15 things you must know about chocolate!

1. Chocolate is made from the fruit of the cacao tree.  Cacao pods contain nibs that are crushed to make unsweetened chocolate.
2. The scientific name of the cacao tree, Theobroma, means “food of the gods.”
3. When the cacao nibs are crushed, there are fats and solids remaining.  The fats are called cocoa butter.  The solids are ground into cocoa powder.
4. Chocolate bars may have “% Cacao” or “%Cocoa” printed on the label. This percentage refers to the total content of the cacao (or cocoa) solids.
5. White Chocolate does not contain cocoa solids but can be called chocolate by food standards if it contains cocoa butter. (more…)