ChocolateScraper.com Latest Blog Posts

Chocolate Frosting for D Bar Cake and Shake

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:59:08 GMT

Chef/emcee Keegan Gerhard shares the chocolate frosting recipe for his cake and shake, a 3-layer choc cake, manjari frosting, vanilla or choc milk shake or malt. One his most ordered dishes, frosting lovers will appreciate this easy recipe from his grandma.

Keegan Gerhard writes, “I have always loved chocolate cake but never really loved chocolate frosting. The problem is most American frostings are made with shortening and cocoa powder added for the chocolate version. Frosting is made with real chocolate and features Tillamook Unsalted Butter and Tillamook Premium Sour cream.

Gerhard says, “To me this is the best chocolate frosting I’ve ever had. Don’t skimp on the chocolate make sure and buy a good dark Chocolate. We use Guittard Madagascar Chocolate for this frosting at D Bar”

Chocolate Frosting for D Bar Cake and Shake

Prep time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Yield (number of servings): approx. 2 3-layer 10 inch cakes or 3 doz. cupcakes

Level (beginner or intermediate): intermediate

1 pound Tillamook Unsalted Butter

4 oz Madagascar 64% Chocolate

8 ounces Unsweetened Chocolate

1 pound Tillamook Premium Sour Cream, room temp

1 1/2 pounds Powdered Sugar

Melt butter and chocolate together over a water bath and let cool to 105F.
In mixing bowl with whip attachment mix chocolate and butter mixture on low.
Add powdered sugar on low speed all at once to create a paste. Do not be concerned if mixture looks broken at this point.
Scrape down bowl well.
Add half the sour cream. Whip on low just until combined.
Turn to medium speed and whip 10 seconds. Scrape bowl well.
Add remaining sour cream. Mix on low just until combined.
Scrape bowl. Turn to medium speed and whip 10 more seconds
Frosting should be sooth shiny and ready to use.

Ep 1 - White chocolate lava cake

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:55:22 GMT

Preparation Time: 40 Minutes
Cooking Time: 18-20 Minutes
Serves 2

Wine Match: Saints Noble Semillon
Raspberry Sauce
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 tbsp icing sugar

Caramel Shards
1/4 cup caster sugar
20ml water

Mascarpone Cream
1/3 cup double cream
1/3 cup mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp icing sugar

Lava Cake
175g Valrhona white chocolate
25g Mainland unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
75g caster sugar
2 free range eggs
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
40g plain flour, sifted

1. Preheat oven to 200C.

2. To make the raspberry sauce, place the raspberries, lemon juice and icing sugar in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Simmer until the sauce has reached a thick consistency, then pass through a fine sieve and set aside to cool.

3. To make the caramel shards, place the sugar and water in a small saucepan, place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Watch carefully, but do not stir. Wait until the sugar turns a deep caramel colour then remove from the heat. Allow to cool for one minute, then use a fork or spoon to dip into the caramel and drizzle across a silicone mat in thin lines. Once set, break into large shards for garnish.

4. To make the mascarpone cream, whisk together the cream, mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Chill until ready to serve.

5. To make the lava cake, place the white chocolate in a double boiler over low heat and melt. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

6. Place the Mainland butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and use a hand beater to cream together until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a pinch of salt. Slowly add the egg mixture to the butter mixture, careful not to over mix, and add the vanilla. Use a spatula to fold in the flour, then fold in the cooled chocolate. Grease two ramekins and pour the mixture in to the moulds. Cook for 18-20 minutes. The lava cakes should be set on top but not cooked through as they should ooze when cut into.

7. To serve, run a small knife around the inside of the ramekin to loosen the cake and then turn out on to a serving plate. Drizzle raspberry sauce on the plate. Make a quenelle of cream and place on top of the sauce and balance a caramel shard on top of the cream.

Mars Cutting King-Size Candy

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:46:38 GMT

Hungry? Starting in 2013 you’ll have to grab a slightly smaller Snickers. Mars Inc., which makes M&Ms, Twix, Milky Way and many other notable candies, told Reuters that by the end of next year it will not sell any chocolate products that have more than 250 calories. That means the more-than-500-calorie “king size” Snickers bar will become extinct, along with other “king size” goodies.

Mars told NPR the company planned to replace “king size” candy with bags of two and four smaller bars. According to NPR, the company said it wants to “enable sharing or saving a portion for later.”“As you taste something, you start being more tempted,” said Dan Ariely, professor of behavioral economics at Duke University. “So the first bite of chocolate is very satisfying, but it creates a really strong craving for the second bite. So if you have four of those little things in a package, there’s a question of whether you would be able to stop after the first or you just take another bite, and another bite, and not stop until you finish the whole package.”

Even the current two-ounce Snickers is not small enough. It will have to downsize from 280 calories, losing at least 10 percent of its current self. On it’s website, Mars talks about ”responsible snacking” and highlights the fact that currently its “king size” candy is made in two pieces, “one for now and one for later.”

Bailey’s Chocolate Cake With Peanut Butter Cup Frosting

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:34:31 GMT

For our good friend Beth’s birthday last week, Stacey and I made this cake thanks to a tip from the birthday cake fairy (Jen) who let us know what Beth’s ideal cake might look like. We took some liberties; including the philosophy I strictly abide by which states that all desserts should include booze. So, what started as a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, turned into a Bailey’s chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting topped, as you can see, with peanut butter cups.

The reviews on this cake (now the second one I’ve made from scratch — See an earlier post called Kahlua Chocolate Cake for the first one) were pretty good. Somehow the cake seemed a little dry. I may have cooked the cake too long. I’m not sure. This is the recipe we followed for the cake and this is where we drew our inspiration for the peanut butter frosting. We added a little Bailey’s to what the the cake recipe called for. This probably goes without saying. Happy Birthday to Beth. I’m sure I speak for others when I say that I hope we can help you celebrate your birthday again in years to come!

Dan Lepard's walnut cake recipes

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 10:20:24 GMT

Walnut trees have been cultivated in Britain for centuries yet, curiously, the nut has never been as popular here as imported almonds. Yes, pickled walnuts were once common (more so than even onions), but beyond that few old recipes exist; and while we happily add walnuts to plum puddings and fruit cakes, they are not vital ingredients. Also, walnuts lack the easy blandness of almonds, so can't be slipped into a dish without everybody realising.

The kernel of the English walnut has a dark brown tint and a slightly bitter flavour (unlike the blonde ones from California), so the challenge is to pair it with ingredients that make those characteristics intriguing. Other bittersweet flavours are a good start, so chocolate, orange, spinach and spirits such as Campari all make good matches, while cream or butter helps to soften their intensity.

Walnut truffle cake
The trick to controlling the soufflé-like rise and fall of flourless chocolate cakes such as this is partly down to temperature: if you can bake it at 140C in a fan oven, the temperature at the centre of the cake is more likely to match the crust, so the rise and fall won't be as dramatic as it might otherwise be. I like to mix up the chocolate varieties for this – the combination of white and dark here gives something close to an intense milk chocolate flavour, for example – but use all milk or dark, as you prefer.

200g walnuts
150g caster sugar
25g cocoa
250g mascarpone
4 medium eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
200g dark chocolate
100g white chocolate, or more dark chocolate

Line the base and sides of an 18cm, round cake tin with nonstick paper, and heat the oven to 160C (140C fan-assisted)/320F/gas mark 2½.

Grind the walnuts with the sugar and cocoa in a food processor until fine, then beat with the mascarpone, eggs and vanilla. Melt the chocolate, stir this through the mix evenly, then spoon into the prepared tin and smooth the top.

Bake for about 75-90 minutes, until the cake has evenly risen and retains just the slightest wobble to the middle – this will ensure it has a soft, slightly melting texture in the centre. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin to cool completely before serving.

Walnut orange crumb cake
The bramley apple in this helps the crumb stay soft for a few days, but its flavour vanishes on baking, so you're left with the combined flavours of orange, cinnamon and walnut.

For the crumb layer
100g plain flour
1 tsp cinnamon
50g brown sugar, any sort
25g unsalted butter

For the cake
125g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
3 medium eggs
2 tsp orange extract (or finely grated zest of 3 oranges)
1 bramley apple
225g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
150g walnut pieces
Demerara sugar

Line the base of an 18cm square tin with nonstick paper. Make the crumb mix: put the flour, cinnamon and sugar in a bowl, and rub in the butter.

In another bowl, make the cake batter. Melt the butter, and beat with the sugar, eggs and orange extract. Peel the apple, grate it coarsely (discard the core and pips) and stir in, followed by the flour and baking powder. Stir in the walnuts. Scoop half the mixture in small spoonfuls into the tin roughly to cover the base.

Sprinkle over half the crumb mix, spoon the remaining cake mixture on top in random small spoonfuls, then sprinkle the last of the crumb mix over the top. Dust lightly with demerara, and bake at 180C (160C fan-assisted)/350F/gas mark 4 for 40-50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

• Dan Lepard will be appearing at Guardian Open Weekend on 24 and 25 March. Festival passes are now on sale at guardian.co.uk/open-weekend. Buy your pass before 1 March to ensure the best chance of booking reservations for individual sessions.

Gilmore Girls Breakfast Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:30:22 GMT

I love a good oatmeal raising cookie. Heck, I love any kind of cookie, but I cannot have just any kind of cookie in my home all the time. I have no willpower and will keep going back to the cookie jar. But I’ve come up with a cookie recipe that is really good and makes me feel good feeding my girls. Now don’t think these are special event or dessert cookies. They’re not. When you’re serving cookies for a party or after a nice meal, by all means don’t make “healthy” treats. No one wants that. But these cookies are good for every day snacks and, yes, even for breakfast along with some protein, like a yogurt or smoothie. You’ll find “breakfast cookie” recipes online, but many times they are too healthy, leaving out enough fat. I believe there is nothing wrong with real, quality butter and have not cut out any fat.

I make these cookies with my girls an have been for years. They love helping and love eating them. So without further ado, here is the recipe:
Gilmore Girls Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Cookie
Makes about 3 dozen
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 cups uncooked old-fashioned oats
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350°.
In a mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars together until creamy.
Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
Combine flours, baking soda, salt, wheat germ and cinnamon and mix well.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.
Stir on oats to combine.
Stir in raisins to combine.
Using two tablespoons, form large balls and drop onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (or ungreased sheet).
Bake for 12 – 14 minutes until golden brown.
Cool for a minute and put on wire rack .
If the two sticks of butter is too much for you, applesauce can replace up to ¾ of butter. I’ve done this and they are good, but not as good as this recipe and my girls don’t beg for them.

Chocolate Cake for Breakfast: It's Good for You

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:37:09 GMT

?Remember Bill Cosby's classic 1982 routine about feeding his kids chocolate cake for breakfast? It went like this: "The child wanted chocolate cake for breakfast! How ridiculous! ... And someone in my brain looked under chocolate cake and saw the ingredients: eggs! Eggs are in chocolate cake! And milk! Oh goody! And wheat! That's nutrition! ... And their father said, 'Chocolate cake coming up!!' ... And five children sat at breakfast and the morning music was playing and they were eating chocolate cake and singing songs to me: 'Dad is great! Give us the chocolate cake!'"

Cosby's creative take on the all-important first meal of the day (he gave them grapefruit juice, too!) didn't go over so well with Mrs. Cosby: "The skin and hair split and came off of her face so that there was nothing except the skull! And orange light came out of her hair and it lit all around! And fire shot from her eye sockets and began to burn my stomach! And she said, 'Where did they get chocolate cake from?!?'"

Thirty years later, Cosby's sweet breakfast idea has been vindicated. New research from a study at the University of Tel Aviv has found that eating dessert at breakfast could help promote weight loss for those with a sweet tooth, NASDAQ.com reports. According to the study, published in the journal Steroids, the body's metabolism is most active in the morning, so if you want to eat something sugary, it's better to do it in the a.m. Also, lead researcher Daniela Jakubowicz says people who try to completely cut out sweets often end up binging on sugar later in the day.

"Attempting to avoid sweets entirely can create a psychological addiction to these same foods in the long term," Jakubowicz explains in the study.

To find out which group would lose more weight on a diet of the same daily calorie count (1,600 for men, 1,400 for women), researchers split 193 clinically obese adults into two groups: One group was fed a low-carbohydrate breakfast of 300 calories; the other got a 600-calorie breakfast high in proteins and carbs, followed by a small piece of chocolate cake for dessert. They found that those who ate the high-calorie breakfast continued to lose weight by the end of the study, whereas the low-cal/no-cake breakfast group, while initially losing weight, put back on an average of 22 pounds. The breakfast cake group lost an average of 40 pounds more than the group that avoided sweets, and kept it off.

The findings suggest that both meal timing and meal composition play a role in weight loss. Carbs and protein eaten at breakfast may keep you full throughout the day, and allowing some sweets may help stem cravings for these foods.

Tips on melting chocolate and hearts

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:59:01 GMT

You’ve been watching it happen for weeks now – shiny, red, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates tied up in pretty pink and white ribbons piling up on store shelves, beckoning you to buy a dozen or so ooey-gooey sweets for your sweetie. And if you did, you wouldn’t be alone—over a billion bits of the mouth-melty bon-bons are sold in the U.S. each year for Valentine’s Day.

But if your go-to of Godiva is making your yearned-for yawn, maybe up the ante this year by getting hands on—in the kitchen-that is. Making chocolate sweets might seem tricky --but, say experts, the key is know how to melt it like a pro.

“Chocolate has strong anti-oxidents and no cholesterol,” says master chocolatier, chef Vivien Reimbelli of Perugina, the over 100-year-old Italian bean-to-bar chocolate making company, best known for their chocolate-covered, silver foil-wrapped, hazelnut confections, the Baci (which, fittingly, means kisses in Italian).

And he’s right. Since it was discovered by ancient Mayan culture, who were sipping ground cacao beans all the way back to at least 500 B.C., dark chocolate especially has shown itself to be not only good for the romantic heart, but the healthy one, too.

Studies show that, like olive oil, the purest forms of dark chocolate are full of healthy, monounsaturated fats. It reduces blood pressure, blood clotting, and improves blood flow to the brain. Chocolate contains the mood-boosting anti-depressant, serotonin, stimulates pleasure-pleasing endorphins in the body. And if you learn a kitchen trick or two, it can be a relationship-booster as well.

Making chocolate treats at home isn’t as hard as you might think. If you happen to live in New York City and can get over to Italian food emporium Eataly, you can learn from Reimbelli himself today at 2pm and 6:30pm, respectively, in his duo of chocolate-making classes from Perugina’s recently launched Scuola del Cioccolato.

But if not, never fear—chocolate making, says Reimbelli, is truly all in the wrist. “You have to stir, stir, stir!” he says of the process known as tempering, the method of melting chocolate and bringing it to just the right temperature. But finding a good bar of chocolate is first and foremost.

“You want a better-quality chocolate with a higher percent of cacao and less sugar. The regular grocery store stuff is much lower end, with more sugars, extracts, and additives than you want,” says Katie Kimble, pastry chef and co-owner of the Cambridge, Mass.-based bakery and eatery, Area Four. Still, Kimble says, you don’t have to seek out a special secret baker’s haunt to find a decent bar.

“Go to Whole Foods and you can get much better quality chocolate that’s still accessible, like Callebaut, a good quality, every day chocolate.” Also, always store it in a cool (not cold—the ‘fridge not being a good spot) dry, odor-free spot in your kitchen separate from other foods, advises Reimbelli, as chocolate can absorb odors easily.

When you’re ready to get to tempering, be sure to set aside a good hour of time, says Kimble.
Fill large pot about three-quarters full with water, and set a medium to large stainless steel bowl inside, as stainless holds temperatures better and longer. Break your chocolate into quarters. Put about three-quarters of your chocolate in the bowl, set your flame or burner to medium-high heat, and start stirring.
“Melt it down until it’s about 122 degrees F, stirring constantly. Once it’s melted, pull it off the flame, and take half of the remaining chocolate and stir it in, agitating the chocolate for about 20 to 30 minutes until it cools it down and slowly gets it to actual structure that you need,” says Kimble.

Add in half of the remaining the chocolate, and stir, stir, stir until a digital thermometer reads about 81 degrees F. Add in the rest and agitate constantly until the temperature rises to 90 degrees F.
If you want to make super-duper sure that the chocolate is at the right, silky consistency, Kimble advises coating the back of an everyday spoon with chocolate, tapping off the excess, and allowing to sit for 5 to 10 minutes.

“It should get matted, but remain slightly shiny as it hardens,” she says. And don’t worry about the brunt of your chocolate getting too hard while you wait. Your stainless steel bowl will hold the temperature for a while, but if you do notice the edges starting to harden, “You can constantly reheat and re-temper and keep working it,” says Kimble. “That’s the great thing.”

At this point, you’re ready to make sweets for (or with) your sweetie. Kimble advises using anything from fresh fruit (strawberries are a classic) to dried fruit to pretzels to for dipping, or pouring the tempered chocolate into molds (easily and inexpensively found at craft stores like Michael’s) and allowing the chocolate to harden. It’s also a great, easy project to do with kids for the heart-shaped holiday. “Kids like licking their fingers after the fact,” laughs Kimble. And some adults do, too.

Go easy on those sugary treats

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:40:37 GMT

Many of us adore spoiling our loved ones with sweet things on St Valentine's Day, but it can often be hard to decide which type of confectionary _ chocolate, cakes, candy, fancy biscuits, ice cream, etc _ is best to indulge in and when to call a halt.

"We all like sweet things because they tend to make us feel happier," said Sujit Saleepun, a senior technical nutritionist at the Ministry of Public Health's Bureau of Nutrition. "But no one seems to know when they've had enough! Eating too many sweets can make you feel tired because of the way they increase the pace of your body's metabolism." She went on to explain that a large intake of sugary food causes our pancreas to release large amounts of insulin in order to quickly lower our blood sugar levels. This sudden decrease as the level plummets is what makes us feel fatigued.

According to Sujit, chocolate _ one of the most popular St Valentine's Day treats _ is all right as long as we can limit our intake to three morsels a day. The energy supplied by food is measured in kilocalories (kcal). An individual heart-shaped chocolate from a popular brand contains about 60kcal, so three of them would give 180kcal. But if you can't stop at just three and go on to devour the whole bag, you'd be well advised to compensate by eating less of something else, Sujit says, in order to prevent a jump in your total calorie intake for that day. A small bar of milk chocolate weighing 100g supplies about 520kcal of energy. If you get through half of this in one day, then you have consumed 260kcal, which puts you over Sujit's daily recommended limit of 180 and means that you need to make a saving of 80kcal elsewhere in your diet.

According to food-based dietary guidelines for Thai people, male adults need about 2,000kcal a day while females can make do with 1,600. People who are performing tasks that expend a lot of energy will, of course, need to increase their calorie intake.

Because chocolate is high in both calories and fat, many people choose to skip it for fear of putting on weight. But it's not as bad as you might think, Sujit said; in fact, along with the undeniable pleasure it gives us, chocolate also offers a few health benefits.

"Chocolate is made from a plant that contains phytochemicals which have many health benefits. And chocolate also stimulates the production of endorphins, which makes us happy. But for heart benefits, go for dark chocolate," she advised.

Chocolate contains a host of chemical compounds and in order to derive the maximum enjoyment from it Sujit recommends that you take the time to savour every single morsel. "Allow it to slowly melt in your mouth so that you can feel the texture and appreciate the flavour. Don't take big bites."

Cookies are also a common gift on this special day. Calorie count depends on the ingredients and, naturally, on the size of the serving. According to Sujit, two oatmeal biscuits (each about 4cm in diameter) contain about 150kcal. Biscuits containing butter have a higher calorie count _about 210kcal for two, while the same serving of chocolate-chip cookies gives in the region of 235kcal.

"A couple of cookies [4cm diameter] a day should satisfy the craving for something sweet and keep people satisfied," Sujit reckons. "Oatmeal cookies are a good choice because they contain fibre in addition to flavouring, milk, butter and sugar."

But be careful, she warned, when digging into so-called Singapore cookies. These contain cashew nuts and while diminutive in size can deliver a lot of calories. Two of them can add up to as much as 190kcal.

For people who are dieting but can't resist cakes, the nutritionist recommends choosing ones made with butter rather than those containing dried fruit or chocolate. "It's quite hard to give an average calorie count for cakes made in Thailand because bakeries sell so many different sizes." she said. "But if the size of the servings are equal, then a slice of butter cake would be the lightest in terms of calories."

For those whose favourite Valentine's Day treat is ice cream, Sujit recommends going for varieties flavoured with strawberries, not just for the attractive colour but because of the reasonable calorie count of 110kcal per scoop, compared with 140 for vanilla and 246 for raisin.

"But remember that ice cream is often served with maraschino cherries, fudge sauce or flaked almonds _ all of which will increase your calorie intake."Also be aware that consuming a large quantity of sweet things can cause constipation, since confectionary is typically very low in fibre. To ease bowel movements, Sujit said it may be necessary to drink more water and ensure that you exercise on a regular basis. "It's best to stick to healthy eating habits and practise a little self-discipline, not just on special occasions!"

Chocolate's Cheap Thrill at Risk

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:02:57 GMT

Valentine’s Day is Thursday, February 14, a day when millions of people in the U.S. like to buy sweets for their sweethearts. This year, they’re expected to spend more than $1 billion on Valentine’s candies - mostly chocolate candies, according to the National Confectioners Association.

Year-round, chocolate sales are worth more than $18 billion. It’s one of Americans’ favorite indulgences. But the chocolate industry is worried this little pleasure could get more costly in the years ahead. It’s a cold, dark winter afternoon in Washington, D.C., and I could use a treat. So I walk to the store across the street for a king-size Hershey’s chocolate bar.

A dollar and nineteen cents. A little money for a little happiness. And that is the key to success for the companies that make chocolate bars, according to Susan Smith, spokeswoman for the National Confectioners Association.

“They’re very aware that an everyday candy product needs to be an affordable treat,” said Smith. But keeping chocolate affordable may be a challenge in the years to come. Demand is growing, especially as emerging middle classes in Asia discover the delights of chocolate. But the industry is worried supply will not keep up.

Cocoa is the main ingredient in chocolate. And about 70 percent of the world’s cocoa is grown in West Africa by millions of poor farmers, each with just a few hectares of land. “And they don’t have a lot of additional capital. They may not have the management skills to actually do a better job,” said Lyndel Meinhardt, who heads cocoa research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He said these small-scale farmers often do not have the money to buy fertilizers that would boost their productivity.

And when the land is exhausted, farmers just clear more, according to Sona Ebai, senior technical advisor with the World Cocoa Foundation. “We end up moving from one plot to the other, encroaching on forest reserves,” said Ebai. Deforestation in West Africa is largely driven by slash-and-burn agriculture for cocoa and other crops.

And it’s not just economics working against cocoa farmers. Ebai said farmers have to contend with cocoa’s many natural enemies. “Just as much as we humans love cocoa and cocoa products like chocolate, it also happens that cocoa is also loved by a variety of pests and diseases,” said Ebai. Experts say pests and diseases claim 30 percent to 40 percent of the world’s cocoa crop each year.

The chocolate industry needs farmers to produce more to meet growing demand. Small-scale farmers need help to increase their productivity and lift themselves out of poverty, without destroying more rainforest. And West African governments want to help a sector that provides $8 billion in revenues. Ebai said that provides a rare opportunity.

“For the first time, farmers, processors, chocolate multinationals, [and] civil society are working to make sure that the cocoa economy in the world is sustainable, [with] everybody chipping in to make it stay that way.”

Everybody from chocolate giants like Mars and Nestlé to the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is contributing millions of dollars to boost the productivity of West African cocoa farmers. The goal is triply sweet: improving livelihoods, protecting the environment, and keeping chocolate candies affordable.