Creating Chocolate Gift Boxes Is Quite The Production

Creating Chocolate Gift Boxes Is Quite The Production

There are various occasions throughout the year when chocolate gift boxes are decorated, wrapped up tight and given to loved ones: Weddings, birthdays, Valentines Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, just to name a few! This is a tradition that dates to the 1700s when chocolate gift boxes as we know them were first introduced in Massachusetts. Chocolate itself, on the other hand, has been considered a valuable commodity long before the 18th century. As far back as the Aztecs, chocolate was presented as a sign of affection. For hundreds of years, chocolate was the desired gift of European royalty. There are plenty of reasons why someone would fall in love with this alluring treat. But what does it take to produce arguably the world's most cherished indulgence?

The Harvest

Chocolate production begins with the cocoa bean, the raw material for chocolate. Roughly two-thirds of the entire world's cocoa is produced in western Africa, within 20 degrees of either side of the equator for adequate rain fall. To harvest cocoa beans, the pods must be picked from the trees at their ripest. Cocoa trees aren't the sturdiest so instead of climbing the trees, farmers use long-handled tools to cut the pods from even the highest branches. In most cocoa areas, the peak harvest lasts several months. After all the ripe pods are collected, farmers must split the pods open with a hammer to reveal about 20-50 beans. Those beans are then left in the pod's pulp to ferment. The fermentation process is what gives the beans their classic chocolate taste. After fermentation, the beans are then dried with climate and weather permitting in the sun from five to seven days. The dried beans are then transported to a chocolate manufacturing facility.

Production

The beans are cleaned, roasted and the shells are removed to extract the nib. Finally, the nibs are ground and liquified. The chocolate liquid is then blended with cocoa butter in varying quantities depending on the type of chocolate variety desired. A penultimate process called "conching" then takes place. The conching process acts like a grinder and produces cocoa and sugar particles so small that the chocolate feels smooth. The final process is called "tempering." Controlling the size of cocoa butter crystals is what gives chocolate a glossy look and hard, snapping texture. The primary purpose of tempering is to ensure that some the best forms of crystals are present. There are six different crystal form that produce notably different qualities in chocolate. Crystals I and II are soft, crumbly and melt very easily. Crystal III and IV are very similar in that they produce a firm chocolate that also melts easily. However, crystal III has a poor snap whereas IV snaps harder. The fifth crystal is how most of us know chocolate: glossy, firm and melts near body temperature. The last, crystal VI is very hard and takes weeks to form. The chocolate is then stored away from other foods in a controlled temperature area.

Once harvested and produces, chocolate is sent all over the world ranging from mass manufacturing firms to exclusive gourmet chocolatiers. These chocolate experts then decide every detail that goes into designing chocolate gift boxes. The variety, filling, arrangement, everything that makes giving and especially receiving chocolate gift boxes so enjoyable.

 

Kimberly W.

Video Tutorial on assembling a milk carton gift box using a digital cutter (Cricut Expression), an SVG file, and Sure Cuts a Lot software. The SVG is available on my blog. To download, visit my blog on the 3/24/10 entry. www.kerryspapercrafts.com Thanks!!
Video Rating: 4 / 5

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