Brands of Healthy Chocolate - Which Ones Are Good For You?

With new research on the health benefits of dark chocolate, many name brand chocolates are trying to position themselves as healthy, when they don't really offer you any health benefits whatsoever. To identify brands of truly healthy chocolate, you must know what substances in chocolate contain the health value. For example, studies have shown that flavonoids, which are found in dark chocolate, may help to lower blood pressure. But the levels of flavonoids in chocolate depend entirely on how it's processed. Often, milk chocolate, due to its greater processing, has fewer flavonoids than dark chocolate. Typically, the higher the percentage of cocoa found in the chocolate, the more flavonoids (and other healthy substances) it contains.

While healthy, organic, raw or minimally-processed chocolates are not yet the mainstream, they are becoming widely available and recognized as a delicious and responsible choice. A healthy chocolate should contain cacao content of 70% or greater. Chocolates containing less have more fillers, more fat and fewer (if any) health benefits. It's important to read the labels. Just because chocolate is dark, doesn't necessarily mean it offers any health benefits.

The following chocolate brands have been celebrated for their unique tastes, health benefits and strong ethical commitments.

Divine is a farmer-owned company with sustainable development efforts in many countries. The fair-trade Divine Dark Mini Bars are the perfect chocolate treat and contain 70% cacao.

Dagoba makes an award-winning dark chocolate bar that includes chiles, nibs and is 74% cacao. They have coined the term "Full Circle Sustainability" to describe their commitments to ethics and social responsibility.

Equal Exchange makes organic chocolate bars with up to 80% cacao that are vegan, gluten-free and contain no refined sugars. They work with fair trade cooperatives and farmers across the world.

Ignafire produces natural chocolate with no commercial processing or industrial equipment. They're vegan-friendly and low in sugar. Some are subtly flavored with cinnamon, roasted coffee beans or crushed almonds.

Theo uses green energy sources to power their factory along with sustainable packaging and printing methods. Try their fair-trade certified blend that combines chocolate from Ghana, Panama and Ecuador.

All of the above brands offer mail order as in addition to being found in health food stores and larger chains such as Whole Foods and Trader Joes. Learn more about the health benefits of chocolate.

Read our article on the uses of different chocolates in candies, bars, cake decorating and more.

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Chocolatier - Chocolate Cigarillos

Cake decorating techniques remained unchanged for many, many years before the 1990's. Since that time, literally dozens of new methods have emerged, giving birth to countless modern cake designs. Some names you may have heard of that helped spawn this dawn of advanced cake decorating, are people like John Slattery. A master chocolatier who created such things as chocolate cups, shapes and cigarillos, now he has a well established and successful chocolate gift business.

Heather Sweet formally known as Heather Higgins, has been the owner of the original Sweetart Cakes company in the UK since 1994. Her radical contemporary designs originate from her inspiration gained from famous artists like H.R Giger. She has always utilised modern methods when creating and decorating her cakes. In addition to being able to create any wedding cake her client has in mind, she is also a talented sculpture artist.

Decorating a cake with cigarillos is an increasingly popular and delicious addition to most wedding and birthday cakes. These delicate chocolate curled cylinders are painstakingly made, when one bites into it, it breaks apart easily in the mouth and quickly melts.

Creating a chocolate cigarillo is a very slow process for beginners and requires a lot of practice and patience. The basic pieces of equipment needed are:

A plastic, sharp cutting knife.

Freezer.

Clean, smooth slab of rock, preferably marble.

Plastic bowls.

Gas cooker and utensils

1. Begin by breaking the chocolate up into a large plastic bowl with high sides (you will see why later).

2. Beat the chocolate with a wooden spoon so the chocolate breaks up even more. Don't hold back, give it a good whacking with the spoon. If you have a mixing machine or blender you could use that to pulverise the chocolate for you. Make sure your bowl has high sides, or you will end up with more chocolate around your kitchen than in the bowl.

3. Bring a half full saucepan of water to a simmer, making sure that the plastic bowl that is going to sit on top of and inside the saucepan doesn't touch the water.

4. Put every bit of chocolate into the previously mentioned bowl.

5. Slowly and carefully stir the chocolate, getting faster and more rigorous as it becomes softer. Continuing for awhile when it has totally melted. Be sure to keep the chocolate moving to avoid any chance of overcooking.

6. Turn off the heat, take out your marble slab that has been in the freezer for a few hours, and pour a little of the chocolate onto the slab.

7. You will notice the chocolate behaves abnormally, it is soft and flexible. Now cutout a rectangular section with your plastic knife.

8. With the edge of the knife, carefully slide the knife under one side of the chocolate rectangle by about half a centimeter, and turn through 180 degrees.

9. This folds the chocolate and it begins to curl as you repeat this process as quickly but steadily as you can.

This may take several attempts, you can reuse the chocolate as many times as you want provided you don't over cook it. When you are successful you will end up with a very neat and tasty cigarillo!

Tom C W Higgins

To see pictures of cakes that make use of chocolate cigarillos, visit Cake-Photos.com or simply type "cigarillo cake" in Google's image search.

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5 Benefits of Dark Chocolate - Facts You Need to Know Before Enjoying

Benefits of dark chocolate... Yes, the legends are true: They do exist!

But, before you go rummaging through year-old Halloween candy and stuffing your face with Snicker's and Tootsie Roll's, there's a few things you need to know.

First, and most importantly, true dark chocolate is usually considered anything at or above 65% cacao.

You're not going to find this percentage mixed in with the Skittles and Gummy Bears, and it does taste a bit different than the sugar-laden milk chocolate you're probably used to, but most convenience and grocery stores do have a few high percentage options to at least take them for a test taste.

Don't worry: Just like with wine, it's an acquired taste for some, and your palette will adjust. I remember the first time I tried 65 percent, and I had to spit it out. I've since worked my way up the cocoa tree to being able to thoroughly enjoy 80-85% (I'm working on the 99, but that's the extreme!).

The higher the percentage of cacao, the more benefits and better nutritional value the chocolate contains.

For example, an average 65% dark chocolate serving would look something like this (these are estimates, as actual numbers will vary, depending on brand, size, etc.): Total Fat 15 g, Sat. Fat 9 g, Sugars 16g, Protein 3g.

Comparatively, an average 99% dark chocolate serving would look something like this (these are estimates, as actual numbers will vary, depending on brand, size, etc.): Total Fat 22 g, Sat. Fat 14 g, Sugars 2g, Protein 5g.

As you can see, the higher up the percentage scale you go, the less sugar and more protein you're going to get.

You may also notice the high fat content, but the majority of this comes from healthy fats (yes, there is such a thing!).

5 Benefits of Dark Chocolate

1. Studies have shown dark chocolate to lower blood pressure
2. Studies have also shown dark chocolate to lower bad cholesterol (LDL)
3. It turns women on more than a passionate kissing session (no wonder they want it for Valentine's Day!)
4. Contains serotonin, a natural mood-boosting anti-depressant
5. Stimulates pleasure-inducing endorphin production

Now, even though there are several benefits of dark chocolate, as with anything else, moderation is key. Make sure your chocolate delights fit into your daily caloric needs, and try to work your way up to the highest percentage dark chocolate you can enjoy. Want to learn more fun and exciting tips like the benefits of dark chocolate? Come on over to http://www.fitbuff.com

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Chocolate Can Be Good For You

Did you know that chocolate can be really good for your health? Yes chocolate is actually healthy for you Scientists have proven. Now I am not talking about eating chocolate in huge amounts here but eating it in regular servings. Chocolate has sugar in it and we all know that too much sugar can cause weight gain.

I am not talking about the cheap chocolate you buy in the stores either. You will want high quality chocolate, chocolate that has not been too refined as this can cause the chocolate to lose the things that make it healthy such as its antioxidants.

Dark chocolate is the healthy stuff and can really help your body. Milk chocolate is sorta watered down if I can say that. Even milk chocolate should have some health benefits but no where near that of the high cocoa chocolate. A study was done at the Journal of the American Heart Association and it was shown that eating dark chocolate can help you lower your blood pressure. Yes chocolate, that wonderful, sweet snack can help your blood pressure out.

Not only that but the same study showed that the people eating the high cocoa chocolate lowered their Cholesterol by 10 points. Now again, this is in the proper serving amount as in not eating a lot of it. Even eating too much fruit can have negative side affects (and we all know what that means) so just consume that wonderful dark chocolate in small portions and enjoy the taste AND the health benefits! Hi, I'm James Winsoar and I have a chocolate business retailing Xocai healthy chocolate. My website address is http://www.buyxocai.co.uk/

Xocai (pronounced Show-Sigh) is the worlds first guilt-free diabetic friendly delicious high antioxidant cold-processed raw cacao delicious decadent Belgian chocolate. It has added Acai berry which is another high antioxidant superfood (recommended by Oprah Winfrey).

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