We just can’t help but fall in love with chocolate. The ingredient is intertwined with sweetness and romance; not to mention that eating it tells our bodies to release endorphins, the feel-good chemicals in the brain.
The magic of the cacao bean is as strong today as it was for the ancient Mayans and Aztecs. Considered the “food of the gods,” cacao was made into a bitter beverage revered as a ceremonial drink, but widely available to all. Cacao beans were even used as currency, and some historians say that they were considered to be more valuable than gold.
To make the chocolate we know and love today, the beans, harvested from inside the pods of the cacao tree, are dried, fermented, and roasted. They’re then processed as needed to make cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and chocolate, typically with sugar added to make it more palatable.
The higher the cacao content, the purer the chocolate is. For baking, I like using dark chocolate with 70 percent cacao content, so I can add more or less sugar as needed. For cooking, you’ll most likely want to use unsweetened chocolate or cocoa powder.
If you’re melting chocolate for cooking or baking, note that it’s quite temperamental and needs a careful hand. For the best results, heat it gently over a double boiler. Treat it with care, and it will yield silky smoothness. A hurried, high fire will make it clump.
From bonbons to ganache and cakes to muffins, chocolate has endless sweet applications. One of my favorites is this flourless chocolate tart. Just three basic ingredients—dark chocolate, eggs, and butter—make a rich, moist, and smooth-as-velvet masterpiece, just as good served cold or warm. For the chocolate, 70 percent is a must; my favorite brands are Lindt and Eden. For the eggs, organic is best. And do splurge on European butter, which has more fat and flavor. For this tart, it’s worth it.
Savory dishes are also part of chocolate’s allure, such as in Mexican mole poblano, specialty Italian pastas, and one of the recipes I’m sharing today: a sensational chili, which gets complexity and depth of flavor from a dose of cocoa powder.
Finally, meet your new go-to winter drink: a rich, silky chocolate and coconut milk cocktail, which will be my new thing for 2022. It captures all of the flavors I liked as a child, while the addition of dark rum takes it into grown-up territory. It makes a perfect pick-me-up on a snowy afternoon, a wonderful ending to a winter dinner party, or, as cocktails are really meant to be, an indulgent opening to an evening with promises of good things to come.
Wishing you sweet chocolate dreams!
