Chocolate or cocoa is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civilization, and the majority of Mesoamerican people, including the Maya and Aztecs, made chocolate beverages.
Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories: bakers' confections and sugar confections. The occupation of confectioner encompasses the categories of cooking performed by both the French patissier and the confiseur.
A chocolate bar is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily breakable, chocolate bar is also called a tablet. In some varieties of English and food labeling standards, the term chocolate bar is reserved for bars of solid chocolate, with candy bar used for products with additional ingredients.
Mars, commonly known as Mars bar, is the name of two varieties of chocolate bar produced by Mars, Incorporated. It was first manufactured in 1932 in Slough, England by Forrest Mars, Sr. The bar consists of caramel and nougat coated with milk chocolate.
Nougat is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts, whipped egg whites, and sometimes chopped candied fruit. The consistency of nougat is chewy, and it is used in a variety of candy bars and chocolates. The word nougat comes from Occitan pan nogat, seemingly from Latin panis nucatus 'nut bread'.
Turrón and torrone is a southwest European nougat confection, typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts, and usually shaped either into a rectangular tablet or a round cake. Turrón usually is eaten as a dessert food in a traditional Christmas dinner in Spain, Portugal, and Italy and the countries of Latin America.
Snickers is a chocolate bar consisting of nougat topped with caramel and peanuts, all encased in milk chocolate. The bars are made by the American company Mars, Inc. The annual global sales of Snickers was over $3 billion as of 2012.
The Heath bar is a candy bar made of toffee, almonds, and milk chocolate, first manufactured by the Heath Brothers Confectionery in 1928. Since its acquisition of the Leaf International North American confectionery operations late in 1996, the Heath bar has been manufactured and distributed by Hershey.
A macaroon is a small cake or cookie, typically made from ground almonds, coconut or other nuts, with sugar and sometimes flavourings, food colouring, glacé cherries, jam or a chocolate coating; or a combination of these or other ingredients. Some recipes use sweetened condensed milk. Macaroons are sometimes baked on edible rice paper placed on a baking tray.
Almond Joy is a candy bar manufactured by The Hershey Company, consisting of sweetened, shredded coconut topped with whole almonds and covered in chocolate candy. The company also produces Mounds bars, a similar confection without nuts, coated in dark chocolate.
The Idaho Spud is a candy bar made by the Idaho Candy Company. It has been produced since 1918 and is distributed primarily throughout the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The wrapper of the product bears the slogan "The Candy Bar That Makes Idaho Famous". The bar was invented by Thomas "T.O." Smith, who founded the Idaho Candy Company in 1901.
Steve Almond is an American short-story writer, essayist and author of ten books, three of which are self-published.
Mounds is a candy bar made by The Hershey Company, consisting of shredded, sweetened coconut coated in dark chocolate. The company also produces the Almond Joy, a similar bar topped by whole almonds and covered in milk chocolate. The two products share common packaging and logo design, with Mounds using a red color scheme and Almond Joy blue.
The Clark Bar is a candy bar consisting of a crispy peanut butter/spun taffy core and coated in milk chocolate. It was introduced in 1917 by David L. Clark and was popular during and after both World Wars. It was the first American "combination" candy bar to achieve nationwide success. Two similar candy bars followed the Clark Bar, the Butterfinger bar (1923) made by the Curtiss Candy Company and the 5th Avenue bar (1936) created by Luden's.
The Twin Bing is a candy bar made by the Palmer Candy Company of Sioux City, Iowa. It consists of two round, chewy, cherry-flavored nougats coated with a mixture of chopped peanuts and chocolate. The company also produces individual Bings, as well as the King Bing, a package of three. The Twin Bing was introduced in the 1960s, possibly in 1969, according to Marty Palmer, the 5th-generation president of the Palmer Candy Company, and has been called "one of Sioux City's quintessential treats".
Chocolate-covered bacon is an American dish that consists of cooked bacon with a coating of either milk chocolate or dark chocolate. It can be topped with sea salt, crumbled pistachios, walnuts, or almond bits. References on the internet date back at least to 2005. The popularity of the dish has spread worldwide, and the dish has featured on television shows about food. A variant has been served at state fairs, where the bacon is served with chocolate sauce for dipping, and the dish has been developed into a gourmet food bar.
A starch mogul is a machine that makes shaped candies or candy centers from syrups or gels, such as gummi candy. These softer candies and centers are made by filling a tray with cornstarch, stamping the desired shape into the starch, and then pouring the filling or gel into the holes made by the stamp. When the candies have set, they are removed from the trays and the starch is recycled.
