Chocolate bar

A chocolate bar is a confection made from chocolate. It can be plain or mixed with other ingredients like nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. When a chocolate bar is just solid chocolate without any extra ingredients, it is sometimes called a tablet. In some places, the word chocolate bar is used only for bars made purely from chocolate, while bars with added ingredients are called a candy bar.

Making a chocolate bar from raw cocoa takes many steps. It starts with grinding and refining the cocoa, and includes special processes like conching and tempering. These steps were created separately by chocolate makers in different countries, so it is hard to say exactly when the first chocolate bar was made. People have been eating solid chocolate since the 1700s, and the 1800s was when the modern chocolate industry began. Most of the ways we make chocolate today were invented during that time.

There are three main types of chocolate used in bars: dark, milk, and white chocolate. Adding ingredients that are not made from cocoa has been a part of making chocolate bars almost since the beginning, often to help save money during production.

Terminology

In many places, a chocolate bar is any sweet treat that has chocolate in it. In some parts of America, only bars made of plain chocolate are called chocolate bars. Other bars that mix chocolate with nuts, fruit, or other ingredients are called candy bars.

The word "bar" can describe many shapes, not just long rectangles — squares count too! Tiny pieces of chocolate, like small round candies, are usually just called chocolates, not bars. These small treats include neapolitans, bonbons, pralines, and truffles.

History

Solid chocolate was first enjoyed in ancient times by the Aztecs in pre-Columbian America as a drink. Over time, chocolate began to be eaten as a solid treat. By the late 18th century, wealthy people in Europe started eating solid chocolate more often.

The first chocolate bars made just for eating began appearing in the late 1700s. In the 19th century, new ways to make chocolate smoother and tastier were invented. This led to the creation of milk chocolate and many new kinds of chocolate bars.

Chocolate bars began to include other ingredients like nuts, fruit, caramel, and wafers. Some famous early combination bars include the Fry's Chocolate Cream, Toblerone, and the Goo Goo Cluster. These bars mixed chocolate with different flavors and textures, making chocolate even more fun to enjoy.

Ingredients

Main chocolate ingredients: cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, sugar, and dried milk.

A solid chocolate bar is usually made with ingredients like cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, sugar, and milk. These ingredients help decide if the chocolate is dark, milk, or white chocolate. Some chocolate bars also have flavorings like vanilla and emulsifiers such as soy lecithin to change how it feels. A few chocolate bars use added milk fat to make them softer, and some use different sweeteners instead of sugar.

Compound chocolate uses vegetable oils instead of cocoa butter and can be a cheaper choice, but it might not be called "chocolate." Some chocolate bars also have many other ingredients mixed in.

Health and nutrition

Chocolate bars have different amounts of nutrition. A typical milk chocolate bar has about 200 to 300 calories in a 40 g piece and lots of sugar and fat. Dark chocolate usually has less sugar and more cocoa.

Eating too much chocolate can lead to health problems like weight gain and cavities. However, eating dark chocolate in small amounts might be good for your heart because it has flavonoids, which can help keep your blood healthy. People are also making chocolate bars with less sugar, vegan options, and added protein.

Production

Main article: Chocolate § Production

Making chocolate bars begins with getting the right ingredients. Chocolate comes from cacao beans, which are processed to create smooth, rich chocolate. This chocolate can then be mixed with other tasty ingredients like nuts, fruit pieces, caramel, nougat, or thin wafers to make different kinds of chocolate bars. Some chocolate bars are made with only plain chocolate, while others have many layers or mixtures inside.

Popular culture

Literature and film

The Wonka Bar is a special kind of chocolate bar that plays an important role in the 1964 book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. This chocolate bar also appears in two movies based on the book: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory from 1971 and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory from 2005. Because of the story, real Wonka Bars were made and sold by the Willy Wonka Candy Company, which was part of Nestlé.

Records

Oldest extant

Some of the oldest chocolate bars that still exist are two pieces of white and dark chocolate made between 1764 and 1795 for the king of Poland, Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski. These bars were possibly made by a royal cook in Warsaw and are now shown at his summer home, the Palace on the Water, in Warsaw.

World's largest

The biggest chocolate bar ever made was created as a fun event by Thorntons plc in the UK on October 7, 2011. It weighed 5,792.50 kg (12,770.3 lb) and was 4 meters by 4 meters by 0.35 meters.

Later, on January 16, 2020, Mars Inc. earned a record for the largest chocolate nut bar from the Guinness World Record. They made a huge Snickers bar that was 12 feet by 27.5 inches by 27.5 inches and weighed 4,728 lbs — enough to equal 41,000 small Snickers bars.

Just two weeks later, on January 31, 2020, the Hershey Company broke that record with an even bigger chocolate nut bar, a giant Reese's Take 5 Bar. This bar measured 9 by 5.5 by 2 feet and weighed 5,943 lbs. The Take 5 bar is named for its five ingredients: Reese's peanut butter, peanuts, pretzels, caramel, and chocolate.