National Bittersweet Chocolate Day

Chocolate lovers, it is time to celebrate once again as January 10 every year is recognized as National Bitter Chocolate Day.  (National Day of Bitter Chocolate with Almonds is celebrated on November 7th.)

 Chocolate is originated from the seeds of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree.  Cocoa, which has been cultivated for at least three millennia, is grown in Mexico, Central America and North South America.  The earliest known documented use of cocoa beans is around 1100 BC.  Cocoa beans have a strong bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavor.

 Once the beans have been fermented, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted.  After roasting, the pods are removed to produce cacao nibs.  The cocoa nibs are then ground into a cocoa mass which is pure chocolate in its raw form.  Typically, the liquefied cocoa mass is then molded with or without other ingredients.  This is named chocolate liquor.  The chocolate liquor can then be processed into two ingredients: cocoa solids and cocoa butter.

 Bitter chocolate is a chocolate liquor with added sugar, cocoa butter, and vanilla.  It has less sugar and more alcohol than half a week chocolate.  However, the two are interchangeable when baking.

 Studies have revealed that there are certain health benefits from eating bitter chocolate in moderation, such as lowering blood pressure and helping to protect the heart.

Sometimes the rich sweet taste of milk chocolate is not what you are looking for, sometimes you want to enjoy the hidden bitterness inside of darker chocolate and Bitter Chocolate Day is the anniversary.  There are many different types of chocolate, but dark chocolate reigns supreme on Bittersweet Chocolate Day.

History of Bittersweet Chocolate Day

What kind of chocolate celebrate is the first thing you have to know when talk about Bittersweet Chocolate Day.  The most popular chocolate in the United States is milk chocolate, synonymous with Hershey's and Ghirardelli's most popular chocolate lines.  They're made with lots of sugar and a healthy dose of dairy, giving them a flavor most people know and love.

Bitter chocolate, with a variety also known as Dark Chocolate, takes a different approach.  Fat and sugar are added to cocoa, without milk to reduce bitterness.  It tends to be harder, richer, and is a common ingredient in baking, and is one of the foundation flavors in the richest chocolate drinks, especially Mexican chocolate, made.  with a bit of Cayenne.

However, REAL Bittersweet is a light sweet chocolate.  Oddly enough, this is the most commonly used chocolate in baking, including America's most beloved chocolate chip cookie.

How to Celebrate Bittersweet Chocolate Day

The best way to celebrate Bitter Chocolate Day is to indulge your taste in the bitterness of everything by choosing a bittersweet chocolate mix.  If you're a fan of chocolate chip cookies, then hurry up and grab a bag of the bittersweet variety (not the semi-final variety!) and mix yourself a great batch.  We find that the best chocolate chip cookies are made with walnuts, which really helps bring out the flavors together.

• 10 tbsp of butter
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup + 3 tbsp brown sugar
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 egg
• 7 oz bittersweet chocolate

Melt the butter in a saucepan and heat until it starts to foam and smells nice, that's when you need to stir in the vanilla extract!  Turn off and let it cool for 10 minutes.

While it cools, combine dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl, pour in butter mixture, add eggs and mix well for a while then mix in chocolate and mix until all combined.

Start scooping each cookie scoop onto the cookie sheet and sprinkle more sea salt on top.  This next step is very important, make sure you keep them in the fridge for between 1 hour and 3 days.  The longer you leave them in, the better they will taste when you cook them.

When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, then pop them in the oven while the dough is still cool and bake for 10 minutes!  That's it!  You will have a great dish ready to eat!