While chocolate cake may always be a crowd pleaser at dinner parties or other celebrations, it can also feel like a cop-out to a creative host or hostess. If you’re tired of presenting the same old chocolate cakes, puddings, or ice creams to your guests for dessert, try these suggestions for some unexpected chocolate dessert recipes. Don’t be afraid to be adventurous. Dessert is all about having fun!

Revamp Other Dessert Recipes with Chocolate

An easy way to make a fun, new dessert is to incorporate chocolate into other familiar dessert recipes. Try putting dark chocolate chips and walnuts into a berry cobbler, or spruce up after dinner coffee with some chocolate liqueur then top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. If you’re going light, add some extra life to an angel food cake with some natural unsweetened cocoa powder and serve with fresh raspberries on top.

Leave the Chocolate to The Whim Guests

A really simple chocolate dessert recipe is chocolate fondue. Let your guests go to town dipping an assortment of fruits, cakes, cookies, and nuts into a nice fondue. Spread out a few different fondue pots and play with flavors. Try a spicy chocolate fondue by adding just a touch of chili powder, or some peanut butter for a heavenly treat. Don’t limit your dippings to fruit. Cut up an assortment of bite-sized bits of cakes, brownies, candies, marshmallows, even cheesecakes.

Spicing Up Some Favorites

If you do like the idea of a cake, but want to get away from traditional recipes, spice things up a little with a modern chocolate cake dessert recipe. Add some fruit or berries to the bottom of your bake pan and create a chocolate-upside-down cake with a nice coffee or caramel glaze. Create a layered chocolate cake, alternating layers of caramel sauce and homemade whipped peanut butter topping, served with vanilla ice cream.

Frozen Chocolate Dessert Recipes

Plan ahead and whip up a frozen chocolate dessert recipe. Try a banana split with frozen chocolate covered bananas. If you have an ice cream maker, try a nice chocolate and fruit sorbet. If you’re a fan of Smores, don’t worry about the fire, try a frozen version instead. Spread some melted chocolate and marshmallow cream between two graham crackers, wrap each smore in foil, and stick in the freezer. This is an easy chocolate dessert recipe that is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

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Guide - Make your own chocolates. It’s easy to make many chocolate delights yourself, with the exact ingredients you want.

The history of chocolate is a intricate one spanning back to the days of the Aztec. They associated chocolate with their goddess of fertility Xochiquetzal. It was consumed as a drink called xocoatl, which was often seasoned with vanilla, chili pepper, and pimento. It was believed that this drink combated fatigue, a belief believed to be attributed to the theobromine content that is found in chocolate. Chocolate was considered a luxury though out Mesoamerica, so much so that the cacao beans were often used as currency. The taste itself, at this time, had to be acquired. It bore no resemblance to the chocolate we know and love today. Jose de Acosta, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in Peru and then Mexico in the later 16th century, wrote:

Guide - The Swiss eat the most chocolate. The average person eats 19lbs a year.

“Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant to taste. Yet it is a drink very much esteemed among the Indians, where with they feast noble men who pass through their country. The Spaniards, both men and women, that are accustomed to the country, are very greedy of this Chocolate. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot, some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that “chili” yea, they make paste thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh.”

Guide - When you begin eating chocolate, make sure you do it one bite at a time. This is important.

The first hints of chocolate were never known in the “old world” of Europe until when Christopher Columbus returned from his trip. He brought with him a few of the cacao beans to present to the king and queen of Spain. They were not met with much excitement because well, they were just beans.

It was not until around 1519 when the Spaniards and Cortez were first introduce to the drink xocoatl that any true use was found for chocolate beans. The drink itself was very bitter in nature, so the Spaniards had the idea to add sugar-cane to sweeten it. They brought this back to their country, where it underwent many changes, and was eventually received quite well.

Guide - Tassimo from Braun is also one of the better-known appliances available. In addition to many kinds of coffee, this machine can make excellent Suchard Hot Chocolate drink.

Over time the chocolate making process went from small shops where it was made by hand to bigger mass production. With the advent of the steam engine, the process of making chocolate was improved drastically. Because of this, in around 1730, prices soon dropped to within the reach of everyone, and was not limited to the wealthy anymore. The invention of the cocoa press in 1828 brought prices down even further, while improving the quality of the drink.

Guide - In genearl, the shelf life for chocolate is a year. Chocolate that is refrigerated may not melt as readily.

Two big advancements in chocolate came in the 19th century. In 1847 an English company introduced the first solid eating chocolate. This was made possible through the development of fondant chocolate, a smooth and velvety variety that has almost completely replaced the old coarse grained chocolate which formerly dominated the world market. The second advancement was in 1876 in Vevey, Switzerland, when Daniel Peter devised a way of adding milk to the chocolate, creating the product we enjoy today known as milk chocolate.

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Are you an old pro when it comes to making delicious desserts? Do your guests rave about your cakes and pies? The next time you have company over for dessert, why not try something different. …

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