This page contains all of the information you will need to make an informed and deliciously enlightened decision on your vegan, raw and organic chocolate needs. No one does it like Vegan Chocolate dot com, especially since we have teamed up with Kona Kava Farm, world renown for their coffee and their Kava Kava. They’ve got the most delicious cacao bean creations we’ve ever found, and their raw cacao is a raw foodist’s dream. Whether you are looking for recipes, definitions or information, this is the place! Enjoy your stay! – Keith Cleversley
Organic Chocolate
In the past decade, America has developed a love of organic foods. And while organic foods historically came from small, family-run farms, thus limiting the availability of organic foods to local farmers’ markets, increased public awareness and concern for a better and more sustainable future has made organic food available to the masses in grocery stores all over the country. This increase in availability spreads beyond produce and meat, making products like certified organic chocolate readily available in the U.S. Organic chocolate is...
read moreVegan Chocolate
In our meat-obsessed society, vegetarian and vegan lifestyles remain a minority. The vegan philosophy and lifestyle is demanding, and requires vigilance to ensure the food that one eats is animal product free. Fortunately, with the growing popularity of the vegan lifestyle, more and more companies are producing delicious vegan options for popular foods from mayonnaise to cherry pie. And so, luckily, there is no reason at all for you to have to miss out on chocolate and its many delicious applications just because you are vegan! There are...
read moreVegan Definition
By this point, the term “vegan” is familiar to most people in the United States, and around the world. Veganism is a diet, but it is also much more than that. It is the broader philosophy and lifestyle of those who choose to avoid the use of animal products in food, clothing, and any other product they consume or utilize. Initially, the word “vegan” was derived from the term “vegetarian.” When, in 1944, Elsie Shrigley and Donald Watson became frustrated that vegetarians were relaxing their standards and...
read moreA Brief History of Chocolate
Chocolate Through the Years The story of chocolate, as far back as we understand it, begins with the discovery of America. Until 1492, the Old World knew nothing at all about the delicious and stimulating flavor that was to become the favorite treat of millions. The Court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella got its first look at the principal ingredient of chocolate when Columbus returned in triumph from America and laid before the Spanish throne a treasure trove of many strange and wonderful things. Among these were a few dark brown beans...
read moreThe Chocolate Timeline
600 AD – The cocoa bean is considered the ultimate status symbol in the Mayan and Aztec cultures. They use the beans as currency and those wealthy enough to have an excess of beans use them to make a chocolate drink that gives them “wisdom and power”. 1000 AD – Emperor Montezuma, who no doubt possesses more cocoa beans than anybody else at the time is a “chocoholic.” Montezuma, it is reported, drinks nothing but chocolate, particularly before entering his harem. He believes that the concoction is a powerful...
read moreWhat Is Raw Chocolate?
The chocolate making process begins with a tree called the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao). This tree grows in equatorial regions, especially in places such as South America, Africa and Indonesia. Raw chocolate is the unprocessed cacao bean or nib, which has been dried. It can be used for many different purposes, and is one of the top antioxidant sources available on the modern market. Raw chocolate contains approximately 380 known chemicals, many of them that are extremely beneficial to the body. Dr. Drewnowski from the University of Michigan...
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Many people are beginning to realize the importance of living well and the health benefits of eating wholesome organic foods. The movement is growing fast, as more and more people learn about the vegan lifestyle and the advantages of consuming raw foods. As such, we should take a closer look at the health benefits that accompany consuming raw cacao (a very healthy and natural bean) and using organically grown, pesticide free cacao nuts in vegan chocolates. Your typical milk chocolate bar is a highly processed concoction of milk byproducts,...
read moreCacao Beans
The word cacao comes from the Aztec language Nahuatl’s word “cacahuatl,” and the cacao bean was very important to indigenous Mesoamericans. Cultivation of the cacao bean was extensive in early Mesoamerica and Aztec lore cites the god Quetzalcoatl as the initial discoverer. As described by ancient texts, it was used for ceremonial, medicinal, and culinary purposes. Cacao was even ground by the Aztecs and mixed with tobacco for smoking. Cacao beans not only provided a ritual beverage to the early Mesoamericans, they also acted as a currency...
read moreIn The Chocolate Factory – From Bean To Chocolate
From The Bean To Chocolate We now come to the remarkable art of chocolate making, a process that is comparable with the skill and finesse of the world’s greatest chefs. The manufacturing process requires much time and painstaking care. Just to make an individual-size chocolate bar, for instance, takes from two to four days or more. Manufacturing methods will differ from plant to plant, but there is a general processing pattern which prevails everywhere. It is this pattern that makes the chocolate industry distinctive from every other...
read moreWhat Is Animal Free?
The term “animal free” is commonly used to refer to materials and foods that contain zero percent animal products. This of course indicates that the product contains absolutely no meat, poultry, seafood, eggs and dairy products, along with honey, fur, leather, wool, and silk. Anything that came from an animal or was made by an animal can not be considered animal free. Animal free materials also eschew a long list of common animal by-products like gelatin, lanolin, rennet, whey, beeswax, and shellac. In the modern era, the use of...
read moreOrganic Food Resources
Organic foods are those which are produced using environmentally supportive methods that do not include pesticides, chemical fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, or food additives, among other things. Organic food production is highly regulated, and individuals who want to advertise their food as organic are required to meet very strict certification standards in most countries. Organic farming uses less energy and produces less waste than conventional farming and helps to maintain healthy ecosystems. And, since organic food does not...
read moreGluten Free Food List
There are numerous reasons to adopt a gluten-free diet. Among those who necessarily must adhere to a strict diet free of gluten are sufferers of celiac disease and of dermatitis herpetiformis. Some doctors believe that a gluten-free diet may also be beneficial to those who suffer from multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune disorders, as well as autism spectrum disorders, and even ADHD. Generally, the mixture of proteins known as gluten is found in all products derived from wheat, barley, rye, and triticale. Professional opinions vary on...
read moreDairy Free Chocolate Coins
The current trend of using chocolate coins for promotional purposes or to celebrate special occasions is most likely derived from the tradition of Hanukkah gelt (Yiddish for “money”). Long before there was interest in dairy free chocolate coins, Jewish adults gave real coins as gifts to children in order to enhance their holiday experience. In the twentieth century, American chocolate makers caught on to the coin idea and began producing chocolate gelt, candies shaped and stamped like coins and wrapped in foil. These coins often...
read moreSoy Chocolate Milk
The stature of chocolate milk as a mainstay of American culture and lore needs little elaboration. From “chocolate milk comes from chocolate cows,” to Ralphie’s obsession with downing Ovaltine to acquire his beloved decoder ring in the mail, chocolate milk has been a mainstay of popular American culture throughout the 20th century. Strictly speaking, chocolate milk is a sweetened milk drink flavored with cocoa. The two traditional ways to enjoy chocolate milk are either as a pre-mixed beverage, or by mixing it on your own....
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Just glance at the label of most popular commercial chocolate products and you’ll see those famous three words: “Pure Milk Chocolate.” Companies advertise this very clearly because they know that most consumers associate “milk” with creaminess, decadence, and satisfaction. What they don’t tell you is where, exactly, the milk came from, or its quality, or whether or not the cows it came from were treated with BGH growth hormones or other troubling chemicals. Fortunately, for those among us who are concerned...
read moreLactose Intolerant Foods
Lactose intolerance is a condition wherein the body has difficulty producing lactase, an enzyme that is essential in the proper metabolization of lactose. Since lactose, a constituent of milk and other dairy products, is often used in cream sauces and soup bases, lactose intolerance can lead to discomfort for those with the condition who aren’t vigilant in maintaining a strict diet. When one is lactose intolerance, the result of consuming too much lactose is excess gas production, stomach aches, diarrhea, and other gastric distress....
read moreVegan White Chocolate Chips
White chocolate is that delicious, creamy confection derived from chocolate. It is characterized by its pale ivory appearance. White chocolate isn’t really chocolate, perse. White chocolate usually consists of cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids, and it lacks the cocoa powder found in proper chocolate. The melting point of cocoa butter is high enough to keep white chocolate solid at room temperature but, like normal chocolate, it melts in the mouth. During the chocolate making process, the dark-colored solids of cocoa bean are seperated...
read moreVegan Chocolate Mousse
Traditionally a specialty of French and Belgian restaurants, mousse is a creamy dessert made from egg and cream, usually in combination with chocolate or pureed fruit. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the dish made its way into American and British restaurants. To achieve this dessert’s particular light, fluffy, yet extremely rich consistency, raw eggs whites are normally beaten before being mixed with the other ingredients. The resulting mixture is then chilled to maintain aeration. An inherently classy dish, mousse is often served...
read moreVegan Candy
Okay. Let’s not dwell on the fact that candy, as a basic concept, is usually just not that good for you. This much is a given: wiping away the world’s candy supply might make the human race a good deal healthier, and would put an end to some rather unsavory cravings we all experience from time to time. Ah, but that wouldn’t be much fun now, would it? Life, after all, has its moments of difficulty among the joy, and those moments occasionally cry out for a decadent, sweet treat. Let us not forget that ode to sweet delights:...
read moreDairy Free Chocolate
Say what you want about the way the world is going and where we might end up, but there’s no denying that with every passing year, life becomes a little easier for those among us who choose to, or need to, live a dairy free lifestyle. Once the outcasts in a carnivorous world, non-dairy consumers now number well over 10 million in this country alone. And, like any other group of that size, we have begun to make our mark on society and culture. The result is a wide array of dairy free options for nearly every food product imaginable, from...
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