Cacao liquor

Yamagishi M, Natsume M, Osakabe N, and others. 2002. Effects of cacao liquor proanthocyanidins on PhlP-induced mutagenesis in vitro, and in vivo mammary and pancreatic tumorigenesis in female Sprague-Dawley rats. Cancer Lett 185(2) 123-130. 

Hatano, T. et al., Proanthocyanidin glucosides and related polyphenols from cacao liquor and their antioxidant effects. Phytochemistry, 59, 749, 2002. 

Cacao liquor is prepared by fermenting and roasting cacao beans (Theobroma cacao L.). There are many reports on the antioxidant and related biological activities... 

OSAKABE, N., NATSUME, M., ADACHl, T., YAMAGISHI, M., HIRANO, R., TAKIZAWA, T., ITAKURA, H., KONDO, K., Effects of cacao liquor polyphenols on the susceptibility of low-density lipoprotein to oxidation in hypercholesterolemic rabbits, J. Atheroscler. Thromb., 2000, 7, 164-168 and references cited therein. 

Natsume, M., Osakabe, N., Yamagishi, M., Takizawa, T., Nakamura, T., Miyatake, H., Hatano, T., and Yoshida, T. 2000. Analyses of polyphenols in cacao liquor, cocoa, and chocolate by normal-phase and reversed-phase HPLC. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 64 2581-2587. 

Yamagishi M, Osakab N, Takizawa T, Osawa T. Cacao liquor polyphenols reduce oxidative stress without maintaining alpha-tocopherol levels in rats fed a vitamin E-deficient diet. Lipids 2001 36(1) 67-71. 

Pour the espresso into a chilled martini glass. Top with foam. Combine the liquor, creme de cacao and skim milk in cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake well. Strain the ingredients into a glass, pouring at the edge so as not to disturb the foam. Dust with nutmeg. 

Chocolate liquor is the solid or semiplastic food prepared by finely grinding the nib of the cacao bean. It is commonly called baking chocolate, unsweetened chocolate, or bitter chocolate and, in Europe, is frequently referred to as chocolate mass or cocoa paste. Chocolate liquor is essentially the starting point from which all chocolate products are produced. Table 5 lists the theobromine and caffeine content of 22 various chocolate liquor samples determined by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The liquors averaged 1.22% theobromine and 0.214% caffeine.27- 28 The ratio of theobromine to caffeine ranged from 2.5 1 to 23.0 1. 

Chocolate has antioxidant properties for low-density lipoproteins and hence could prevent heart disease. Foods and beverages derived from cocoa beans have been consumed by humans since 460 a.d. Cocoa pods from the cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao) are harvested and the beans removed and fermented. Dried and roasted beans contain about 300 chemicals including caffeine, theobromine, and phenethylamine. Chocolate liquor is prepared by finely grinding the nib of the cocoa bean and is the basis for all chocolate products. Cocoa powder is made by removing part of the cocoabutter from the liquor. Bittersweet chocolate, sometimes called dark chocolate, contains between 15 and 60% chocolate liquor, the remainder being cocoa butter, sugar, and other additives. Milk chocolate is the predominant form of chocolate consumed in the U.S. and typically contains 10 to 12% chocolate liquor. 

Chocolate is a solid-in-oil (S/O) suspension of non-fat partides (of about 10-100 (im diameter) of sugar and cocoa (cacao) in a continuous phase of cocoa butter, which is the natural fat from the cocoa bean [215]. When cocoa beans are cleaned, roasted, cracked and ground, chocolate liquor results, a suspension of cocoa powder in cocoa butter. Depending on how much cocoa butter is removed (by pressing) one can make, in decreasing order of cocoa butter content bitter, unsweetened, baking... 

At one time, the process ended here. One simply mixed the liquor with water to produce a bitter beverage that was marred by a layer of oil that floated on top. This is where Van Houten stepped in. He invented a hydraulic press that squeezed the cacao fat out of the chocolate liquor. The residue of this process Van Houten pulverized to a fine powder. The beverage it produced was still bitter, but Van Houten found that treating the powder with sodium bicarbonate or ammonium hydroxide... 

And what happened to the fat that Van Houten s press squeezed out of the chocolate Some twenty years after Van Houten s discovery, Britain s J. S. Fry created a chocolate bar by adding cacao butter and sugar to chocolate liquor. This was the world s first eating chocolate. Then, in 1876, Henri Nestle and Daniel Peter foimd that adding condensed milk to the bar made for a milder flavor, and Milton Hershey devised methods of mass production. Chocolates have been dehghting young and old alike ever since. 

Cocoa butter is extensively used in chocolate manufacture, where it is mixed with cocoa liquor (ground cacao nibs), sugar, milk, and other ingredients such as flavors. Dark chocolate does not contain milk. 

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