Chocolate bar
Alternative names | Chocolate tablet |
---|---|
Type | Confectionery |
Main ingredients | Cocoa solids, cocoa butter, sugar |
Ingredients generally used | Milk, nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, wafers |
Variations | Types of chocolate |
A chocolate bar is a
The manufacture of a chocolate bar from raw cocoa ingredients requires many steps, from grinding and refining, to conching and tempering. All these processes have been independently developed by chocolate manufacturers from different countries. There is therefore no precise moment when the first chocolate bar came into existence. Solid chocolate was already consumed in the 18th century. The 19th century saw the emergence of the modern chocolate industry; most manufacturing techniques used today were invented during this period.
Dark, milk and white are the main types of chocolate. Ingredients not derived from cocoa have been added to bars since the beginning of the chocolate industry, often to reduce production costs. A wide variety of chocolate bar brands are sold today.
Terminology
In many varieties of English, chocolate bar refers to any confectionery bar that contains chocolate. In some dialects of American English, only bars of solid chocolate are described as chocolate bars, with the phrase candy bar used as a broader term encompassing bars of solid chocolate, bars combining chocolate with other ingredients, and bars containing no chocolate at all. In Canada, while the term chocolate bar is commonly used for bars combining chocolate with other ingredients, only bars of solid chocolate can be labelled as a chocolate bar.[1]
The term bar may refer to a large variety of shapes, including not oblong ones, such as squares.[2] Small (bite-sized) chocolate pieces are however usually referred to as chocolates, regardless of shape.[3] These include neapolitans, bonbons, pralines and truffles.
History
Early history
Solid chocolate was probably already consumed in
Until the 18th century, chocolate was essentially consumed as a drink. Transport of cocoa beans was slow and difficult, therefore making the product very expensive in Europe. Chocolate was usually sold as a solidified ground but still grainy cocoa paste (in the form of blocks, sticks or balls) to be dissolved in water or milk, either plain or already sweetened and flavoured.[9][10] It is unclear when bars or tablets of chocolate (meant to be eaten straight as a candy rather than grated into a drink) were made for the first time.[5] It is known, however, that the consumption of solid chocolate by the wealthy increased by the end of the 18th century.[11]
Up to and including the 19th century,
The production of chocolate specifically meant to be eaten in bars may predate the
First mass-produced chocolate bars
The late 18th century saw the beginning of the mechanization of chocolate manufacturing. Water and wind power was used first, steam-powered machines followed.[13] This not only allowed the production of chocolate on a larger scale, but also the production of chocolate with a finer texture.[14]
In 1819, Swiss grocer and chocolatier François-Louis Cailler founded Cailler and opened a sophisticated and water-powered chocolate factory,[15] which allowed him to produce solid chocolate that was molded into tablets.[16] After a few years, sixteen different sorts of chocolate with different packagings were proposed.[17] Shortly after, in 1826, another Swiss chocolatier, Philippe Suchard, opened a chocolate factory where he developed a millstone machine to grind cocoa and sugar, still used today: the melanger.[16] Before opening his factory, Suchard realized that a small tablet sold at a pharmacy was worth three days' wages.[18]
In 1836, French pharmacist Antoine Brutus Menier launched a chocolate tablet with six semi-cylindrical divisions. He previously used chocolate as a coating for pills.[19]
Earlier, in 1828, Casparus van Houten
In 1847, Joseph Fry discovered a way to mix the ingredients of cocoa powder, sugar and cocoa to manufacture a paste with a higher percentage of cocoa butter that could then be more easily molded into a solid chocolate bar. He is generally credited for the first mass-produced bar.[21][22][23] Inspired by Fry, John Cadbury, founder of Cadbury, introduced his brand of the chocolate bar in 1849. That same year, Fry and Cadbury chocolate bars were displayed publicly at a trade fair in Bingley Hall, Birmingham.[24][25]
Fry's chocolate factory, J. S. Fry & Sons of Bristol, England, began mass-producing chocolate bars and they became very popular.[26] Over 220 Fry's products were introduced in the following decades. Fry's Cream Sticks, released in 1853, were the first filled chocolate candy,[21] and led to the Fry's Chocolate Cream bar in 1866.[22] Other products included the first chocolate Easter egg in the UK in 1873, and Fry's Turkish Delight (or Fry's Turkish bar) in 1914.[22]
In addition to Cadbury and Fry, Rowntree's and Terry's were major British chocolate companies, as chocolate manufacturing expanded in England throughout the rest of the century.[27]
Modern chocolate bars
A few years earlier, in 1875, milk chocolate makes its appearance. It was developed by another Swiss confectioner, Daniel Peter. He was able to make milk chocolate with the help of his neighbour Henri Nestlé, who was specialized in dehydrated milk products.[30] Daniel Peter launched his successful Gala Peter brand in 1887. Cailler and Suchard followed in the late 19th century, and other factories opened in Switzerland at that time.
In 1897, following the lead of Swiss companies, Cadbury introduced its own line of milk chocolate bars in the UK. Cadbury Dairy Milk, first produced in 1905, became the company's best selling bar.[31]
In the United States, immigrants who arrived with candy-making skills drove the development of new chocolate bars.
In Canada, Ganong Bros., Ltd. of St. Stephen, New Brunswick developed and began selling their version of the modern chocolate bar in 1910.
Chocolate bar sales grew rapidly in the early-20th century.
Combination bars
The first chocolate bars were plain chocolate, but often flavoured with spices, such as cinnamon and vanilla.[9] Producers soon began combining chocolate with other ingredients such as nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. In 1830, Kohler added hazelnuts to chocolate bars[35] and, in 1852, Caffarel added hazelnuts as a smooth paste to its chocolate, creating gianduja.[36] Adding other, usually cheaper, ingredients to bars was also a way to reduce production costs.[37] Additionally, the overwhelming majority of combination bars use milk chocolate, which further decreases the amount of cocoa in the finished product.[38] Approximately 30,000 varieties of candy bars existed in the United States during the 1920s, most of which were produced locally.[39]
A wide selection of similar chocolate snacks or nutritional supplements are produced with added sources of
- The Fry's Chocolate Cream, produced by J. S. Fry & Sons since 1866, consisted of a plain fondant centre enrobed in plain chocolate. It is the first mass-produced chocolate bar and predates the invention of milk chocolate.
- The Branche, created by Kohler and produced by Cailler since 1904,[40] is a cylindrical and branch-looking milk chocolate and hazelnut bar with a praline filling, partly made with recycled broken confectionery. As a consequence of its wide success, "branche" has become a generic term (in French) for any stick-like chocolate bar.[41]
- The torrone, a white nougat made of honey, almonds and egg whites. Its manufacture and distinctive triangular shape was patented at the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property.[42]
- The Nashville, Tennessee, in 1912, was the first combination bar in the United States. It was made of caramel, marshmallow, and peanuts, covered with milk chocolate.[43][44] The combination of peanuts with chocolate became very popular in North America, while the hazelnut remained the most popular pairing in Europe.[45]
- The Clark Bar, a crispy core with caramel and peanut butter covered with milk chocolate, was the first nationally marketed combination bar in the United States.[33]
- The Oh Henry! bar was created by George Williamson of Williamson Candy Co. and named after an electrician who visited his store and flirted with the female candy makers. Williamson launched an advertising campaign that included newspaper ads, streetcar signs, and billboards. The Oh Henry! bar became one of the top-selling brands in the United States in the 1920s.[32] In 1926, the company published a book, 60 New Ways to Serve a Famous Candy, that included recipes for salads, side dishes, and sweet breads, in addition to desserts.[43]
- The Otto Schnering, owner of the Curtiss Candy Co., by modifying their original candy bar, Kandy Kake, to compete with the Oh Henry! bar. Schnering claimed that the Baby Ruth was named in honor of President Grover Cleveland's daughter, who died at age 12, but some historians suggest that Schnering chose the name to take advantage of the popularity of Babe Ruth without having to pay royalties.[46] Schnering decided to sell his bar for half the price of its competitor, hiring legendary Chicago ad man, Eddy S. Brandt, to market the Baby Ruth under the slogan "Everything you want for a nickel." The catchy slogan, along with other innovative marketing tactics, like sponsoring circuses and dropping Baby Ruth bars over cities from airplanes, made Baby Ruth the most popular candy bar in the U.S by 1925.[43]
- The Forrest Mars, Sr.It consists of caramel and nougat coated with milk chocolate.
- The Kit Kat bar, created by Rowntree's in 1935, is a milk chocolate-covered wafer bar. The bar consists of two or four fingers that can be snapped from the bar separately. Kit Kat bars are reputed for being made in many different flavours.[47]
Ingredients
A solid chocolate bar contains some or all of the following components:
Compound chocolate, which uses vegetable oils in place of cocoa butter, may be used as a less expensive alternative to true chocolate, though such a product may not be able to be labelled as "chocolate".[49] Combination bars may contain a wide variety of additional ingredients.
Production
Popular culture
Literature and film
The
Records
Oldest extant
Some of the oldest preserved chocolate bars are two pieces of white and dark chocolate made between 1764 and 1795 for the king of Poland,
World's largest
The world's largest chocolate bar was produced as a stunt by Thorntons plc (UK) on 7 October 2011. It weighed 5,792.50 kg (12,770.3 lb) and measured 4m by 4m by 0.35m.[51]
On January 16, 2020,
On January 31, 2020, the
See also
- Energy bar
- Granola bar
- List of chocolate bar brands
- List of chocolate-covered foods
- United States military chocolate
References
- ^ "Common name - Labelling requirements for confectionery, chocolate and snack food products". 11 February 2014.
- ISBN 9781576875346.
"Break" is a square chocolate bar with a loyal following in Greece.
- ISBN 9781861897039.
Like so many other developments in the creation of familiar forms of chocolate, the development of bite-sized filled chocolates arranged in a box...
- ISBN 9781576079218.
It is of interest that even though the rich and famous would drink their chocolate—the most traditional way of consuming chocolate—soldiers would be issued chocolate in solid format. Military rations would include chocolate made into wafers or pellets.
- ^ ISBN 9781477309711.
Most sixteenth-, seventeenth-, and eighteenth-century cacao was for drinking, but its consumption in solid form was not unheard of. To make a drink out of processed cacao beans they must be ground, and then, unless they are immediately made into a drink, the mass congeals. [...] There is no way of exactly dating the birth of the chocolate confection...
- ISBN 9781440876080.
While the metate served many kitchen uses, it became a central focus for chocolate making in pre-Columbian Central America. From there, versions moved to Europe and North America to serve the same function.
- ISBN 9780806126494.
The soldiers carried a quantity of provisions, such as toasted kernels as well as maize flour, bean flour, toasted tortillas, sun-baked tamales and others that had a kind of mold, great loads of chiles, and cacao that had been ground and formed into small balls.
- ISBN 9781438473437.
Cacao first arrived in Spain in the 1520s, then the Spanish Netherlands in 1606 (Norton 2008). Braudel (1992) traces the first arrival of cacao to Europe in the form of loaves and tablets—already processed, but solid.
- ^ ISBN 9780773577176.
What constituted chocolate at the time? According to various inventories from Louisbourg, solid chocolate was sold as balls or sticks of varying weights. Chocolate came either "prepared," meaning that it had already been ground down into a paste of cocoa solids and fats, mixed with sugar and aromatics (usually cinnamon and vanilla, and sometimes anise, orange flower water, or ambergris – flavourings preferred by the French), then allowed to harden, or "unprepared," consisting of a hardened paste of plain chocolate. In the latter instance, spices and sweeteners would be added after the grated chocolate ball or stick was mixed with hot liquid.
- ISBN 9781118913789.
At this point, chocolate was still consumed in liquid form and was mainly sold as pressed blocks of a grainy mass to be dissolved in water or milk...
- ISBN 978-0-19-104072-6.
Already by the end of the 18th century there had been a perceptible increase in the amount of chocolate being eaten, in slabs and pastilles...
- ISBN 978-0-470-12165-8.
- ^ Chrystal, Paul (2021). The History of Sweets. Pen and Sword History. p. 104.
In 1776, Doret patented a hydraulic chocolate grinding machine which reduced it to a paste and in 1795, Joseph Fry industrialised chocolate production in England when he started using a James Watt steam engine to grind his beans.
- ISBN 9780451495365.
Then the nineteenth century brought coal, the steam engine, and technology that could smash cacao into an incredibly smooth paste for the first time, and it could be done on a large enough scale to make it cheap and accessible to more people.
- ISBN 9780470398845.
Chocolate factories began to appear in Europe as early as 1728, but they used age-old labor-intensive methods to grind and churn their products. It was not until 1819 that the first sophisticated chocolate factory was established in Corsier, Switzerland, by François-Louis Cailler.
- ^ ISBN 9782759233793.
À partir de 1820, ce sont surtout les Suisses qui vont innover, créer, améliorer les techniques de chocolaterie. Le premier est François-Louis Cailler, l'inventeur de la tablette de chocolat telle que nous la connaissons aujourd'hui. En 1826, Philippe Suchard ouvre une chocolaterie à Serrière, près de Neuchâtel, en Suisse. Il met au point une machine à meules pour mélanger le sucre et le cacao. C'est un immense progrès.
[From 1820, it was above all the Swiss who were to innovate, create and improve chocolate-making techniques. The first is François-Louis Cailler, the inventor of the chocolate tablet as we know it today. In 1826, Philippe Suchard opened a chocolate factory in Serrière, near Neuchâtel, Switzerland. He develops a millstone machine to mix sugar and cocoa. This is a huge progress.] - ^ Schiess, Eduard (1915). L'industrie chocolatiere suisse: etude economique precedee d'un apercu general sur le cacao et le chocolat. Lausanne: Imprimerie de la Concorde. p. 128.
Pourtant il y en avait déjà pour tous les bourses, du «Pur Caraque» au «Commun sucré». Il s'en faisait alors à la cannelle et à la vanille. Le prix-courant d'alors disait: «Ceux à la cannelle demi batz en sus, ceux à la vanille un batz par livre de douze onces». Le tout formait une série de 16 qualités avec 16 emballages différents
[However, there was already something for every wallet, from "Pur Caraque" to "Common sweet". Cinnamon and vanilla flavored chocolates were made. The list price then read: "Cinnamon ones half batz extra, vanilla ones one batz per pound of twelve ounces." The whole formed a series of 16 qualities with 16 different packaging] - S2CID 214556578.
Et la principale friandise est bien la tablette et non les granulés, les vermicelles, les paillettes, la poudre ou les décors plutôt présents en pâtisseries. Grâce à ce petit parallélépipède de cent grammes, vingt centimètres par neuf, le produit de luxe est devenu une friandise démocratique, définitivement sorti des pharmacies où était très cher, Philippe Suchard ayant calculé que guérir sa mère avec une plaque de quelques dizaines de grammes coûtait trois jours de salaire ouvrier.
[And the main delicacy is the tablet and not the granules, vermicelli, flakes, powder or decorations rather present in pastries. Thanks to this small parallelepiped of one hundred grams, twenty centimeters by nine, the luxury product has become a democratic delicacy, definitively released from pharmacies where it was very expensive, Philippe Suchard having calculated that curing his mother with a tablet of a few tens of grams cost three days' wages.] - ^ Petit, Élisabeth (29 December 2014). "Menier, une dynastie pour le chocolat". Ouest-France. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
Les premières formes de tablettes, enveloppées de papier blanc, voient le jour. En 1836, Menier lance une tablette à six divisions semi-cylindriques. Le succès est au rendez-vous.
[The first chocolate tablets, wrapped in white paper, are created. In 1836, Menier launched a tablet with six semi-cylindrical divisions. Success is on the way.] - ^ "Onderzoekers in actie: Peter van Dam De geschiedenis van de firma Van Houten Cacao" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
- ^ a b Mintz, Sidney (2015). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford University Press. p. 157.
- ^ a b c "The History of Candy Bars". Candy History. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
- ^ "How chocolate became the winter beverage of choice". BBC News. 2023-12-11. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ISBN 9781609251758.
In 1849 the first truly commercial eating chocolate appeared at a trade fair in Birmingham, England. The bars were made by a company called Fry, which added sugar and chocolate liquor to the cocao [sic] butter. Fry was followed by Cadbury.
- ISBN 9780471190554.
Within a few years others followed the lead; by 1849 Cadbury was also selling eating chocolate.
- ^ Candy Bar History
- ^ Design, SUMO. "History of York." Rowntree & Co: Chocolate Manufacturers:. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2016.
- ISBN 9781118210222.
By 1923, it was recorded that the "crunchy chocolates which sold in quantity only five to ten years ago have gone...
- ISBN 978-0-19-931361-7.
The next great Swiss innovation, also dating from 1879, was Rodolphe Lindt's invention of "conching" [...] Tempering, too, invented around this time, greatly advanced the culture of chocolate.
- ^ Cocoa", Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 9 May. 2013.
- S2CID 154421535.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7385-9382-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-231-14093-5.
- ISBN 9781598844795. Retrieved August 20, 2015.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ISBN 9782035981820.
Les noisettes furent les premiers fruits à être ajoutés dans le chocolat solide, une innovation suisse due à Kohler en 1830.
[Hazelnuts were the first fruits to be added to solid chocolate, a Swiss innovation due to Kohler in 1830.] - ISBN 9782759812950.
Le Gianduja est créé en 1852 par Isidore Caffarel, il est fait à base de noisettes finement broyées
[Gianduja was created in 1852 by Isidore Caffarel, it is made from finely ground hazelnuts] - ISBN 978-0-19-931339-6.
This emphasis on caloric heft led to the introduction of whipped nougat and marshmallow, which made bars appear larger and therefore more filling. All these additions also made the bars cheaper, since the quantity of expensive chocolate was minimized.
- ISBN 9781317953005.
"The entire over-the-counter candy bar industry is 95 percent milk chocolate. People are weaned on it. Dark chocolate is a connoisseur's chocolate—more tasty, richer. As a result, a person who wants that will never buy milk." —Joe Foscaldo, Marketing Manager for Phillips Candy House (quoted in Boston Globe)
- ISBN 978-0-313-36411-2. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
- ISBN 9781526778901.
In 1904, Daniel Peter and Charles-Amédée Kohler became partners and founded the company Société Générale Suisse de Chocolats Peter et Kohler Réunis. Cailler began to produce their own Branches. The original Branche was first mentioned in Kohler's recipe books in 1896.
- ^ "Branche (de chocolat): Citation 24 Heures (1998)". Base de données lexicographiques panfrancophone (in French). Agence universitaire de la Francophonie. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
Emballée de rouge, de bleu ou de vert, la branche de chocolat au lait fait partie de l'identité helvétique. Créée en 1907 par Cailler dans son usine de Broc pour écouler les déchets et brisures de confiserie qui étaient refondus et roulés à la main en boudins [...] Emballée dans une feuille d'aluminium, elle fut appelée «branche». Cette appellation trop générale ne fut pas protégée. Elle devint peu à peu le nom générique de tout bâtonnet de chocolat, qu'il soit sorti de Broc ou fabriqué par les marques concurrentes qui toutes se mirent à copier l'original.
[Wrapped in red, blue or green, the milk chocolate bar is part of the Swiss identity. Created in 1907 by Cailler in its factory in Broc to dispose of broken confectionery that was remelted and rolled by hand into sticks [...] Wrapped in aluminum foil, it was called a "branch". This too general appellation was not protected. It gradually became the generic name for any chocolate stick, whether it came out of Broc or manufactured by competing brands, all of which began to copy the original.] - ISBN 9781526778925.
Prudently, Theodor Tobler and his then company, Tobler AG, applied for a patent in 1909 in Bern to cover the manufacture and shape of the bar, and Toblerone thus became the first patented milk chocolate bar.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-39393-8.
- ISBN 9780374711108.
- John Wiley & Sons.
Hazelnuts have long been a favorite nut in Europe, where the hazelnut, or filbert, is the equivalent of the peanut in America.
- ^ Jill Elaine Hughes (October 20, 2013). "When Candy Was Dandy". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Irvine, Dean (2 February 2012). "How did Kit Kat become king of candy in Japan?". Eatocracy at CNN. CNN. Archived from the original on 8 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-9830791-2-5.
- ^ "Labelling Requirements for Confectionery, Chocolate and Snack Food Products". Canadian Food Inspection Agency. 15 January 2019. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
Compound coatings, which are products having the appearance but not the composition of chocolate, are often used as an outside layer or coating for biscuits, candy and frozen confections or as chips within baked goods. There should be no indication that compound coatings are "chocolate". However, "chocolate flavoured", "chocolate-like", and "chocolaty" have been accepted as appropriate descriptions of such coatings and chips.
- ^ a b "Dwa cukierki - czekoladki" [Two sweets - chocolates] (in Polish). The Royal Łazienki Museum. Archived from the original on 2016-11-11. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "Largest chocolate bar by weight". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
- ^ "The Largest Snickers Bar in the World Weighs Over Two Metric Tons". Food & Wine. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- ^ "Largest chocolate nut bar". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- ^ "Reese's Breaks Snickers' World Record for Largest Nut Bar". Food & Wine. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
Further reading
- Almond, Steve (2004) Candyfreak, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, ISBN 1-56512-421-9
- Broekel, Ray (1982) The Great American Candy Bar Book, Houghton Mifflin Co., ISBN 0-395-32502-1
- Cadbury, Deborah (2011) Chocolate Wars: The 150-Year Rivalry Between the World's Greatest Chocolate Makers, PublicAffairs
- Richardson, Tim (2002) Sweets: A History of Candy, Bloomsbury, ISBN 1-58234-307-1
External links
- Media related to Chocolate bar at Wikimedia Commons
- "History of Candy Bar Wrappers", Grager, Dave (2004)