Evolution of Early Chocolate
From its origin in ancient South American tribes as "chocolat," a ground cocoa bean drink, to its modern use in baked goods and sweets, chocolate has long since stolen the hearts and dominated the flavor palates of American bakers. However, what we think of when we hear "chocolate" has evolved over time with increased globalization and innovation in food production technology. After cocoa beans were introduced in Spain in 1528 by the explorer Hernan Cortez, the thirst for chocolate swept through Austria, France, and England. Chocolate quickly became a popular ingredient in beverages consumed by the elite and "chocolate houses" sprang up across Europe where political officials, nobles, and the wealthy went to socialize over steaming cups of cocoa. However, cocoa powder as an ingredient was not accessible to most in Europe and America before 1828. Between the expense of importing cocoa beans and the physical burden of hand-processing them, acquiring chocolate for home baking was impractical. This changed in 1828 when a Dutch chemist named Coenrad van Houten created a process for treating cocoa beans and removing the fatty cocoa butter to make a final powdered product better suited for baking and beverages. Not long after, in 1847, a process for making solid chocolate bars was developed by J.S. Fry and Sons, Ltd. In 1879, Rodolphe Lindt invented conching to distribute the cocoa butter throughout the chocolate and create a more appealing texture of chocolate. Lastly, in the 1890s, the modern chocolate-making process was perfected by another Swiss chocolatier, Jean Tobler, who designed a technique for making the chocolate look shinier and "snap" when you broke it. With each of these innovations, chocolate consumption boomed in America as the nationwide fell in love with its luscious taste.
Love at First Site: Robert's Cream of Pure Chocolate and Early Uses of Chocolate
Despite the fact that production technologies for cocoa powder and solid chocolate bars had been invented over fifty years earlier, cocoa powder did not begin to reach grocers until the early 1900s. Chocolate bars came even later. The recipes featured in our earliest chocolate resource, "100 Recipes with Cream of Pure Chocolate" by L.A. Robert & Co. include chocolate beverages, simple cakes, candies, and puddings utilizing "Robert's Cream of Chocolate." This product was an unsweetened cocoa powder principally marketed as a caffine-free substitite for coffee. Powdered cocoa drinks were served hot or cold and often left unsweetened. They were made by dissolving chocolate powder in boiling water, just like modern day hot chocolate recipes. Additionallly, chocolate beverages were used as a medicinal tonics. The pamplet also includes a recipe for "Cream of Chocolate Eglantine" to be served in hopsital settings and sick rooms. Many of the medicinal drinks used raw eggs, crumbled crackers, vanilla and lemons to add protein, texture and flavor, respectively. Additionally, the recipes for chocolate cakes, cookies, and candies were very simple and designed to be baked in an early oven without temperature control. The variable nature of these "quick" hotter ovens or "slow" cooler ovens likely limited the complexity of the recipes used by home bakers and made it difficult to achieve consistant products. It should also be noted that many of these smaller American chocolate companies from the early 1900s, including J.S. Fry and Sons and Robert's Chocolate, disappeared as two larger chocolate companies emerged: Walter Baker and Hershey.
Walter Baker Makes the "Food of Gods"
Walter Baker and Company Incorported originated in Dorchester, Massachusetts in the mid-1700s, but began its focus on chocolate production in the 1820s. Our resources from the Walter Baker company from 1928 and the early 1930s depict the emergence of solid chocolate bars for baking. In the 1928 pamphlet, "Famous Recipes for Baker's Chocolate and Breakfast Cocoa," the company described its No. 1 Premium Unsweetened Chocolate bars as the "food of the gods" because of their high quality. Unlike in earlier recipes, Baker utilized this solid chocolate bar to flavor cakes, candies and pudding rather than cocoa powder because of its bolder flavor. Additionally, Baker termed its powdered cocoa product "Breakfast Cocoa" to emphasize that it should only be used in drinks due to its less pure nature. It is also interesting that Baker continued to emphasize the health qualities of chocolate beverages recipes, which were then sweetend. However, Baker did not provide any recipes for medicinal drinks using chocolate.
In addition to its promise of health and good flavor, Walter Baker also utilized a story of love to market its new chocolate products to home bakers. Seen on the front of every Breakfast Cocoa box and on many Walter Baker recipe pamplets from this time was "La Belle Chocolatiere." In every image, she wore the same white apron and blue skirt, holding a tray with a mug of presumably hot chocolate as she gazes off to the right. In the pamphlets, Baker told the story of a Prince went to a chocolate shop every day to visit a waitress with whom he was in love. The story ended with him asking for her hand in marriage, demonstrating the power of Baker's chocolate to overcome even the social barriers and make two unlikely parties fall in love. This may have been one of the earliest connections between chocolate and love that contributes to why we associate the two so strongly today.
While Baker's Premium No.1 Unsweetned Chocolate was likely the most popular product sold by the Walter Baker company due to its versitality in baked goods from chocolate layer cakes to fudge, Baker sold several other solid chocolate bars marketed for their specific baking applications. In the 1931 pamphlet, "Best Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes," Baker distinguished its German's Sweet Chocolate as the perfect version of chocolate for snacking, its DOT Sweet Chocolate as a superior ingredient for chocolate candies and melting chocolate, and its Milk Chocolate as a "smooth and mellow" version of snacking chocolate.
Partly due to the expansion solid and powdered chocolate products and partly due to the innovations in temperature contol in ovens, chocolate recipes after the 1930s became increasingly complex. In a 1938 cookbook produced by the Walter Baker company titled, "My Party Book of Tested Chocolate Recipes," temperatures for baking were listed as well as the type of oven ("quick," "slow," or "moderate") intended for use in each recipe. This reveals that some new ovens at this time could be manipulated to achieve a a specific desired temperature. Additionally, pans of specific dimensions (like 9x13 inch or 8x8 inch) were listed as well, reflecting that baking as an art was improving so that home bakers could be more accurate and percise in their baking.
