38 foot chocolate monument

During the World's Fair of 1893 in Chicago, the Stollwerck chocolate company of Germany created the Statue of Germania out of a 2,200 pound block of chocolate and the entire structure was made of 30,000 pounds of chocolate.
The small card is 2" wide by 3 3/4"

Valentine Sweets - Chocolate and Candies

Many taped talks on chocolate.

Chocolate! ... virtual talks

Finally, chocolate talks. I've written blog posts on chocolate, in fact my first post was on Raffald's Chocolate Puffs, and other posts on Liotard, his 'La Belle Chocolatiere' used on this Baker's Chocolate cover. Here is a list of upcoming and taped past talks on chocolate, in time for Valentine's Day. Dr. Leni Sorenson is giving a talk on colonial chocolate in the Atlantic world and Dr. Leslie Goddard on more modern chocolate candies. So listen to the doctors (and the others) talk about chocolate!

Drink up! Talks: Taverns, Prohibition, Temperance, Beer, Wine, Cocktails, Whiskey...

There is no denying it... there are more and more virtual talks about drinks as our Covid lockdown continues. Grog (yes, grog by a Naval museum), beer, whiskey/whisky, gin, cocktails, teas and chocolate. Many talks include recommended  samples - either mailed or picked up locally. And even beer games done museum style (Penn Museum of UPenn). Tapes, then the October talks.

Freezing chocolate - 17th, 18th and 19th century

The first Earl of Sandwich kept a private journal which gave a recipe for a container of chocolatti placed into a bowl with snow to freeze. The early drink was made with water, thus when frozen, was more like a sherbet.  Later chocolate ice creams used cream or a cooked custard of eggs and cream.

Instant Cocoa -- Broma, Soluble Chocolate and Racahaut

By 1845 there were several 'mixes' to prepare hot chocolate.  Fry's Broma and Soluble Chocolate required no boiling or milling to keep dissolved.  Ads for Baker's cocoa stressed that it could be made in 1 minute at the table. 

Food prices were lower in Federal America than Regency England

In 1818 Cobbett listed the many “groceries” the Americans paid half or even a third the price that the British paid.  Furthermore, everyone was able to partake of chocolate “which is a treat to the rich in England.”  The British people paid to keep the Indies, and yet, “What a hellish oppression must that people [Americans] live under!”

Liotard and a breakfast conversation

Jean-Etienne Liotards pictures, including an interesting one of a boy cutting a piece off a butter cone, highlight an interesting 1803 breakfast description.

Chocolate by Liotard

Jean-Etienne Liotard (1702-1789) did the famous watercolor "The Chocolate Girl" (La Belle Chocolatiere) c1744 which has been copied many times over the years. He also did some other interesting chocolate paintings with closeups of the details...

Valentine Hearts

A recipe for Chocolate Hearts is from the Baker's Chocolate booklet, 1913.

Charles Darwin and... rice??

Emma Darwin kept a small handwritten recipe book, and about fifty of her recipes with modern interpretations are in Mrs. Charles Darwin's Recipe Book which also contains a lengthy information section.   Several of the recipes had differences from others in contemporary cookbooks, such as almonds replacing chestnuts in the Nesselrode ice cream...

Coffee houses

This picture is identified in the British Museum collection as Interior of a London Coffee-house. Anonymous. 1650-1750.   Closeups from this and other images show some equipment in coffee houses of the period...

Chocolate making equipment

Many period pictures and modern photographs show original and reproduction tools to make chocolate - roaster, metate, and chocolate pots.  Quotes from old books describe the process, and modern suggestions are given in the following post.

Raffald's Chocolate Puffs

To begin this blog, here is my modern interpretation of one of my favorite receipts [recipe]. It is easy to make, and is always among the samples for my chocolate talks. Raffald's 1786 recipe is very clear and easy to make.