This is understandable given that although they will not suffer an anaphylactic shock like a peanut allergy sufferer might, they will end up feeling unwell and trying to work out which food caused the problem.

Wheat allergies are extremely common.

In fact wheat is the eight most common allergy inducing food. To avoid wheat you need to become expert at reading labels at least to begin with.

Once you’ve learned what foods contain wheat and which don’t, things get a lot easier. Many food manufacturers now produce labels with good information on whether products contain flour, eggs, dairy products or are suitable for vegans and vegetarians.

However mistakes can be made and some products are even recalled because despite their labeling saying they are wheat free they are found to have what is described as undisclosed wheat or wheat contamination.

When you consider how many foods such as cakes and cookies contain flour and therefore wheat it can make for a rather boring diet so it is important to find wheat free alternatives and what could be more important than chocolate.

You might think that chocolate doesn’t contain wheat but although wheat flour is not an ingredient in chocolate products made using wheat or derivatives of wheat are sometimes used. And if that isn’t enough, if the chocolate itself doesn’t contain wheat any filling inside the bar is very likely to.

So to be safe you need to find proper wheat free chocolate products.

Companies such as the Stamp Collection, Plamil Foods and Booja Booja all make wheat free chocolate products. To find them go to health food shops and some bigger well stocked supermarkets or look online.

If you know someone with a wheat allergy it can be nice to get them a product from one of these companies at Christmas or at that chocolate obsessed holiday Easter.

You could go even further and search for a wheat free chocolate cake or brownies recipes, there are lots on line and they taste just as delicious as any with wheat.

Wheat Free Chocolate is Still on the Menu for Those With a Wheat Allergy is a post from: Chocolate Magazine

We did locate a dairy free version that tastes like milk chocolate (Moo Free) but even they don’t claim the label “milk chocolate” – still a handy one to know about.

Milk chocolate has a sweeter taste and smoother texture than dark chocolate, making it particularly popular with children.

It is made by mixing cocoa mass with sugar and thick condensed milk. On an industrial scale, this is dried in vacuum ovens to produce milk chocolate “crumb”. That is then ground and then mixed with more cocoa butter and flavourings.

The precise level of cocoa butter added at this stage is dependent on the thickness of chocolate required. Chocolate for bars is nice and thick so that it holds its brick shape without crumbling in the packet. If the chocolate is for bars containing alternative fillings (caramel, nuts, Turkish delight and so on), it will be made more thinly.

Here in the United Kingdom, it is normal for milk chocolate to also contain up to 5% vegetable fat. Other countries look disapprovingly at this addition, but for most people, it results in what we would regard as everyday chocolate – the kind most people would eat on any given day.

The milk chocolate is conched and kneaded until the texture is smooth. It is then ready to be made into bars (moulded chocolate) or in combination with other confectionery.

Our household name chocolate makers have their secret recipes, as do the boutique chocolatiers – we are fans across the range and never knowingly turn down an offer of milk chocolate.

Milk Chocolate is a post from: Chocolate Magazine

Getting Started in Making Your Own Chocolate is a post from: Chocolate Magazine

chocolate fudge brownie goop ready for the oven

Chocolate Fudge Brownies? GO ON! You know you want to try making this extra special treat.

Nothing tastes as good as brownies made at home.

We will not warn you about the high levels of sugar in this one because we know you will treat these as part of a balanced diet, right?

Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup margarine
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 2 tsp vanilla or 5 drops vanilla essence
• sprinkling icing sugar
• 1/2 cup of crushed nuts (check all the kids are ok with this)
• 3/4 cup cocoa

Here’s How To Make It:

Chocolate Fudge Brownie Recipe is a post from: Chocolate Magazine

There are two types of hot chocolate machines in general use:

• vending machines
• home kitchen equipment (such as the Tassimo).

In your own home you have the luxury of space and more equipment than the first men on the moon, so making a hot chocolate is easy right?

It depends how you do it.

The simplest way is to simply boil a kettle and use powdered hot chocolate. These can be pretty good, but you tend to get high levels of sugar and not everybody appreciates the taste of powdered milk. The best home hot chocolate comes from the capsules such as you find for the Nespresso machines.

The Joys Of Vending Machine Hot Chocolate

Vending machines can produce awesome hot chocolate. It isn’t so much that the drink is of the very highest quality, it’s more the location and timing.

The best hot chocolate I had last year was from the vending machine at the end of the second period while attending a local ice hockey match. We were all c0ld and miserable and the mood of the whole group picked up as we took turns to pull our hot plastic cups from the dispenser and sipped on our steaming hot chocolates (I think they were Suchard or Cadbury).

So yes, instant hot chocolate has its place and from my observations vending machines offering these hot sticky concoctions are more popular than the water bottle vending machines. More and more kids carry bottles of water routinely, but at the ice hockey I was faced with a bunch of teen girls looking to me for coins for the chocolate. You don’t expect much gratitude from a teen for anything, but hot chocolate speaks to them in a way I no longer can.

Such machines are more common in the office place now. The days of a kettle and instant coffee are long behind us as more and more businesses appreciate that staff enjoy a few gentle perks. A half-decent espresso or a gourmet hot chocolate can boost your day and make that difficult staff meeting a little bit more bearable. Some offices provide these machines for free (watch your waistline) – they also do not pay extra overtime, so it’s good value for the employer and a little easier for the staff to work an extra half hour at the end of the official day.

The cost to businesses is relatively low compared to the benefit of increased morale. If your company pushes the boat out and uses proper cups this can make the hot chocolate seem to taste even better.

Supplies for vending machines are good value and cheaper than the equivalent for machines in the home kitchen.

If you have ever visited a Belgian cafe and had a cup of true hot chocolate you will be cursed with regret every time you drink anything less (which is everything else), but for the rest of us, hot chocolate machines dispensing a heart-warming cup of joy are a cheap and quick tonic.

Hot Chocolate Machines Are All The Rage is a post from: Chocolate Magazine

Well you are not the only one.

courtesy: Flickr

Chocolate fountains are all the rage right now for parties up and down the country and with good reason. While you might think the rental price is high, it covers a lot of things you don’t want to do yourself (we’ll touch on that later) and you may well create a party experience that your guests will be talking about for years. We think that makes it worth the money.

Are Chocolate Fountains Just For Kids?

Absolutely not, but that’s not  a bad place to start. Most kids place chocolate on a par with Christmas in terms of pleasure.

Just try standing a child in front of a fully flowing chocolate fountain with a marshmallow or a piece of fruit on the end of a skewer and see what reaction you get. If you cannot remember the last time one of your kids expressed gratitude, this will be the time.

And for your child’s friends, a chocolate fountain is still rare enough that their eyes will be popping out on stalks.

Try not to overfill your chocolate fountain

The impression that chocolate fountains give is of a flowing river of chocolate, a bit like the one in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Willy Wonka’s river suggests endless chocolate – a strong and redolent fantasy image.

While there more than enough for every child at the party, kids tend not to eat until they are ill and the attendants are very experienced in spotting when kids have had enough.

For adults it works in surprisingly similar way. Even sober, adults tend to revert when encountering melted Belgian fondue face-to-face.

Here are some adult events that benefit from a chocolate fountain:

• weddings
• anniversaries
• birthdays
• graduation day
• corporate hosting
• special company days
• office parties

What’s in a Chocolate Fountain?

Chocolate fountains are a bit like water sculptures. To create the illusion of endless chocolate, the liquid is continually transported to the top of the fountain and allowed to flow down. A hidden heater keeps the temperature and viscosity tightly controlled.

Cheaper fountains use a pump to transport the chocolate mix up the middle of the fountain, but these are quite noisy. The ease of manufacture of this style make these the type you would see if you bought your own.

The better fountains, including those you rent, use an augur to transfer the chocolate up. This is based on the Archimedes Screw (there’s a line for the Christmas party) and ensures a lovely gentle flow. It is also much easier to clean an augur than the thin plastic tubing used in pump-based fountains.

The recipes for a chocolate fountain are not particularly secret – they are a blend of the chocolate of choice and a thinning agent, usually milk-based. You choose the chocolate based on your budget and your target audience.

Cheaper chocolate actually works very well in fountains, but you might want to lay on gourmet Belgian for your special guests.

I have heard of white chocolate being used at a wedding, but that tends not to stay white for long.

The more expensive chocolates need more care and attention to operate with and that’s when you get most benefit from having an experienced professional attendant.  The best attendants will give tasting tips.

Getting Interactive With Your Chocolate Fountain

The fountain is just something pretty to look at until you arm your guests. The weapon of choice is skewers. Metal sewers are preferred rather than wooden skewers as it avoids the risk of wooden splinters entering the mix.

You need to lay on an array of food objects to dunk and cover in chocolate and here, the sky is the limit. Anything goes. I have even see some kids stick a favourite confectionery in there just to see how chocolatey a mess they can conjure up.

For adults, pieces of hard fruit such as apple are perfect, but you can also use marshmallows and even bread balls.

Chocolate Fountain Hire

So what do you get if you hire a chocolate fountain?

Someone else does the washing up (courtesy:Flickr)

Short answer: someone else does the washing up.

For most people, there’s no real need to read more detail – you can imagine how long it takes to clear the aftermath of a a fountain after a party. But that is what you are paying for: the chance to enjoy your own party and to spend time mingling with your guests.

Unless you are a real cocoa foodie, you will find that the attendant will gradually disperse all sorts of interesting facts about chocolate and suggest interesting things to dip in the fountain.

Could I Not Just Buy a Chocolate Fountain?

You can certainly buy a chocolate fountain, but if you buy cheap you will end up with a toy that is likely never to be used a second time after you go through the grueling ordeal of getting it squeaky clean afterwards.

The difference between the most modest commercial chocolate fountain and the typical fountains available to buy at your edge-of-town shopping complex is a large one.

If you are going to have a fountain, we recommend you go all-in and rent a fountain and a trained attendant. You won’t regret it.

So Where Can I Hire The Chocolate Fountain Of My Fantasies?

There are lots of places you can rent a chocolate fountain locally. We don’t have room here to cover all areas, but a check of your  local listings should reveal two or three places to get quotes from. Try to be as specific as you can early on to get the most accurate quotations.

Chocolate Fountains are The Magic Ice Breaker

As an ice-breaker, few things succeed more than a chocolate fountain. I have seen the most shy child (or office colleague) come alive with joy when getting covered with runny fountain chocolate. We thoroughly recommend you try a chocolate fountain the very next chance you get.

Chocolate Fountain – If You Hire One You Don’t Have To Wash Up is a post from: Chocolate Magazine

A comprehensive round-up for you. Whether you’re in the market for top-end, bottom-end or middle-of-the-road, we have something for you.If you want information, tips or  just advice, you’ll find it here.

A Very Warm Welcome! is a post from: Chocolate Magazine