Filed under: Dessert , British Isles , Farming , Nuts/seeds , Chocolate , Far East Cacao trees have been grown in southern Vietnam for a good six years. Now the Mekong Delta has joined the country's other provinces. Ben Tre province recently began exporting processed cocoa with a whopping 12-ton shipment to the U.K. And it plans to keep up the pace with another 12-ton batch next month.   The province has 5,000 acres of cacao trees and plans to expand to 25,000 by 2010. That's a lot of processed cocoa. I'm all for the economic development of Vietnamese agriculture, but my secret hope is that the Brits start doing some really interesting things with chocolate now that they have all that cocoa. [photo: Thanh Nien News ] Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Chocolate , Books , Cookbook of the Day Alice Medrich must be one of the most talented pastry chefs to have ever published a cookbook. "Pastry chef" seems like a better description than "baker" because, though she bakes, she specializes in chocolate. Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate is an exceptional work from her and won the IACP awards for Best Single Subject Cookbook and Cookbook of the Year in 2004, after the book was released. The book covers different types of chocolate, detailing levels of sweetness and types of cocoas, and provides a wealth of information on how to work with it, including troubleshooting common problems. Not only does it cover the topics, but Medrich explains the difficult nature of chocolate in an extremely eloquent way, something which not all writers who have tackled the topic can claim. While her prose is detailed, it pales in comparison to the level of specificity that Medrich applies in her recipes. While it may seem intimidating at first glance, the recipes are still very readable and can walk the cook through from start to finish of some of the most mouthwatering chocolate creations you can imagine. The book is also full of stunning illustrations, should you need any encouragement to attempt the recipes.

Filed under: Food Porn , On the Blogs When you hear the phrase "peanut butter and jelly," chances are you think of a childhood snack or a tasty lunch, tucked away in a brown paper bag. The idea might not inspire the same mouthwatering temptation that it did when you were ten, but perhaps this updated version of the classic pair is enough to. Kuidaore used Thomas Keller's take on peanut butter and jelly as inspiration to put together these phenominal treats: grown up peanut butter cups with yuzu pate de fruit "jellies".

Filed under: Snacks , Food Porn , Retro cookery , Super Size Me   Sno Balls are snack cakes made by Hostess. They were introduced in 1947 and consist of a chocolate cupcake filled with creme filling, coated with a marshmallowy fluff and rolled in coconut. When you look closely, you can see that the interior is really  a regular Hostess Ding Dong or cupcake that has been turned upside down. Nevertheless, they have a lot of retro appeal and, like must snack foods, become even more appealing when super-sized. I found this photoset on Flickr when I was looking around for more pimped out snack ideas . The chocolate cake dome was baked in a round bowl , hollowed out and covered with homemade marshmallow . Check out the whole photoset to see all the steps.

Filed under: Snacks , Vegetarian , Organic , Vegan , Non-GMO , Chocolate , Fruit , New Products , Light Food

Filed under: Chocolate , Newspapers , On the Blogs , The History of... , America History buffs with a sweet tooth can now get an idea of what chocolate tasted like to American colonists. American Heritage Chocolate , made by Mars, aims to recreate the chocolate of yore by using centuries-old methods and recipes. Stone ground cocoa beans result in a grittier chocolate infused with spices such as cinnamon, anise, nutmeg, red pepper, orange and vanilla. The chocolate comes in bars, sticks and a drink mix. As is fitting for a historical chocolate, American Heritage is available only at Fort Ticonderoga, Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello, Mount Vernon and The Smithsonian. An AP story has more . [Via USA TODAY ] Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: West Coast , Raves & Reviews , Stores & Shopping , Retro cookery It doesn't seem like you can get a whole lot for 54¢, but at Barney Greengrass , on the 5th floor of Barney's in Beverly Hills, you can get a taste of nostalgia. They serve up egg creams at the shockingly low price - making them the best buy in they whole store. According to LA Ritz , who found the drink while waiting for some friends to finish shopping, they did use Hershey's syrup instead of U-Bet (the horror!), but it still could be the starting place for a new trend. Of course, if it catches on, I doubt that the price will remain so low!

Filed under: Chocolate , Candy , Stores & Shopping For Mother's Day, See's Candies has restyled one of their signature boxes into an adorable pink and white purse with a beaded handle. It is packed with an assortment of truffles and other chocolates and topped off with a bow. In addition to selling the purse alone, See's also sells a larger Mother's Day Keepsake Collection , which includes the 10-ounce purse, an additional pound of assorted chocolates and a pink bag full of foil-covered chocolate hearts.

Filed under: British Isles , Candy , Newspapers , New Products , Europe Nestle's popular candy-coated chocolates, Smarties , are getting a makeover. Actually, it's more of a make-under. They are being stripped of artificial colors starting next month. The blue candy will be most directly affected, as there is no naturally edible dye to produce the same or a similar shade. This means that Smarties' blue candies will be white until a suitable color replacement can be found.

Filed under: Chocolate , Candy , Stores & Shopping For the Mom who's a fashionista as well as a chocoholic, these chocolates from Moonstruck Chocolate Co. could be just the right thing for Mother's Day. Each of the eight truffles in the ribboned box is shaped like a little bonnet . Handmade and adorned with tiny edible flowers, the adorable confections come in four flavors: raspberry frappe, summermint tea, lemon mousse and orange mousse, all of which are fittingly summery. It's $24 for eight candies, but they're so unique that it's a gift Mom will surely appreciate.