"chocoholic" news and stories

Do you know anyone who is a chocoholic? Do they long to be cured of this disease? I say this is blasphemy, but some Italian researchers think they've found a cure for all those chocoholics out there.

The researchers set up lab tests that supposedly demonstrated how rats became chemically addicted to chocolate. I'm not sure, but they somehow hit upon trying a "anti obesity" drug called rimonabant. The drug reduced the craving in the rats dramatically. One of the researchers "suggested pills that act on the nerve receptor targeted by rimonabant might cut out chocolate cravings altogether."

The diet drug isn't available in the US, but in Europe it is for use only in conjunction with diet and exercise. I don't know if it will ever be approved for use in combating chocoholism, but I personally hope that will never happen.

Willy Volk at our sister site Gadling has some great ideas for what to do on Valentine's Day, especially if you are a chocolate lover. He has made a list of places that are featuring chocolate tours in various locations around the world, so if you happen to be anywhere near one of them, I highly recommend checking it out. One example:

London's Chocolate Ecstasy Tours offers 4-hour long tours (guided by a Chocolate Ecstasy Chocoholic Guide), through London's side streets and alleys. Participants sample chocolates, enjoy chocoholic chats, take a lavish hot chocolate break, enjoy special prices on the ultimate chocolate luxuries, and receive a goody bag!

If you don't find yourself in Boston, Australia, London, or any of the places he has named, phone around to your local Chocolatier and see if they are offering any special tours or events on Valentine's Day.

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Fans of Scharffen Berger Chocolates will appreciate this cookbook by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg, the founders of the company. Working with food writer Susie Heller, the pair put together the Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate, a cookbook that is devoted to chocolate for those who really appreciate it. Even though Scharffen Berger is now owned by Hershey's, the chocolates are still produced to their original, gourmet specifications and these recipes reflect that attention to detail. The more than 100 recipes are arranged according to their cacao content and, unlike more generic recipes that just call for "milk" or "dark" chocolate, these are specifically tweaked to work best with the individual chocolates called for. This strategy is a good way to sell more chocolate and a bit of a PITA if you aren't really a chocolate connoisseur, but if you already buy your chocolates this way (and many of us do), this cookbook should give you much better than average results and the recipes will require no tweaking. Recipes include White Velvet Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache, Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes, Chocolate Ginger Pots de Crème and even a couple of savory recipes that primarily use cocoa powder, like Chile Marinated Flank Steak and Vegetarian Chili.

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I should really have warned any chocoholics to avert their eyes before reading this post because this ultra-rich chocolate truffle layer cake, photographed by Lori of Dessert Comes First, is one of the most tempting chocolate desserts in the blogosphere. The cake is from a bakery in Manila called "In Love With Sweets" and they have garnered themselves many fans with this cake. A bestseller, the cake is dense and very, very rich. It has four layers of cake and a very thick, truffle-like fudge frosting that melts into your mouth. The whole thing is topped with a chocolate truffle, but if you have a chance to indulge in this cake, you might want to eat the truffle first, because you won't have room for it if you've able to finish off a whole slice of cake.

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