What's the Difference Between Today's Hot Cocoa and Warmed Drinking Chocolate? Sunshine Dairy Breaks It Down For You

    PORTLAND, OR, December 23, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- It's easily the most asked question for staff when they tell people about their new Moonstruck Drinking Chocolate by Sunshine Dairy. They hear it over and over: "Isn't this just chocolate milk?"

Until people taste it.

As soon as they try the new drinking chocolate, hot or cold, the question usually answers itself. Its richness and pure chocolate intensity are keys, but why is this taste treat so different from what we've come to know as hot cocoa? The answer lies in going back century or more to what hot cocoa was in its original form.

Before the 1920s, chocolate was usually only enjoyed as a hot drink. Thomas Jefferson predicted that drinking chocolate would someday eclipse tea and coffee in popularity, and doctors touted its medical benefits. Drinking chocolate restored healthy weight gain for patients recovering from tuberculosis, while also stimulating the nervous system. It acted as a calming agent for soldiers fresh from battle. It was billed as a digestion enhancer, and was used to bind to medicines to make them more palatable to patients.

Today's hot cocoas are made from cocoa powder, milk powder, sugar and water. Mass production of cocoa powder made it possible to extract the cocoa butter from the powder, but also took away some flavor, too. Traditional methods of hot drinking chocolate used chocolate liquid or scraped chocolate instead of cocoa powder, and produced a much more intense chocolate flavor and aroma. It also possessed a thicker mouth feel, similar to the difference between skim milk and whole milk, and had been enjoyed this way for thousands of years.

Sunshine Dairy and Moonstruck's collaborative drinking chocolate is a return to what our great grandparents knew. The two companies use real cream and chocolate ganache extracted from cocoa liquor. This ganache, such as the ganache (smooth melted chocolate and heavy cream) used in Moonstruck's famous truffles, is then mixed with cold whole milk. Sound rich? Yes it is. Sound expensive? Not really--a pint is about $3.49 at local stores, and suggested retail for a quart is $6.99.

Master Chocolatier Julian Rose at Moonstruck Chocolate Co. and Sunshine Dairy spent months conceiving the drinking chocolate recipe, which hit shelves less than two months ago. Taste test after taste test, the drinking chocolate had to hold up to what Pacific Northwesterners have come to expect from both brands, and what the two entities see as a taste us Portlanders will truly love.

Here's a new healthful twist that early chocolate drinkers didn't know; drinking chocolate has benefits for post workouts, more than just milk itself because of the beneficial ratio of carbohydrates to protein for muscle recovery and rebuilding. With the ideal ratio of 4 grams of carbohydrates to 1 gram of protein, milk alone may not be enough carbs or calories for recovery. Drinking chocolate creates spikes in insulin (in this case, these are good for you) that help transport sugar into the muscle, where it becomes glycogen which stimulates muscle protein repair and growth.

Drinking chocolate may even be more effective than supplements because the ingredients in protein powders are often extracted from ingredients that are already found naturally in dairy products. Chocolate milk is a healthy, natural and inexpensive way to promote recovery following a workout.

Calcium in drinking chocolate? You bet. According to an Eat This, Not That article, researchers in Nebraska estimated that consuming 1,000 mg more calcium per day can translate to losing nearly 18 pounds of fat over a year. Since dairy foods offer the most readily absorbable calcium you can find, drinking chocolate helps you reach that crucial 1,000 mg threshold per day.

Drinking chocolate is also a versatile ingredient in baking. This Chocolate Peppermint Cake is one of many recipes available on Sunshine Dairy's website.

Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup Sunshine Dairy drinking chocolate
- 1/2 cup Sunshine Dairy sour cream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, plus more for pan
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Frosting:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp milk
- 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1/2 cup crushed candy canes

Directions:
Make the cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a Bundt pan with butter. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Mix drinking chocolate and sour cream in a small bowl. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla. Slowly add flour mixture, alternating with milk mixture. Spoon batter into pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack.

Invert cake.

Make the frosting: Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Slowly add powdered sugar, alternately with milk. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in peppermint extract. Frost the cooled cake and sprinkle the top with crushed candy canes.

At Sunshine, local flavor reigns. We, and the products we craft are tied to where we live:a place defined by rich surroundings, memorable people and an independent spirit. Where excellence leads the way and fresh thinking comes with the territory. Where good tastes thrive, thanks to a happy mix of conditions, climate and commitment to quality. It's in this remarkable setting that Sunshine is able to create our signature products - with local flavor that delights the tongue and speaks to the heart. It's the essence of what makes life here so good. Our customers choose us because they can taste the difference our commitment makes. From our people, processes and local partners to the climate that always keeps us guessing, Sunshine really does taste better here.

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