Hershey’s Tropical Chocolate Bar, Part Trois Chocolat, The Monster Lives!©

 

 

For More on Tropical Chocolate Bars click HERE for “Hershey’s Tropical Chocolate Bar, Part Deux, It’s Alive, Bwahahaa!©” and HERE for “Hershey’s Tropical Chocolate Bar, Part Deux, The Taste Test!©”

Author’s note -- I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource!  To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.  Thank you and Happy Trails!

 

The cocoa butter finally came in, so I tried to mix the ever elusive Tropical Chocolate Bar.  It wasn’t a total failure, but it certainly wasn’t the success I hoped for.  

But I believe I know where I went wrong.  It wasn’t as dry as my first attempt, it could be molded, but it still wasn’t the wonderful chocolate bar I remembered from the 1970’s.  It did make a great cake of ready to drink hot chocolate, just add water, though.  It had a café mocha flavor and was quite good.

 

Oh well, I believe that where I went wrong was in the conversion of parts to grams to teaspoons (tsp), I screwed up the math, so back to the drawing board. 

 

Now, it is time for the final mixing and then the torture test...I mean the temperature test...bwahaha!

 

The laboratory is now set up, so let’s make a Tropical Chocolate Bar, bwahahaha!

 

·       8 squares (60 grams) of Bakers Unsweetened Baking Chocolate

·       6 tablespoons (46 grams) of powdered sugar

·       1 tablespoon (18 grams) of nonfat dry milk powder

·       1 teaspoon (8 grams) of cocoa butter (8 grams)

·       a smidgen, no more than ¹/₃₂ teaspoon (less than ½ gram) of ethyl vanilla

 

To melt the Bakers Unsweetened Baking Chocolate, use either a microwave or a double-boiler on a stove.

Microwave the chocolate in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until the chocolate is mostly melted and only a few tiny pieces remain, about 1 1/2 minutes in total.

 

I used a double boiler for this test and found that it allowed me to keep the chocolate warm long enough to mix the dry ingredients thoroughly.

 

Mix in the remaining ingredients until it is a fudge like consistency and comes cleanly off the bottom of the pan and then press the chocolate into a mold with a rubber spatula or an icing spatula .  If the mix appears to be too liquid, add another ½ teaspoon of nonfat dry milk powder.

 

Let cool, remove from the mold and enjoy.  The mold I used made three bars, so each bar weighs 1.3 ounces (38 grams).

 

Now, to find out if the chocolate bar will survive an hour at 120^o F (49^o C).  To do this I used an Elite Gourmet food dehydrator, and a candy thermometer.

 

After an hour at 120^o F (49^o C), the chocolate bar must survive a dent test with a dropped ball bearing, to be a true Tropical Chocolate Bar.  I dropped a one ounce (28 gram) ball bearing from 4 inches (10 cm) and the chocolate bar barely dented, although it was sticky and soft.

 

I had two chocolate lovers try it and they both asked for more, enjoying both the taste and the mouth feel.  So, it’s alive!  Bwahaha!

 

I originally scanted the ingredients by rounding down the number of teaspoons of powdered sugar and nonfat dry milk powder, so the next time I make this recipe, I plan on adding ¾ of teaspoon (4 grams) more of nonfat dry milk powder to see if it withstands the temperature test even better than this batch, since there is some room to spare in the recipe¹.  Good luck and I hope you enjoy the chocolate!

 

I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource!  To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.  Thank you and Happy Trails!

 

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That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!