February 2012 Blog Posts (10)

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On February 27, 2012, at 6:00 a.m. PST, MDP Signature Chocolates launched its Kickstarter Project (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1844679095/from-firehouse-chef-to-master-chocolatier) to raise capital to open a small chocolate factory and retail space in Seattle, Washington.  The goal is to have people pledge $50,000 in 30 days.  Kickstarter is “the…

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=331906960178308&set=a.161110650591274.27279.160235940678745&type=1&theater

I was curious what is your favorite chocolate and drink pair? I personally have been enjoying dark chocolates with a nice porter (mostly pecan porters) but I feel like trying something new. Any suggestions? I typically prefer beer pairings but I am open to nice wines as well. 

This cake is very quick and easy to make which I love. I am not very good at complicated recipes with too many stages, the fewer the better is my philosophy. As the cake cooks it will fill your kitchen with the most beautiful aroma of chocolate, spice and orange, the perfect natural room fragrance!



For…

I came accross this article tonight and found the future of cocoa to be quite concerning. We all really need to be proactive in this fight for the future of Cocoa.

Take a read......what are your thoughts?

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-future-of-chocolate

So far I can surmise or suspect that only Big Tree Farms may be producing chocolate that is truly raw.  Since there are currently no industry standards in place, what is the best way to be assured that you are buying truly raw cacao nibs, butter or powder?  I would like to market my confections online but I want to be sure it is truly a raw product I am offering.  Raw in this sense does not refer to raw materials, but to the fact that the cacao was never heated above 40 to 45 C at any time…

This past December, one of the villages we visit every year was burned by members of the Ivorian Army, specifically pro-Ouattara forces.  Broguhe was pro-Gbagbo during the last election, so this is probably a form of punishment.  We (Project Hope and Fairness) are rebuilding the sewing room this week and electrifying it.  In any case, Ivory Coast, which supplies 40% of the world's cocoa, is slowly rebuilding from a civil war that started in 1993 and flashes on and off.

Tom…

I just received an offer, as I'm sure many others did, for "beta testing" of a new chocolate from a particular company.  Cool.  Get to sample 3 different types, provide feedback, yada, yada.  Then I saw the price.  For 3 "shipments", each containing two 25-gm samples (total of 150 gm, or about 5 oz.)  it was about $50.  That figures to be about $160 on a pound-for-pound basis.  To me, that's really pushing it, especially given that the stuff is totally untested.  For a "beta test" the price…

It's true, cocoa paper is made by hand using traditional methods.

A team of 6 make an astounding 40,000 sheets of cocoa paper a month! We have many more skilled paper makers eagerly waiting to join our team and double or even triple that number if sales increase.

Watch this short video to learn how cocoa paper is made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wUuSWd9v2c&feature=share

I'm excited to announce that you can now buy Cocoa Paper products online!

Cocoa Paper is handmade using sustainably sourced cocoa tree bark and recycled white paper. For all our home and office stationery needs visit: http://www.cocoapaper.org/

Feel good about supporting cocoa sustainability. :-)