In a year, seven billion pounds of chocolates are manufactured and produced in the United States. What more if we combine all the chocolate with the rest of the world?
As we celebrate Valentine's Day and National Cream-filled Chocolate Day, we should be giving the ones that are important in our lives chocolates in heart-shaped boxes and if you're feeling creative, why not make a chocolate bouquet? Although we celebrate this kind of holiday once a year, it is not the only day to make someone feel important. We should give our love every day!
The concept of cream-filled chocolates was based on the first, simple pralines made in the 17th century by a sugar industrialist named Marshal du Pessis-Praslin. At the time, cocoa (and therefore chocolate) was relatively unknown in Europe, and so the pralines of the day were mostly just nuts coated in a layer of caramelized sugar. Due to the many new ingredients available from the New World, slowly but surely pralines began to evolve and get even more creative and fancy as the years went by. The first cream-filled chocolates as we know them today were made in 1912 by Jean Neuhaus II, a Belgian chocolatier, and soon this chocolate contained everything from various liqueurs, to marzipan, to fruits, to caramel, to almost anything else you can imagine.
How can you celebrate this day extra special for someone? By making your own chocolate treat!
What are your plans for Valentine's Day? Let us know in the comments! ❤