extract the cocoa butter leaving a solid residue called press cake. Press cake is usually kibbled or finely ground to produce the product known to consumers as Cocoa Powder. The retained Cocoa Liquor and/or solid Cocoa Mass is blended with Chocolate Butter and other ingredients to produce the various types of chocolate as follows:

BLENDING

Cocoa Liquor or Cocoa Mass is blended back with cocoa butter in varying quantities to make different types of chocolate. The finest plain or dark chocolate should contain 70% Cocoa or more, whereas the best Milk Chocolate contains 30% or more Cocoa and the best White Chocolate contains 30% or more Cocoa Butter. In addition most chocolate contains a sweetener, usually sugar, this is because without some kind of sweetener, chocolate would be so bitter as to be virtually inedible. The other most commonly added ingredients are natural Vanilla for flavour (artificial Vanilla or 'Vanillin' is often added to mass produced chocolate because it's cheaper), and Lethicin (usually made from Soya) as an emulsifier. The basic blends that we use provide a good illustration:

Plain Dark Chocolate contains:
· 70%+ Cocoa solids (cocoa mass and cocoa butter), 29% sugar, vegetable Lethicin and Vanilla.

Milk Chocolate contains:
· 40% Cocoa Solids (cocoa butter and cocoa mass), 37% sugar, 20% whole milk powder, Lactose, vegetable Lethicin and Vanilla.

White Chocolate contains:
· 49% sugar, 33% cocoa butter, 18% whole dried milk and whey powder, vegetable Lethicin and Vanilla.

Different manufacturers use different variations of the above formulas.
Inferior and/or mass produced chocolate generally contains much less cocoa solids, (as low as 7% in some cases), with most or all of the chocolate butter replaced by vegetable oil or other fat. In fact, the low or virtually non-existent cocoa content of these "Brand Name" and other chocolate products means that strictly speaking, they should not really be classed as chocolate at all, as they are really chocolate flavoured sweets.

REFINING AND CONCHING

The blended Chocolate then goes through a refining process involving heavy rollers, this grinds down and blends the particles to smooth and improve the texture.
Mostly, but not always, this is followed by the penultimate process called “conching”, a conch is a type of container in which the refined and blended chocolate mass is continually kneaded and further smoothed, the fractional heat produced by this process keeps the chocolate liquid. The length of time given to the conching process determines the final smoothness and quality of chocolate. The finest chocolate is conched for a minimum of a week. After the process is completed the chocolate is stored in heated tanks at about 46°c (115°f), ready for the final process called Tempering.

TEMPERING

Because cocoa butter exhibits a or unstable (polymorphous) crystal structure, the chocolate must go through a very precise cycle of heating and cooling to encourage the stable crystal formation needed to produce the desirable properties for good tasty chocolate. This final process is called Tempering.
This is the method we use, first, we melt the chocolate at about 46°c (115°f), the chocolate is then cooled to between 29°c (84°f) and 31°c (88°f) and warmed up again to between 30°c (86°f) and 32°c (90°f), it can then be held 'in temper' at this temperature for use as required.
The chocolate is now ready for use as coverture, for coating chocolates, chocolate biscuits and other coated products, or poured into moulds and cooled for sale as the finished product such as solid chocolate bars. But every time it is allowed to harden and is re-melted it will have to be re-tempered again.
Well tempered chocolate has a good shiny gloss, a snappy or brittle bite and a smooth tender melt on the tongue, coating the palate with long lasting flavour and generally tasting wonderful.

MASS PRODUCED CHOCOLATE

The average cocoa solids content of these mass produced products is generally less than 20% by volume. The principle ingredients of commercial mass produced chocolate are not cocoa solids, but sugar, powdered milk and sundry artificial and other additives, in addition chocolate butter is substituted with saturated fats and vegetable fats, (usually hydrogenated vegetable oil or HVO). These are the dietary villains responsible for chocolate's undeserved reputation as being fattening, tooth-decaying and generally unhealthy.
But all's not doom and gloom, we are becoming more discerning in our tastes, with demand for high quality, high cocoa content dark chocolate products increasing year on year. Real chocolate, containing at least 70% cocoa solids for plain chocolate and much less sugar than the typical mass produced "brand name" product, is much healthier by far - see Chocolate - Health Benefits. for more on this.

Note: Content originally taken from another source

HISTORY OF THE QUAKERS

THE QUAKERS

The Quakers were, and still are, a pacifist religious sect, an offshoot of the Puritans of English Civil War and Pilgrim Fathers fame and a history of chocolate would not be complete without mentioning their part in it. Some of the most famous names in chocolate were Quakers, who for centuries held a virtual monopoly of chocolate making in the English speaking world - Fry, Cadbury and Rowntree are probably the best known.
It's probably before the time of the English civil war between Parliament and King Charles 1st, that the Quaker's, who evolved from the Puritans, first began their historic association with Chocolate. Because of their pacifist religion, they were prohibited from many normal business activities, so as an industrious people with a strong belief in the work ethic (like the puritans), they involved themselves in food related businesses and did very well. Baking was a common occupation for them because bread was regarded as the biblical " Staff Of Life", and Bakers in England were the first to add chocolate to cakes so it would be a natural progression for them to start making pure chocolate. They were also heavily involved in breakfast cereals but that's another story.
What is certain is that the Fry, Rowntree and Cadbury families in England among others, began chocolate making and in fact Joseph Fry of Fry & Sons (founded 1728 in Bristol, England) is credited with producing and selling the worlds first chocolate bar. Cadbury have stayed with chocolate production and are now, if not quite the largest, probably one of the best known Chocolate makers in the world. Fry's have now all but disappeared (taken over by Cadbury) and Rowntree have merged Swiss company Nestle, to form the largest chocolate manufacturer in the world.
From their earliest beginnings in business the Quakers were noted for their enlightened treatment of their employees, providing not just employment but everything needed for workers to better themselves such as good housing etc. In fact, Cadbury built a large town for their employees around their factory near Birmingham, England. Complete with libraries, schools, shops and Churches etc, they called it Bourneville. So next time you see Cadbury's chocolate with the name Bournville on it you will know where it comes from and what the name relates to.

CHOCOLATE AS WE KNOW IT

The first mention of chocolate being eaten in solid form is when bakers in England began adding cocoa powder to cakes in the mid 1600's. Then in 1828 a Dutch chemist, Johannes Van Houten, invented a method of extracting the bitter tasting fat or "cocoa butter" from the roasted ground beans, his aim was to make the drink smoother and more palatable, however he unknowingly paved the way for solid chocolate as we know it.
Chocolate as we know it today first appeared in 1847 when Fry & Sons of Bristol, England - mixed Sugar with Cocoa Powder and Cocoa Butter (made by the Van Houten process) to produce the first solid chocolate bar then, in 1875 a Swiss manufacturer, Daniel Peters, found a way to combine (some would say improve, some would say ruin) cocoa powder and cocoa butter with sugar and dried milk powder to produce the first milk chocolate.
and the rest, is history, Chocolate History....

CHOCOLATE IN EUROPE

CHOCOLATE IN EUROPE

Xocolatl! or Chocolat or Chocolate as it became known, was brought to Europe by Cortez, by this time the conquistadors had learned to make the drink more palatable to European tastes by mixing the ground roasted beans with sugar and vanilla (a practice still continued today), thus offsetting the spicy bitterness of the brew the Aztec's drank.
The first chocolate factories opened in Spain, where the dried fermented beans brought back from the new world by the Spanish treasure fleets were roasted and ground, and by the early 17th century chocolate powder - from which the European version of the drink was made - was being exported to other parts of Europe. If only they had known, chocolate was so expensive at that time, that it was worth it's weight in Silver (if not Gold), Chocolate was Treasure Indeed! The Spanish kept the source of the drink - the beans - a secret for many years, so successfully in fact, that when English buccaneers boarded what they thought was a Spanish 'Treasure Galleon' in 1579, only to find it loaded with what appeared to be 'dried sheep's droppings', they burned the whole ship in frustration.
Within a few years, the Cocoa beverage made from the powder produced in Spain had become popular throughout Europe, in the Spanish Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany and - in about 1520 - it arrived in England.
The first Chocolate House in England opened in London in 1657 followed rapidly by many others. Like the already well established coffee houses, they were used as clubs where the wealthy and business community met to smoke a clay pipe of tobacco, conduct business and socialise over a cup of chocolate.

BACK TO THE AMERICA'S

Event's went full circle when English colonists carried chocolate (and coffee) with them to England's colonies in North America. Destined to become the United States of America and Canada, they are now the worlds largest consumers - by far - of both Chocolate and Coffee, consuming over half of the words total production of chocolate alone.

EARLY HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE

· Early History of Chocolate
· History of Chocolate in Europe
· Back to America
· The Quakers
· Chocolate as we know it today!

EARLY HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE
The earliest record of chocolate was over fifteen hundred years ago in the Central American rain forests, where the tropical mix of high rain fall combined with high year round temperatures and humidity provide the ideal climate for cultivation of the plant from which chocolate is derived, the Cacao Tree.
The Cacao Tree was worshipped by the Mayan civilisation of Central America and Southern Mexico, who believed it to be of divine origin, Cacao is actually a Mayan word meaning "God Food" hence the tree's modern generic Latin name 'Theobrama Cacao' meaning ‘Food of the Gods’. The Maya brewed a spicy, bitter sweet drink by roasting and pounding the seeds of the Cacao tree (cocoa beans) with maize and Capsicum (Chilli) peppers and letting the mixture ferment. This drink was reserved for use in ceremonies as well as for drinking by the wealthy and religious elite, they also ate a Cacao porridge. Cacao was corrupted into the more familiar 'Cocoa' by the early European explorers.
The Aztecs of central Mexico also prized the beans, but because the Aztec's lived further north in more arid regions at higher altitudes, where the climate was not suitable for cultivation of the tree, they had to acquire the beans through trade and/or the spoils of war. The Aztecs prized the beans so highly they used them as currency - 100 beans bought a Turkey or a slave - and tribute or Taxes were paid in cocoa beans to Aztec emperors. The Aztecs called this drink Xocolatl, the Spanish conquistadors found this almost impossible to pronounce and so corrupted it to the easier 'Chocolat', the English further changed this to Chocolate. The Aztecs, like the Mayans, also enjoyed Cacao as a beverage fermented from the raw beans, which again featured prominently in ritual and as a luxury available only to the very wealthy.
It quoted as saying of Xocolatl: "The divine drink, which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without food"
In fact, the Aztec's prized Xocolatl well above Gold and Silver so much so, that when Montezuma was defeated by Cortez in 1519 and the victorious 'conquistadors' searched his palace for the Aztec treasury expecting to find Gold & Silver, all they found were huge quantities of cocoa beans. The Aztec Treasury consisted, not of precious metals, but Cocoa Beans.

Chocolates

Chocolate comprises a number of raw and processed foods that are produced from the seed of the tropical cacao tree. Native to lowland, tropical South America, cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Central America and Mexico, with its earliest documented use around 1100 BC. The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor. The majority of the Mesoamerican peoples made chocolate beverages, including the Maya and Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". After fermentation, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted, and the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs. The nibs are then ground and liquified, resulting in pure chocolate in fluid form: chocolate liquor. The liquor can be further processed into two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter.