Non Melting Chocolate!

Hersheys used to make (perhaps they still do) Tropical Chocolate. Dk. choc. reputably mixed w/ parrafin ( no, Brits, Aussies and Kiwis—not kerosene, but edible wax). It didn’t melt but was not particularly tasty. Invented during WW2, billions of these bricks were shipped off to the troops in all theatres. Used to see them in REI stores.

I haven’t tried the new Dessert chocolate… but it sounds like it isn’t that much different (taste and texture) from that the original Hershey’s Tropical Bar. I haven’t seen the tropical bars for years, but I remember using them in the 70s (and maybe early 80s). They were vaguely chocolate tasting and had an odd, somewhat waxy texture. I find Cliff bars significantly more tasty. Also keep in mind that really dark chocolate, say 77% or better can survive common summer temps if you keep it in the shade. I haven’t measure what temp it starts melting at… but it is significantly higher than milk chocolate.

For a bit of history, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_chocolate

Here in the UK, some school pupils won an award for inventing non melting chocolate after they heard that British Troops in Iraq were really missing chocolate. I’ve included the link below for the news article on the BBC website.

It seems that they achieved it by adding glycerine. Apparently numerous taste tests were conducted at the school etc and they came up with something that the rest of the pupils liked.

I reckon if the pupils liked it, it must taste okay. It looks like they are hoping to manufacture it in some way and apparently the British Ministry of Defence were interested in the idea.

Anyway, this might be the answer to your problem!!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_east/3513705.stm

My understanding is that good chocolate is made so that at human body temperature it melts–in your mouth. The commercial solution to the problem of messy chocolates at hot environmental temperatures came about with the advent of M&Ms in the 1930s. Mr. Mars visited Spain during their civil war and saw a homemade version of chocolate pieces coated in hard, sugary candy. The purpose of the coating was to prevent the chocolate from melting in the hot Spanish sun. Mr. Mars’s commercial version–M&Ms–were, like Esbit tablets, proven under harsh field conditions to be one of the highly successful technological innovations of WWII. I don’t know why one would be motivated to degrade chocolate by adding wax or paraffin in an attempt to solve a problem solved more than a half century ago.

Oh, if only they would make M&M’s in dark chocolate!…

Hershey now sells their Kissables, a milk chocolate mini kiss covered in a colored candy coating. I haven’t seen these, but I’m guessing they function like a conical M&M. A motivated person might take dark chocolate chips–or rectangles of dark chocolate–and apply a hard layer of sugar coating like the Spaniards who inspired Mr. Mars were doing. I’m not enough of a cook to know how to do this. Make a high concentration sugar solution on the stove top and immerse pieces of chocolate on a strainer into it briefly?

M&M’s do come in dark chocolate. I bought a bag the other day at the local Bartell’s drug store. Nag your local retailer to stock them. They’re good and very packable.

Lindt and Cote D’or both make an 80% Cocoa bar that doesn’t seem to melt at all. I’ve had really good luck with these types of bars. Then again I am also addicted to dark chocolate and would rather have that than milk chocolate.

Laurie – check out Dagoba, it’s an organic chocolate company that makes a bar called the Eclipse. 87% and 170 cal/oz. It’s good, and you’re right – darker the better in terms of heat resistance.

The Eclipse, for you dark choco connoisseurs out there, is a reeeally good bar. There are some that are as dark or darker, but this is about as dark as you can go without getting overly bitter. The Eclipse is a lot smoother than many darks in the 70s.

The downside is that it’s about a buck and a half an ounce, and my backcountry diet “requires” about 6 oz/day of chocolate…

They also make the 100% Prima Materia but it’s…an acquired taste. I do like it better now than I did six months ago.

thanks for the info – I’ll try and see if I can find that up here

as I always say “save the earth – it’s the only planet with chocolate”

i’ve also discovered a “fair trade” line of chocolate called Camino – their hot chocolate is to die for