The goo was the beginnings of Herman The German Friendship Cake. He comes with a set of instructions that last for 10 days. Whilst in your care Herman sits on your kitchen side and must be stirred every day and twice within the ten day cycle you feed Herman by adding further ingredients. Finally, you divide Herman up into four equal parts. You give away three to friends or family, keeping one to bake into a cake for yourself.

Does this all sound a bit weird to you? A living cake that sits on the side and needs feeding. Well that’s what I thought at first but it was kind of fun. Let me explain some more…  This friendship cake originates from the Amish people years ago. They would make a sourdough bread that they shared among the sick and the needy. At least this is what I am led to believe.

Herman is a sourdough cake who starts life as a small mix of flour, sugar and yeast. As this mixture ferments you add flour milk and sugar. The fermenting process produces the bubbles you see in the mixture every day, hence the reason for stirring Herman throughout the 10 days. I have to say that after 10 days the final result is awesome! This was the first cake I ever baked and even if I say so myself it was the best.

The German friendship cake instructions are easy to follow and the classic recipe that is included is apples, cinnamon and raisins. However, there are loads of different recipe ideas you could try, from dried fruit to double chocolate. I don’t think you can go wrong as it’s such an easy cake and you can experiment with whatever you fancy.

The idea is that you receive a Herman starter mix from somebody and you start the 10 day cycle from there. You can make your own starter mix if you want to though. At least that way you can bake as many as you like without having to wait.

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The chocolatier salary is an important factor for many people who work with chocolate, even if they are driven by a love of the job. After all, a career in chocolate is still a career. Pinpointing the exact salary of a chocolatier can be difficult, however, as it is largely dependent on the skill and experience of the chocolatier as well as their place of employment. That said, the average chocolatier salary is $21,000 per year.

In order to understand the chocolatier salary, it is important to understand the different factors that can affect it. First, and perhaps most importantly, is the skill of the chocolatier. As in most fields, employers are willing to pay skilled employees more money. If you want to make a lot of money in this field, you will need two things: training and experience. Attending a culinary school and training as a pastry chef is one of the best ways to up your salary. Although pastry classes encompass a wider array subjects than chocolate alone, they are a good basis of education and are an excellent starting point for your career. Experience, on the other hand, is something that must be earned over time. The more skilled chocolatiers you work with, the more skills you learn and the more complex projects you participate in, the higher your chocolatier salary will be.

Who your employer is also plays largely into your chocolatier salary. While larger chain chocolate companies pay little more than minimum wage for their entry level positions, they offer a number of higher tiered managerial jobs that can be combined wit regular chocolatier duties. For example, one major chocolate chain pays their store managers around $45,000 per year. A chocolatier salary can be even higher if you work for a gourmet or specialized company. Chocolatiers who fill custom orders, who cater events or who work for renowned companies are generally paid more than those who work for small employers who cannot afford to pay their employees as much. One internationally renowned company states that their chocolatiers earn up to $100,000 per year.

If you are interested in increasing your salary, there are a few steps you can take. First of all, you should train at a respected culinary institute. Try to find one that specializes in pastry and chocolate work. Next, you should try to get as much experience as possible. While working with renowned chocolatiers will be most beneficial, any professional experience should be welcomed with open arms. It can also be beneficial to learn a few specialized skills. If you can offer something unique to a company, they will be more willing to pay for your services and customers will be willing to pay more for your work. In general, the higher quality product you offer, the better your chocolatier salary will be.

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Organic free range eggs

The quality of the eggs can affect the taste and texture of a chocolate cappuccino cake recipe.  High quality eggs can ensure that a cake stays fluffy and moist in texture.  They also allow the flavor of the chocolate and coffee to show through.  Because the recipe for cappuccino cake requires the best eggs, a person should look at an organic market for his or her eggs.  Many of them are free-range and they often come from local farms.

High quality chocolate

There are many different types of chocolates that people can use in a chocolate cappuccino cake recipe.  Some cheap chocolate can be bought at a supermarket while other varieties can be found at artisan stores.  For those who have the money to do so, a high quality chocolate should be invested in.  This type of chocolate will be free of the processing and high sugar content that plagues manufactured brands.  Excellent chocolate can heighten the flavors within a chocolate cappuccino cake recipe.

Great espresso

A good espresso cake has to have high quality coffee within it.  A person should look for beans that come from artisan coffee shops and stores.  A cappuccino cake recipe cannot truly soar without excellent beans and quality roasts.

In order to impress friends and family at that next dinner party, a truly great dessert should be made.  A standard chocolate cappuccino cake recipe can be heightened through the use of high quality ingredients and products.  The immense flavors within the cake will provide a memorable and lasting impression.

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Interested to make some muffins for your families this weekend? What’s better than a chocolate chip muffin? The chocolate chip muffin is one of the most popular foods for American and you can’t find any reason for avoiding a sweet, moist, delicious and rich taste chocolate chip muffin. Here comes some guide on how to make a savory chocolate chip muffin.

You need a perfect recipe for making these muffins. There was different series of recipe for chocolate chip muffins around and your duty is to identify the recipe that works best for you. Pick the one that you’re comfortable with, in terms of ingredients preparation, cooking utensils, oven etc.

Ingredient is the main factor that determines your muffin’s quality. Therefore make sure you use the quality ingredients. Muffin making usually involves dry and wet ingredients. The dry ingredients include flour, rising agent (baking powder and baking soda), spices (example nutmeg, ground cinnamon etc), salt, sugar, cocoa powder etc. For wet ingredients it involves egg, butter, vanilla extract, milk or sour cream etc. For sure you need to include chocolate chips and usually semi-sweet chocolate chips will take place.

The preparation is not as difficult as you think. The secret is preparing the ingredients separately by dry and wet ingredients. Somehow more works are required for getting wet ingredients done where you need to ensure the batter done perfectly before add in the dry ingredients. Specific skill is needed to beat butter, sugar, egg and vanilla to ensure these ingredients are perfectly incorporated. Thus make sure you sift the dry ingredients before adding it to the batter. It makes lots of difference. Lastly remember to coat the chocolate chips with some flour before adding it to the muffin batter. This is to ensure the chips will not sink to the bottom.

The final step is to bake muffins with the right temperature and timing. The baking time and temperature is subject to change by different ovens. Therefore make sure you know exactly how your oven is functioning and bake the muffins accordingly your oven’s features and application.

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How Coffee is Made

Even though there are multiple types of coffee beans, the manner in which they are processed to make the drink is the same. First, the coffee berries are harvested, and they are processed to eliminate the non-ripe berries and to remove the outer casing on the berries, which reveals the seed or bean. Originally the green coffee beans were then dried in the sun, but these days the majority of the coffee processing plants use wet processing, where the beans are washed and allowed to ferment. After the processing, the beans are roasted, which produces the different types of coffee.

Different Roasts

While there are many different coffee flavors and varieties, the amount of time that the beans are roasted is one way to create different types of coffee. These different types are often referred to as light roast, medium roast, and dark roast. The lighter the coffee is, the less time it was roasted. The darker a coffee is, the more time it was roasted. Oddly enough, these dark roasts are not the most caffeinated. The caffeine begins to break down the longer that it is exposed to heat. As a result, lighter coffees have more caffeine. The longer a coffee is roasted, the more intense the flavor of the coffee becomes.

So if you want more caffeine, you might want to try a light roast, but if you are interested in strong flavor a medium or dark roast coffee might be the best. Different companies have different processing and roasting procedures, and they make different types of coffee as a result. The best way to find the kind of coffee that you like the most is to shop around and try a number of different brands and types.

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When making chocolate chip pancakes, there are two points to keep in mind: taste and usability. If you get one wrong, the side of success can only hold up the end result so well. If you use a tasty chocolate but you don’t add it in right, you could end up with a burnt chocolate pancake mess. Also, putting the chocolate in at the right time doesn’t matter if the chocolate is bitter or rancid.

Personalized Chocolate

What’s your favorite type of chocolate? There is no rule with any sweet treat that you have to stick with one kind. If you like traditional milk chocolate, use milk chocolate chips. If you prefer white chocolate, add white chocolate. It’s all a personal preference when it comes to flavors. You can also try crushed candy bars such as Milky Way, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup or Mounds. Crush, chop or process the bars in a food processor. These might be a little messier, but it’s doable. If you do choose to use regular chocolate chips, try mini chips to get more chocolate in each bite. With different variations, you can’t exactly call them chocolate chip pancakes, but they are delicious nonetheless.

It’s all in the Mix

There is a right time to add chocolate to your pancakes. This process takes technique. It must be mixed into the batter, but not too much. Over-mixing pancake batter will over-activate the gluten causing chewy, tough pancakes. Once you’ve stirred the batter just enough, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top and gently fold it in. A few stirs should be enough. Put it in the fridge and let it rest as you normally would. Do not sprinkle the chocolate on top of the pancakes after pouring the batter because the chocolate will make a mess when you flip them and it might burn.

Top it Off Right

The problem with chocolate chip pancakes is that the chips add extra sugar to the whole meal. That means drowning them in syrup might not be the right idea. Try a little bit of butter first and drizzle just a bit of maple syrup. The melted chocolate might be enough moisture with just a little added butter and syrup. You don’t want soggy pancakes, and you don’t want your teeth to scream from too much sugar. Try whipped cream as an alternative.

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There are many ways to prepare the Mexican Hot Chocolate. Here, we will look at two different ways to prepare this deliciously rich drink.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Drink Recipe

Ingredients

4 oz dark chocolate, broken into smaller pieces

4 cups milk

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon powder (but if you don’t like cinnamon, reduce it to 1 tsp)

2 eggs

3 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Place the chocolate on a double boiler and melt it bain marie style. Do not let the base of the bowl touch the boiling water.

2. In a saucepan, heat up the milk and cream over low heat, do not let it boil.

3. Then scoop about 3 tbsp of the hot milk and add it to the chocolate and mix well.

4. Add in the rest of the milk, sugar and cinnamon and stir well.

5. In another bowl, beat the eggs together with the vanilla extract.

6. Add about 2 tbsp of the chocolate mixture to the eggs and stir well. Then gradually add the egg mixture into the chocolate. Do it slowly or else the eggs may cook and curdle and stir while adding it in. Then briskly whisk the hot chocolate mixture for a few minutes to combine the eggs and cream well.

7. Pour into mugs, add cinnamon sticks (to be used as stirrer) and whipped cream as desired. Best served hot!

If you do not fancy adding eggs into your drink, here’s another version that do not contain eggs and uses chocolate chips instead of chocolate blocks.

Another Mexican Hot Chocolate Recipe

Ingredients

8 oz dark chocolate chips

2 cups milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

4 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp chile powder

a pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Melt the chocolate chips bain marie style.

2. Add in the milk gradually and stir until well combined.

3. Add in the rest of the ingredients and whisk the mixture until well combined. Continue whisking until the mixture is smooth and hot.

4. Pour into mugs and serve with whipped cream topped with some cocoa powder. Add in marshmallows if you like.

Either versions makes really rich and wonderfully delicious hot chocolate drinks that you will want to make again and again. Try it out! The sugar amount could be reduced and adjusted to suit your own taste. Some like their hot cocoa to be slightly sweet but not too sweet so they only add in very little sugar while some prefer theirs to be sweet. If you use regular milk chocolate, it is best not to add too much sugar as milk chocolate already has sugar in it.

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Bear in mind when you choose a chocolate cake recipe that the quality of the chocolate you use will have a big impact on the cake’s flavour. Make sure you buy good quality chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa solids. Using cocoa powder gives a deeper, concentrated chocolate flavour, whereas solid chocolate will give you a chocolate cake that tastes richer overall.

Types of chocolate cake recipe

Chocolate truffle cake is a really rich and indulgent three-layered chocolate cake. The whole cake is then coated in a chocolate truffle mixture – this definitely isn’t one for the faint hearted!

German chocolate cake doesn’t actually hail from Germany, although you’d be forgiven for thinking so. Its name is really derived from an Englishman who created a particular type of sweet baking chocolate, Sam German. A particular cake recipe that used this baking chocolate and named itself ‘German’s chocolate cake’ was published in a newspaper decades ago and the rest is history! German chocolate cake is a layered cake recipe that uses a caramel, coconut pecan filling and is covered in frosting. Delicious!

If you want something a bit fruitier, why not try a Black Forest Gateaux. In this cake recipe, numerous layers of chocolate cake are filled with cherries and whipped cream and the whole cake is then covered with … even more cherries and cream! Traditionally, the chocolate cake mixture also includes a good dash of a certain type of cherry liqueur, Schwarzwalder Kirschwasser, and this is what gave the cake its name.

You can all kind of extra ingredients to a chocolate cake to add texture and flavour. If you want a really moist cake, you should try a banana chocolate cake recipe. The banana keeps the cake particularly moist, and of course you can claim that you’re getting one of your five a day as you tuck into it. If you’re not afraid to experiment, beetroot chocolate cake is also absolutely delicious. It may sound a bit odd, but the beetroot is a wonderful addition to keep the cake sumptuous and only imparts a very subtle beetroot flavour.

So if you get that chocolate craving that only a big slice of chocolate cake can satisfy, why not try out one of these varieties of chocolate cake recipe. Whether simple or intricate and indulgent, all are absolutely delicious so there’s bound to be a recipe you’ll love.

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So what are the health benefits of chocolate? First of all, it can keep you young because it contains flavonoids, which act as antioxidants, a substance that slows down the aging process caused by free radicals. If you like dark chocolate, then you are actually doing yourself a favor because it lowers the blood pressure and levels of cholesterol in the blood. And the reason why eating chocolate makes us feel so good is because it contains endorphins, which cause pleasure, and serotonin, a substance that acts as an anti-depressant. So next time you feel a bit down, have some chocolate.

Now that you are convinced that chocolate is so good for you, let’s look at an enjoyable way that you can bring it into your kitchen. One of the most enjoyable ways to eat it is in the form of chocolate cupcakes. These little cakes are so easy to make, and of course their crowning glory has to be the cupcake frosting, which tastes absolutely amazing and is a chocolate celebration in itself.

Here is a great chocolate cupcake recipe that will put you in Seventh Heaven:

For the actual cake, you will need:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Mix the dry ingredients together and set aside. Then cream together the butter and sugar till you have a light and fluffy batter. Add in the eggs and then stir in the vanilla. It’s time to add the dry ingredients, followed by the milk. Then all you need to do is pour the mixture into little cases and bake in the oven at a heat of 350 degrees F for around 15 minutes.

And now is the time for the greatest indulgence of all: chocolate fudge frosting, which is surely the most delicious cupcake decoration of all:

All you need to do is combine together: sugar, cocoa, butter, and milk. Boil them for two minutes and then beat the mixture into the best consistency for spreading. Add vanilla extract according to taste and then you will have a great fudge frosting.

The actual process of cupcake decorating can follow any pattern that you like. You might want to pipe the frosting on the top, making pretty swirls. Or maybe you would paint it on.

No matter what you decide to do, when you eat these delicious (and not so unhealthy, according to the above) chocolate cupcakes, you will understand why the Aztecs gave chocolate a divine status …

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Some chefs look to their homes freezer as an alternative means of preserving their cooking chocolate for future use.  Freezing chocolate does pose a couple of problems however.

Even in the coldest of deep chest freezers frozen chocolate will potentially experience Sugar Bloom or Fat Bloom.  Bloomed chocolate takes on a gray appearance and looks somewhat mottled.

If your frozen chocolate is suffering from sugar bloom it will exhibit a sugar grain on the exterior.  Chocolate that has a sugar bloom is really only suitable for cooking, not for regular snacking; but if you are freezing this item with cooking in mind that may not be a concern for you.

Another common result that occurs when chocolate is frozen is a fat bloom.  This condition is not as big a deal as a sugar bloom and is really only a cosmetic problem.  Many people can look past the appearance of a fat bloom and are still comfortable munching on fat bloomed chocolate.

If you are determined to store your chocolate in your upright or chest freezer here a few tips.  Firstly, if at all possible vacuum seal the chocolate – at the very least wrap it heavily in Ziploc bags with the air removed.

Secondly, chocolate chips freezer better than bars.  If your chocolate is intended for eventual use in recipe then freezing chocolate chips provides a more useful end product anyway. If the resulting chocolate demonstrates any blooming after it has thawed then use it in a recipe where the cosmetic issues are easily concealed.

While a freezer is not essential for the storage of chocolate, these appliances can be of use if you want to retain this delicious product for longer than its traditional shelf life – which is usually in the neighborhood of a year.

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