Chocolate is made from the bean of the Cacao tree. Its official scientific name is Theobroma Cacao. Believe it or not, the name means "food of the gods." Who can argue with that?
If you have ever wondered about the origins of chocolate, you may have been surprised to find that chocolate grows on trees. The cacao tree produces fruit pods that turn orange, red, or yellow when they are ripe. Inside each of those pods is between 20-50 cacao beans.The cocoa bean is dried in the sun and then has its center removed. It is the center part that is ground up and used to make chocolate!
When the cocoa bean is ground it transforms into a liquid called chocolate liquor. At this point, the chocolate is still unsweetened. To continue its transformation, the chocolate liquor is pressed to separate the fat. The fat part is the cocoa butter. Guess what's left? The powder that we call cocoa powder.
These basic ingredients from the cocoa bean are combined with other ingredients to make the different types of chocolate that we enjoy today. A bit of milk, a bit of sugar, a bit of vanilla added and you will end up with some delicious, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate.
