Category: chocolate loaf cake

NATIONAL #CHOCOLATE CAKE DAY 27th JANUARY 2022…

There is just about an awareness day for everything nowadays but as a chocaholic I made a note of any chocolate ones all in my diary.

National Chocolate Cake Day is Thursday 22nd January – Sainsbury’s wrote about a great idea for National Chocolate Cake Day and that is as it falls on a Friday “why not stretch your cocoa-based celebrations over the whole weekend and rustle up some decadent treats?“

Some of Sainsbury’s magazine team say what good choccy cake means to them.

Anna
‘Flourless chocolate cake with a huge dollop of sweetened mascarpone for breakfast with a black coffee’

Frankie
‘Chocolate Guinness cake. The sponge is so moist it doesn’t even matter if you eat the icing first. Deeeelicious!’

Tamsin
‘I love nuts in my brownies – I make mine with muscovado sugar, which makes them extra fudgey, and they HAVE to be gooey. I really don’t go much for chocolate buttercream – I prefer a chocolate ganache so you really get that chocolate hit. My fave cake is a chocolate soured cream cake with a dark chocolate ganache coating.’

Hannah
‘I love a classic chocolate sponge sandwiched with lots of thick fudgy icing.’

All of the above had me salivating but my first choice is definitely the same as Hannah’s. You cannot beat a classic chocolate sponge sandwich cake.

National Chocolate Cake Day started when Dr James Baker and a chocolate maker teamed up to make the first chocolate cake in 1765. Dr James Baker had learned how to make chocolate by grinding the cocoa between two large millstones at his local mill.

This day is to commemorate this sweet treat that’s been a part of American society for about 252 years. It’s a great day to learn about the chocolate cake, or more likely, to serve up a plate of this delicious dessert. 

Many people believe that chocolate cake has been around since ancient times but that isn’t really true. While it is true that the ancient Egyptians were the first to bake cakes and that chocolate was first invented over 3,000 years ago by the Aztecs, the pair didn’t join up until about the middle of the 18th century in America. This is when Dr James Baker and a chocolate maker teamed up to make the first chocolate cake in 1765.

In 1847, one of the first chocolate cake recipes was published by Eliza Leslie in The Lady’s Receipt Book but American households really didn’t begin to add chocolate into their cakes until about the 1880s. They wouldn’t do so until the 1920s. This is when a food company based in Pittsburgh named P. Duff and Sons created the first boxed cake mix. During the 1930s, they would go on to create a devil food boxed cake mix but unfortunately, they had to put it on hold due to rationing during World War II. After the war ended, General Mills and Duncan Hines took over the market with their cake mixes. This is when the chocolate cake really began to take off in America.

To find out more about the history of National Chocolate Cake Day head to Holiday’s Calendar.

Why not have a Chocolate Pudding Club night and get all your friends (who love chocolate) to bring a homemade chocolate cake then sit down and enjoy tasting everyone’s baking masterpiece.

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CHOCOLATE WITH ALL THE GOODNESS BUT NOT THE CALORIES…

I am a chocoholic and proud to be one. From an early age when away at school all my chocolate in my tuck box would be eaten first then I would do a never-ending amount of jobs for senior girls in order to get some more. I really should have opened a chocolate shop before now. I’ve even been on a chocolate diet ! and ‘no’it did not work but it was rather enjoyable.

However, we all know it’s not good for our waist line nor our teeth but over the years it does get some good press as being good for your heart in the right format and the amount you eat. Chocolate is made from cocoa, which contains polyphenols, which may work as antioxidants that lower LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) and reduce blood pressure. Some experts suggest that eating some chocolate every day can decrease your risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Cocoa contains epicatechins and catechins, which are similar to the polyphenols found in green tea; and quercetin, which is found in fruits and vegetables. Dark chocolate has more antioxidants than milk chocolate because certain processing methods remove the polyphenols, which have a bitter flavor.

Dr. Arebi on Net Doctor wrote “Fermentation in the bean and subsequent extraction generates cocoa butter and releases a variety of vitamins and minerals such as potassium and anti-oxidants,” she explains.

“Cocoa beans also contain dopamine, phenylethylamine and serotonin, chemicals with powerful antidepressant properties that also promote wellbeing. In addition, theobromine is another component of the cocoa bean and has caffeine like properties.”

And she says that many more healthy chemicals are released when chocolate is fermented in our intestines by our gut bacteria, citing research that showed the antioxidants released are similar to those found in green tea.

So, where can we buy chocolate that is that bit healthier but tastes as good as ordinary chocolate? Well there are many companies out there with healthier chocolate treats for us in fact far to many for me to write about in one post so instead I am going to write a regular post on it with all the information I have found about each company.

To start off this regular slot my first post is all about a company called The Skinny Food Company, The Skinny Food Co. was founded in May 2018. James Whiting and Wayne Starky (Directors) have previous experience in the food and beverage/health and wellness market and have discovered the need for great, tasty, and healthy products. It is promoted by diabetic family members who avoid so many favorite foods. This brand was born with the release of zero-calorie syrups, healthy, almost zero table sauces, and shortly thereafter.

Some of the products which I cannot wait to try are-

The Chocolate Flavoured Zero Calories Syrup at £3.99

The Prodigy Chunky Chocolate Low Sugar Vegan Chocolate Bars at £1.99

The Skinny High Protein Milk Chocolate Crispies at £1.25

The Double Chocolate 3 calories a cup drink at £2.49

The 92% less sugar Chocolate Spread at £3.99

I don’t need to go any further as I am sure your mouth will be watering by now but I promise I will follow up after I have tried some of these and another post on chocolate for fewer calories.