Sarah’s Cookie Jar Gallery

Chocolate is technically a fruit. Well, as it grows in pods on a Theobroma tree it is. Farmers then harvest them by removing the beans and fermenting them. After that process they then roast and grind those cacao beans. And voila. Chocolate!

In order to make this glorious, sweet treasure it requires around 400 beans to garner 1 pound of chocolate. One cocoa pod holds approximately 40 beans. That’s a lot of work we’re certainly grateful for.

These farmers should also receive awards in patience. They have to wait 4-5 years for the Theobroma Cacao tree to mature enough to produce fully developed “fruit” or chocolate.

A typical Theobroma Cacao tree reaps about 2500 beans per season. That equates to around 6.25 pounds of chocolate or 33 large bars.

The Ivory Coast of West Africa contributes to 70% of the world’s chocolate. This is
because beans in that climate have a muted flavor which makes it ideal for coating mass production of candy bars.

Chocolate releases endorphins, like exercise, when eating it. The existing amino acids are linked to serotonin production in the brain. They initiate the neurotransmitter pathways. So chocolate equates to Happiness!...and scrumptiousness.

The original form of a chocolate indulgence was hot cocoa. Only royalty had the privilege of consuming it until the invention of the conching machine, candy bars, and solid chocolate.

White chocolate isn’t technically considered chocolate. The color is developed from refining cocoa butter, sugar, milk solids, milk fats, and vanilla. Its color stems from a lack of cocoa liquor.

In the early 1900s B.C. the Mayans and Aztecs would barter cacao beans for food and clothing.

In 1847 a British man by the name of Joseph Fry and his son invented the first chocolatebar that we refer to as candy. From there stemmed many different yummy varieties in the industry. Different options for different pallets.