Introduction

Chocolate is one of life's great pleasures.Its rich consistency and distinctive flavor appeal to almost everyone's sweet tooth.It is also a prime source of instant energy as it is full of carbohydrates and contains traces of the stimulants caffeine and theobromine.
This chocolate corner will teach you how to make your own hand-made chocolates with pictures,step-by-step recipes and easy-to-follow methods.There simple recipes for beginners or you can make sophisticated chocolates to round off a special occassion with real style.And there are chocolate cookies ,cakes,layer cakes, and every kind of exotic dessert.
Chocolate was first brought to the western world 400 years ago,when Spanish explorers came across it in South America.At first it was used only as a drink ,but in 19th century the familiar chocolate bar was invented in Switzerland and quickoly became the world's most popular confection.
The tree that yields chocolate is aptly named Theobroma,which means 'food of the goods'.The tree has been cultivated for so many centuries that there are probably no wild trees left.It is from the pale purple-pink beans within the pulp of the hanging fruit that chocolate is made.The beans are fermented,dried,roasted and processed into a paste called chocolate liquor.Chocolate liquor is richly coloured and bitter,and is not generally available as it is difficult to cook with.
Cocoa powder is made by pressing the cocoa butter (vegetable fat) out of the pure chocolate liquor and then pulverizing the remains.Extra cocoa butter has to be added to chocolate liquor to turn it into block chocolate or compound chocolate.Cocoa has less fat and sugar than block chocolate,but also less of the true chocolate flavor.
The less sweet ,good quality dark or plain chocolate blocks are satisfactory for cooking,or you can use a good quality baking chocolate.Chocolate with a fairly high cocoa butter content has more fluidity and won't ball around the spoon when melting.Thick,chunky chocolate may not melt quite as easily as thinner blocks,but some cooking chocolate is labbelled easy-to-melt.If chocolate is not melting easily,add a little copha fat (2 to 3 percent of weight of chocolate) shortening ,or vegetable oil.
For handmade chocolate ,look for compound chocolate or couverture chocolate.