Learn about Cakes, Chocolate, Candy, Cupcakes, Desserts, Ice Cream and More!

CakesCake is a form of bread or bread-like food. In its modern forms, it is typically a sweet and enriched baked dessert. In its oldest forms, cakes were normally fried breads or cheesecakes, and normally had a disk shape. Determining whether a given food should be classified as bread, cake, or pastry can be difficult.

Truffles → A chocolate truffle is a type of chocolate confectionery, traditionally made with a chocolate ganache center coated in chocolate or cocoa powder, usually in a spherical, conical, or curved shape. Other fillings may replace the ganache: cream, melted chocolate, caramel, nuts, almonds, berries, or other assorted sweet fruits, nougat, fudge, or toffee, mint, chocolate chips, marshmallow, and, popularly, liqueur.

Muffins → A muffin is an American English name for a type of quick bread that is baked in small portions. Many forms are somewhat like small cakes or cupcakes in shape, although they usually are not as sweet as cupcakes and generally lack frosting. They may be filled with sweet fillings, such as chocolate, toffee, lemons or blueberries. Savory varieties, such as cornbread muffins or cheese muffins, also exist. They generally fit in the palm of an adult hand, and are intended to be consumed by an individual in a single sitting.

DessertsIn cultures around the world, dessert or pudding is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." The etymology is linked to the medieval practice of a two part meal. During the first nobles (at a high) and servants (separate) would eat together in the same room. During the second - dessert, the noble family would retreat in separate private quarters for an intimate part of the meal without servants. The food consumed during dessert included but was not limited to sweets.

Ice creamIce cream (formerly and properly ice-cream, derived from earlier iced cream or cream ice) is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners. In some cases, artificial flavourings and colourings are used in addition to, or instead of, the natural ingredients. The mixture of chosen ingredients is stirred slowly while cooling, in order to incorporate air and to prevent large ice crystals from forming. The result is a smoothly textured semi-solid foam that is malleable and can be scooped.

ChocolateChocolate i/ˈtʃɒkᵊlɨt/ is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC. The majority of the Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor.


More on truffles...

A chocolate truffle is a type of chocolate confectionery, traditionally made with a chocolate ganache center coated in chocolate or cocoa powder, usually in a spherical, conical, or curved shape. Other fillings may replace the ganache: cream, melted chocolate, caramel, nuts, almonds, berries, or other assorted sweet fruits, nougat, fudge, or toffee, mint, chocolate chips, marshmallow, and, popularly, liqueur.

They are named for their resemblance to the truffle fungus.

Varieties

The chocolate truffle was first created by Antoine Dufour in Chambéry, France in December 1895. They reached a wider public with the establishment of the Prestat chocolate shop in London by Antoine Dufour in 1902, which still sells "Napoleon III" truffles to the original recipe. There are now three main types of chocolate truffles: American, European, and Swiss:

  • The "American truffle" is a half-egg shaped chocolate-coated truffle, a mixture of dark or milk chocolates with butterfat and, in some cases, hardened coconut oil. Joseph Schmidt, a San Francisco chocolatier, and founder of Joseph Schmidt Confections, is credited with its creation in the mid-1980s.
    • A Canadian variation of the American truffle, known as the Harvey truffle, includes the addition of graham cracker crumbs and peanut butter. Other American companies may shape their truffles similar to that of peanut butter cups.
  • The "European truffle" is made with syrup an ... Read the rest of this article

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Health Effects Of Chocolate ... On the other hand, the unconstrained consumption of large quantities of any energy-rich food, such as chocolate, without a corresponding increase in activity increases the risk of obesity. Raw chocolate is high in cocoa butter, a fat which is removed during chocolate refining, then added back in at varying proportions during the manufacturing process...

Types Of Chocolate ... The use of particular name designations is sometimes subject to governmental regulation. Terminology The cocoa bean (or other alternative) products from which chocolate is made are known under different names in different parts of the world...

Confectionery ... Examples Further information: List of candies Confectionery items include sweets, lollipops, candy bars, chocolate, candy floss, and other sweet items of snack food... Examples include suckers (known as boiled sweets in British English), lollipops, jawbreakers (or gobstoppers), lemon drops, peppermint drops and disks, candy canes, rock candy, etc... However, some people believe that at least some types of chewing gum, such as certain bubble gums, are indeed candy...


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Cupcake ... In the early 19th century, there were two different uses for the name cup cake or cupcake. In previous centuries, before muffin tins were widely available, the cakes were often baked in individual pottery cups, ramekins, or molds and took their name from the cups they were baked in...

Muffin ... Outside the United States of America, muffin can also refer to a disk-shaped muffin, usually called an English muffin outside the United Kingdom. As American-style muffins are also sold in Commonwealth countries, the term muffin can refer to either product, with the context usually making clear which is meant...


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Ice Cream Around The World ... In addition to these, most heladerías offer ice-cream-based desserts like Bombón Suizo (Swiss Bombom: chocolate-covered chantilly ice cream filled with dulce de leche and sprinkled with nuts), Bombón Escocés (Scottish Bombom: same as the Swiss Bombom, only with chocolate ice-cream and white chocolate topping), Cassata (strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream) and Almendrado (almond ice cream sprinkled with almond praline)...

Ice Cream ... The meaning of the term "ice cream" varies from one country to another. Terms such as "frozen custard", "frozen yogurt", "sorbet", "gelato" and others are used to distinguish different varieties and styles...

Gelato ... The ambiguity about the use of the word gelato happens with the spread of many gelaterie (store where gelato is made). It is correct to say that most gelato is different from the traditional recipe of ice cream because it is lighter having a lower butterfat content than traditional, factory made ice cream...

Dessert ... Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits, gelatin dessert, pastries, ice cream, pies, pudding, and candies...