FAT-FREE CHOCOLATE?

Q: What is your shipping policy?

Warm weather policy starts April 19, 2021: We want you to receive your chocolate in perfect condition and as quickly as possible. In warm weather, we ship on Mondays and Tuesdays (and Wednesday if the destination is close enough to guarantee arrival before the weekend). We add insulation and an ice pack at no charge, and we strongly encourage you to choose an expedited shipping method if your order is traveling outside of New England. We cannot be responsible for chocolate that is heat-damaged when you open it, so please have someone be home when your package is expected to arrive or provide a safe, cool delivery spot. We may need to delay shipment altogether if the weather is too hot here or there, and will notify you if this happens. You will receive an email when your package ships. We do not ship internationally at this time.

Q: What is your return policy?

Your chocolate is shipped in perfect condition and, as described above, we take every precaution to make sure it arrives in perfect condition as well. If it is damaged in transit, we will gladly replace it but cannot refund shipping costs. We cannot accept the return or exchange of chocolate that was received intact. Having said that, if you are unhappy with your order, we hope you will reach out to us. Our products are created for you, and we want to hear if we need to make changes to our product, our shipping methods, or anything else in order to keep you as a happy customer.

Q: How should I store my chocolate?

Best is to keep it between 65 and 70 degrees and in low humidity (less than 55%) and darkness, like a pantry or cupboard. Refrigeration is a good choice as long as you first put it in something else with as little air as possible such as a baggie with the air forced out. Please let it come to room temperature before enjoying it. Hot temperatures as well as big swings in temperature make chocolate “bloom” or go out of temper, meaning the cocoa butter separates from the cocoa solids. When this happens, although there is nothing wrong with the chocolate, it will have chalky whitish/greyish patterns (that’s the cocoa butter) and a different mouthfeel. When stored in ideal conditions, your chocolate can be enjoyed long after you got it, but we like it the most when it’s as fresh as possible.

Q: What does 70% mean?

It refers to the percentage of cacao by weight in the finished chocolate. Because Tangle Chocolate has only two ingredients, you know that our chocolate consists of 70% cacao and 30% sugar.

Q: Do you make other kinds of chocolate besides 70% dark?

Not right now...but what do you think we should make next? Please let us know!

Q: What's the big deal about Tangle Chocolate being freshly made?

Some foods improve with age, such as wine and many cheeses. Others lose some of their taste over time. We find that the flavors in chocolate mellow. Now, this may not concern you, and you may have been perfectly content your whole life with chocolate that arrived in a shop perhaps many months before you purchased it. But we invite you to try our chocolate and see if you notice a difference in the number and quality of distinct flavors straight from the cacao bean that you can taste.

Q: Is Tangle Chocolate single-origin? And what does that mean?

Yes, Tangle Chocolate is single origin. That means that all of the cacao beans used in our chocolate are from the same region. Those cacao trees experience the same soil, weather, altitude and so on that contribute to the distinct flavor of the chocolate. Tangle Chocolate uses cacao beans from a single region of Guatemala, the Cahabón region.

Q: What's the difference between bean-to-bar and craft or artisan chocolate?

These words, along with other ones like "small batch" and "handcrafted," are used in an attempt to differentiate specialty chocolate from large-maker industrial chocolate. However, none of them has a legal definition in the U.S., so their presence on a label doesn't necessarily guarantee anything, which can be confusing and even misleading. Bean-to-bar chocolate means that the maker started with cacao beans, did all of the roasting and refining in house, and ended up with the finished chocolate. That describes Tangle Chocolate. Very large companies technically can be bean-to-bar chocolate makers too, but the term is generally used to describe small chocolate makers like us. The terms “craft” and “artisan” imply that the chocolate was made by a small company with lots of human involvement in the process, whether or not the chocolate is bean to bar...but again, without a legal definition, it's hard for us as consumers to know what "small" is. Industrial chocolate makers have noticed consumer interest in craft products, and some now use words like "craft" and "artisan" on their labels. In addition, while some “craft” or “artisan” chocolate companies are also bean to bar, others buy ready-made chocolate, melt it and perhaps add special touches, and then remold and package it with their label. If you're unsure about a chocolate company's label language, call them and ask any questions you have.

Q: Is your chocolate certified organic?

Not at this time. Although the cacao beans and sugar that we currently use are certified organic, we have chosen not to go through the process to be certified organic as a company. This enables us to keep the door open in the future to using non-certified organic beans that we love. We understand that sometimes a farmer can't meet the costs and administrative duties associated with getting and maintaining organic certification even though their products are up to organic standards.

Q: Is Tangle Chocolate Fair Trade?

No. We are committed to paying more than the Fair Trade price standards and to meeting or surpassing any ethical standards you can think of. We buy our cacao beans from good people who know their many small farmers (average farm size: 2.5 acres) and are super transparent about their practices and finances.

May 5, 2022

Recently, a customer asked if I had any fat-free chocolate dessert recipes. While I’m unaware of any chocolate or recipes that contain ZERO fat, there are lots of low-fat options. Here’s a little information about the fat that is in chocolate, the best options for low-fat chocolate, and a couple of very low-fat chocolate recipes that this chocolate lover finds worth trying. These are wonderful treats for anyone who cannot process fat (or has other reasons for not wanting to eat fat).

MYTH: COCOA POWDER IS FAT FREE

Unadulterated, pure bean-to-bar chocolate like Tangle Chocolate is made from cacao beans that are roughly 50% cocoa butter, a kind of fat. (The percentage of cocoa butter in beans varies between about 45-55% depending on the type of bean, its origin, the harvest, etc.) Cocoa powder, as explained in this Tangle Chocolate blog post, is simply the solid matter that is left when the cocoa butter has been hydraulically pressed out of the bean. However, it’s not possible to get 100% of the cocoa butter out of the bean; the typical amount left per tablespoon is between .7 and 1 gram. By comparison, the amount of fat in a tablespoon of 70% chocolate is about 6 grams. So cocoa powder is by far the less-fatty choice, but it is not fat free.

REMEMBER: NOT ALL FAT IS BAD!

Did you cringe when you read that a cacao bean is roughly 50% fat? If so, please know that one-third of that fat is oleic acid, a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, and one-third is stearic acid, a saturated fat that has a neutral effect on cholesterol. The final third, palmitic acid, is the component of concern: that one is a saturated fat that increases LDL “bad” cholesterol. Remember too that chocolate is high in flavanols and antioxidants which are known to lower blood pressure, improve blood flow to the brain and heart, and increase blood platelets’ clotting ability.

SUBSTITUTES FOR FAT

If you’re on a low-fat diet and want to eat chocolate, cocoa powder is the way to go. Here at Tangle, we do not (yet) make our own cocoa powder, but you can buy either standard tins from your supermarket or higher-quality cocoa powder from premium chocolate makers who are bigger than we are. Ghirardelli 100% cocoa powder is not Dutch processed, so it retains more flavanols (see this Tangle Chocolate blog post to understand more about Dutch-processed or Dutched cocoa). Note that Ghirardelli Majestic Premium cocoa powder is Dutch processed, so please read labels. Almost all recipes using cocoa powder instead of chocolate also contain some kind of fat such as butter, oil, or shortening. But you can substitute cornstarch for fat or, even better, applesauce. Applesauce offers a bit of thickening which the cornstarch also does, but the applesauce’s sweet moistness makes it superior, in my opinion.

RECIPES

Here is a recipe for chocolate cake and another one for brownies, both using cocoa powder and applesauce to keep the fat content as low as possible.

Tip: Baked goods that use applesauce can stick to the pan. Don’t be tempted to overcook in order to prevent this problem. Instead, use parchment paper and/or a spray cooking oil disted with flour to help the cake and brownies release.

LOW FAT CHOCOLATE CAKE (adapted from thebigmansworld.com)

INGREDIENTS for one 8” round cake (double or triple to make a layer cake)

1 ½ cups flour of your choice

1 cup granulated sweetener of your choice

¼ cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

1 cup water (or milk of your choice)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare an 8” pan with parchment paper; even better if you spray it with cooking oil and dust with flour if you’re ok with adding a bit of fat from the oil.
Use a mixing bowl to combine the flour, sweetnener, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
Add vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar, and applesauce. Mix well.
Pour room temperature water over the top and mix until fully combined.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out just clean.
Let it cool in the cake pan for 10 minutes, remove to a wire rack and let it cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING

If you’re really trying to go low fat, true frosting or icing is not a choice. So, I recommend making a glaze instead. It’s super easy: powdered sugar, a little extract of your choice (vanilla, orange, whatever you like with chocolate), and a little milk of your choice. Pour over the cake and let stand until it hardens. Done! Alternatively, you can dust the cake with powdered sugar, even making a patterned template to have something extra special.

LOW-FAT BROWNIES (adapted from thespruceeats.com)

This recipe has more ingredients than the cake and yields a denser texture as well as slightly more complex taste because of the added cinnamon. Worth a try, and adjust it based on your taste preferences!

INGREDIENTS for one 8” square pan

1 cup all-purpose flour

⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup granulated sugar of your choice

¼ cup brown sugar (optional)

¼ cup dry non-fat milk powder

1 large egg white, room temperature, slightly beaten

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon powdered sugar for dusting the brownies (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350
Spray with cooking oil and dust with flour an 8” square pan.
Combine all of the dry ingredients in one bowl and all of the wet ingredients in another bowl. Stir well.
Now combine the two bowls just enough to moisten all the ingredients. Do not overmix.
Spread the batter in your prepared pan and bake for 22-23 minutes until a skewer comes out just clean. Remember not to overcook.
Dust with powdered sugar if desired, and enjoy!

https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/food/cocoa/fat?frc=True

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/16774-heart-healthy-benefits-of-chocolate

https://www.google.com/search?q=fat+per+gram+of+chocolate&oq=fat+per+gram+of+chocolate&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160l4j33i22i29i30l5.4443j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8