We spent two days last week at a trade show that focused on natural and healthy products. Among the many aloe and coconut water brands, we tried alternative types of chocolate milk: almond milk (Almond Breeze), soy milk (Silk), rice milk (Rice Dream), hemp milk (Living Harvest), coconut milk (So Delicious) and even oat milk (Pure Harvest).

The oat milk tasted a bit oaty, but few people would have guessed if handed a glass, that Almond Breeze chocolate almond milk and Silk chocolate soy milk were not cow’s milk (Almond Breeze is also available as unsweetened chocolate milk, an option for those who wish to add a noncaloric sweetener).

So there’s chocolate milk galore for those who avoid animal products, have lactose intolerance, want more soy in their diet, or simply want to benefit from the nutrition in almond milk versus cow’s milk.*

> The history of chocolate milk is below.

> The history of chocolate.

> Make homemade chocolate syrup for your chocolate milk.
 
 
ADULT CHOCOLATE MILK

While you read this, sip a glass of chocolate milk—with a shot of chocolate liqueur (crème de cacao, Godiva). Our personal favorite, however, is good old Irish cream.

For added dimension:, try banana liqueur, coffee liqueur, orange liqueur, raspberry liqueur, etc.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE MILK

Who Invented Chocolate Milk?

A cold beverage made at home by mixing chocolate syrup into milk (commercial brands often use cocoa powder), chocolate milk is one of those foods for which we actually know the inventor:

Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753), for whom London’s Sloane Square is named (and whose collection of objets d’art and curiosities became the foundation of the British Museum), introduced chocolate milk to Europe. It wasn’t exactly the chocolate milk we know today—made with chocolate syrup to get kids to drink milk—but it was a start.

Cacao was brought back to Spain by the conquistadors in 1527 (some beans had been brought by a delegation of Kekchi Maya nobles from Alta Verapaz, who introduced the beverage to the Spanish court). When Cortès returned to Spain in 1527, cacao was part of the booty. For many years, it remained a Spanish secret, affordable only to the wealthy. (The story continues.)

Sloane encountered cacao in Jamaica in the late 1680s, where it was drunk mixed with water. He found it most unpleasant (as did Christopher Columbus and the Spanish conquistadors of Mexico—see details).

However, Sloane devised a means of mixing the ground cacao beans with milk, to make it more pleasant. He brought both cacao and his recipe (most likely unsweetened) back to England.

A physician, Sloane was initially interested in the medicinal properties of cacao;† he thought chocolate milk had soothing qualities. The recipe was initially sold by apothecaries. You can see ads for the original product on this Cadbury blog, which found them in the Cadbury archives. The earlier ad suggests chocolate milk for “lightness on the stomach” and “all consumptive cases.”

By the 19th century, it had become an enjoyable food product. The Cadbury Brothers sold tins of Sir Hans Sloane’s Milk Chocolate (use the Cadbury link above to see that ad). One ounce (two squares) was dissolved into a pint of boiling milk, to which sugar was added.
 
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*Compared to cow’s milk, almond milk has 50% fewer calories, heart-healthy monounsaturated fats instead of cholesterol, fewer carbohydrates compared to 13.1 grams of lactose (milk sugar), fiber (vs. no fiber in cow’s milk), almost as much calcium as cow’s milk (and more absorbable calcium, since lactose impedes absorption). Details.
 
†Modern research has shown that flavanol-rich cacao can impact cancer and cardiovascular disease over the long term. However, in the 1600s, health claims were speculative rather than scientifically proven. In 1631, the first recipe for a chocolate health drink was published in Spain by Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma, an Andalusian physician, in his book, Curioso tratado de la naturaleza y calidad del chocolate (A Curious Treatise of the Nature and Quality of Chocolate). A doctor who had lived in the West Indies, he claimed that chocolate was an aphrodisiac, caused fertility, and eased delivery in women. Here’s the true scoop on chocolate health claims, from the Cleveland Clinic. And, if it gets kids to drink their milk, one could interpret that chocolate milk is a health drink.

[2] Getting fancy with chocolate syrup design on the glass (before you pour the chocolate milk in) and a topping of shaved chocolate (photo © Yi Mun | Unsplash)

[3] Add Baileys to your chocolate milk. Heavenly! (photo © Polka Dot Bride).

[4] Chocolate milk with homemade chocolate syrup. Here’s the recipe (photo © Recchiuti Chocolate).

You won’t believe how easy it is to decorate
this cake, using products by Duff Goldman
for Gartner Studios. Photo courtesy Gartner
Studios.

But first, a recap. In this contest, we were competing against other members of the press. The reason: a media event held by Godiva Chocolatier to announce Godiva’s externship scholarship for outstanding pastry students at the Culinary Institute of America.

To enable them to further develop their chocolate-making skills, six CIA pastry students will spend 18 weeks in Godiva’s test kitchen with master chocolatiers. The externships will take place over the next two years.

Casey Shea, the first recipient of the Godiva Chocolatier Scholarship, presented one of her externship creations: a sophisticated cappuccino bonbon, milk chocolate filled with cappuccino creme. We enjoyed it with a shot of Godiva Chocolate Infused Vodka, a really excellent infusion of chocolate into vodka.

Sidebar on Godiva spirits: Godiva Chocolate Raspberry Infused Vodka is also a treat, as are all of the Godiva chocolate liqueurs—Caramel, Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Mocha and White Chocolate. Add some to coffee, hot chocolate, a milkshake or straight into a glass and enjoy it instead of dessert. A straight sip can easily satisfy a chocolate craving.

AND NOW, THE CAKE CONTEST

Six teams were each given a three-tiered cake covered in white icing, plus open access to a room filled with Godiva confections and the Duff Goldman for Gartner line of cake decorating products.

Our strategy? First, we developed a concept. Given that Godiva’s best-selling chocolate worldwide is an open milk chocolate clam shell filled with chocolate hazelnut creme, we were inspired to create “The Octopus’s Garden,” a cake with an under-the-sea theme. We haven’t yet received a photo of the cake, but here’s what we did:

Duff’s line also includes icing, edible spray paint in eight colors, cake tattoos in a variety of patterns (for wrapping around the sides of the cake, as demonstrated in the photo above), fondant in several colors, food coloring gels and texture tiles to give added texture and dimension to fondant icing.

HOST YOUR OWN CAKE CONTEST

We have a lot of fun at food events, but this was our favorite event ever. So if you’re looking for a memorable way to entertain, have a cake decorating party.

 
After the judging, put out coffee and tea and eat some cake!

And the bonus: Everyone gets to take home the remainder of his or her cake.
Find our favorite cakes and recipes in our Gourmet Cakes Section.

Granola Snacks offers seven different flavors of granola snacks, blended by hand. The ingredients are made from scratch: the caramel for Caramel Nut Granola and Carrot Cake Granola is homemade, for example. The cinnamon and nutmeg are hand-ground, and the peanuts are roasted in-house.

The result is bite-size chunks of granola—think of a free-form cookie made only of granola and the ingredients that flavor it:

 
For those worried about their teeth, the tasty granola nuggets are a bit on the hard side. But the benefit is that it takes you longer to enjoy each one, so you may enjoy a few less each time you open the bag.

While the ingredients are healthy ones—oats with nuts and fruits—there are 10g of sugar per serving and 1g of fiber. This is a wholesome snack (give or take the butter and brown sugar), but it is not health food. It is, however, a new, tasty world of granola.

For more information and to purchase Granola Snacks online, visit GranolaSnacks.com.

Find more of our favorite snacks and snack recipes.
  

You can buy cubed chicken for kebabs and
stir-frys, or you can cut them yourself from boneless breasts. Photo by G. Vision | SXC.

A reader recently asked us to create a glossary of chicken parts. We were happy to oblige and have just launched it to celebrate National Chicken Month (September).

Wild chickens were domesticated in Asia, possibly as far back as 7000 B.C.E. Easy to transport and care for, the tasty birds were next transported to Africa, and from there to Europe.

Celebrate National Chicken Month by trying a new chicken recipe. You can find one from just about every cuisine in the world.

Email friends for their favorite chicken recipes, cut and paste them together in a Word document and send the compiled recipes back to everyone who contributed.

Numerous books on food history can be more academic—which is to say, dry—than others. But two we like very much—and often give as gifts—are from authors who are not just expert in their topics, but gifted storytellers as well. They’re page-turners that provide many a happy hour of exploring our food history:

 
If you’d like to browse, head to your nearest bookseller or to Amazon.com.