People all over the world love noshing on bars and cubes of chocolate confections during the holiday season. Candy canes are a classic symbol for Christmas, but chocolate Santas and boxes of the finest names in chocolate are one of the most gifted food items during the holidays.
Whether you prefer silky, creamy milk chocolate or love to melt rich, voluptuous dark chocolate across your palate, people the world over have a deep love affair with this incredible food of the gods.
Chocolate as a food can be traced back to 1900 BCE in the territory now known as Mexico. The Aztecs, Olmec and Mayans would use cacao beans to make a drink which they found to perk them up in their mood and sexuality. Some historians even found stories that declared Aztec emperor Montezuma drank three gallons of chocolate a day to increase his libido before he entered brothels.
Because of the exhilarating experience chocolate gave ancient people, they came to believe that it had special mystical qualities. Therefore, it was reserved only for the most powerful members of society such as priests, nobles, rulers and warriors.
Cacao beans couldn’t be grown in certain parts of Mexico. Thanks to early global trade, the Aztecs traded with the Mayans to get the cacao beans they had come to love.
Spaniards uncovered the secret cacao stash when they explored Mexico for gold in the 1500’s. Cortez and his army took the beans back to Spain where they modified their cacao tea by adding sugar and cinnamon. Spaniards who would return to Mesoamerica carried the habit with them, which created the variation of Mexican hot chocolate we know from modern day Mexico.
The Spaniards kept the cacao secret for almost 100 years until the daughter of Spanish King Philip III married French King Louis XIII. She carried her passion for chocolate to France and from there the love for chocolate caught like wildfire; however, the decadent treat still remained in the clutches of aristocracy.
We can thank Dutch chemist Coenraad Johannes Van Houten for his invention of the cocoa press in 1828, which nabbed the monopoly that the rich had on the dark brown, cherished luxury. Van Houten’s press squeezed the fat from roasted cocoa beans, allowing it to be pulverized into powder that could be used as an ingredient. Availability and affordability of chocolate resulted, opening up the doors for subsequent confectionary inventions to follow.
Europeans loved playing with the new found magic powder, and the trend eventually traveled to The States. By the mid to late 1800’s chocolate goodies that still satisfy our sweet tooth rolled into mass production, and recognizable names such as Lindt, Cadbury, Hershey’s and Mars would stand behind superior chocolate products. Today, the average American consumes 12 lbs. of chocolate annually, and more than $75 billion worldwide is spent on chocolate each year, with the Swiss being the largest chocolate consuming population.
If you want to take time to make your own chocolate delight for the holiday season, here is a modified version of divinity candy. I recommend using a strong stand mixer to handle the work of making this traditional heavenly treat. You will also need a candy thermometer for best consistency.
Rich Chocolate Swirl Divinity
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 12-ounce package (2 cups) real dark chocolate chips plus 1 1oz square Baker’s chocolate, cut into small pieces.
Directions
Combine sugar, corn syrup, water and salt in 2-quart saucepan. Cook over low heat and stir constantly for about 5-8 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking, without stirring, 30-60 minutes or until candy thermometer reaches 260°F or small amount of mixture dropped into ice water forms a hard ball.
Butter baking sheets; set aside.
Beat egg whites in a large bowl at high speed until stiff peaks form. Beat at medium speed while slowly pouring thin stream of hot syrup into egg whites. Beat at high speed, scraping bowl often, 4-6 minutes or until mixture loses gloss and starts to hold shape. Stir in vanilla and chocolate chips just until chocolate melts and forms swirls.
Drop tablespoons of mixture quickly onto prepared baking sheets. Cool completely.
