NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CAKE DAY - January 27th

by Judy Ann Davis

It’s January 2023, and everyone is setting goals or making resolutions for the new year. 

I have decided to make just one: to try to eat less sweets. I discovered—well, not just recently discovered—I’m addicted to sweets and especially chocolate. I love all kinds of chocolate: milk, dark, white, semi-sweet, bitter sweet. And I’m not fussy whether they are in eatable or drinkable forms. I like candy, cakes, cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, hot chocolate and chocolate syrups. 

Chocolate come from cacao trees. These trees are relatively short, only growing to be about 15-25 feet tall. It takes about 5 years for a cacao tree to grow mature and start producing cacao pods. The beans grow in football-shaped pods on the trunk of the tree and from larger branches.

Chocolate has been part of American society for about 252 years. In America, chocolate was consumed primarily as a beverage until the 1830s or 40s. Chocolate cakes, as we think of them today, did not exist.

Imagine my surprise when I found out January 27^th is National Chocolate Cake Day in the United States, a nonofficial holiday to commemorate this delicious treat. 

A popular Philadelphia cookbook author, Eliza Leslie, published the earliest chocolate cake recipe in 1847 in The Lady’s Receipt Book. The first boxed cake mix was created by a company called O. Duff and Sons in the late 1920s. Betty Crocker released their first dry cake mixes in 1947.

Since then, cake has its own category and is featured in recipes around the world. Who hasn’t heard of German chocolate or Black Forest cake? Chocolate fudge or molten lava cake? Texas sheet cake or chocolate truffle cake? There are even cakelike brownie recipes. 

Cocoa contains both healthy and unhealthy forms of dietary fat, and contains minerals important for human health, including potassium, phosphorus, copper, iron, zinc and magnesium. Some studies have found that regular chocolate consumption is associated with lower blood pressure, decreased stress levels, and increased alertness.   

And thus, because chocolate can be healthy was exactly why I modified my resolution not to give up all sweets, just to eat less of them. Hey, who am I kidding? A red box of deluxe chocolates sitting on my counter (a Christmas present from my son) is calling out to me this very moment. Maybe just a small piece wouldn’t hurt, would it?

Happy New Year! 

                             VISIT MY AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE FOR ALL MY BOOKS 

 

Not One Peep by Bea Tifton

 

It’s an issue that’s dividing the country. People feel so strongly one way or another. Families are being advised to avoid discussions about it at Easter dinner. I try to avoid controversy on my blog posts, but I  have to clear the air and take a stand. I simply must ask, “To Peep or not to Peep?”

 Ah, Peeps. Those cute little marshmallow, sugary treats that pop out of the stores every spring in their pretty pastel colors and their cute little bunny or chick shapes. People either love them or hate them. But where did they come from?

In 1910, Sam Born emigrated from Russia and landed in New York City, where he opened a chocolate shop. He named his company Just Born and did very well, gradually acquiring several more candy businesses in the 20’s and 30’s.

 The Rodda Candy Company made candy out of the marshmallow plant and candy shaped like religious icons for Easter, among other things. The Rodda Family isn’t sure, but they think that the first marshmallow chicks were made as a special order in the 1940s, more for decorations than dessert. It took 27 hours to make one tray of Peeps from marshmallow, eggs whites, and sugar.  In 1953, Just Born purchased the Rodda Candy Company. Bob Born, Sam’s son, invented a machine that could produce 30 Peeps in six minutes. In 2014, this “Depositor” was replaced with a brand new updated machine. 

Today, 700 million Peeps are made each year. They are the most popular non chocolate Easter candy. People make clever dioramas to compete in contests throughout the country, Peeps are featured in many social media memes, and there are Peeps eating contests. In 2019 Matt Stonie set the world record for eating 255 Peeps in five minutes. He’s still in a sugar coma to this day. (Okay, I made that last sentence up.)

Peeps gourmands have several ways to eat them. Most people admit they eat the heads first. Many people like them more after they’ve been exposed to the air and dried out a bit. Some people toast them. One woman said she makes S’mores for her daycare class with Peeps. 

Me? I think they’re cute. I love the Easter colors, and I like the marshmallow chicks shapes the best. I’ve attended Peeps diorama viewings at my local library and considered making one myself. But I just don’t like to eat them. Still, spring wouldn’t be the same without seeing them, lining the “Seasonal” aisles of the store, just waiting to be plucked.