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It shouldn't be a big deal, really. I mean chocolate is not essential for life or happiness. My kid would be just fine without it. I, on the other hand have been really bummed and borderline obsessed with losing our cocoa source to the peanut production lines. I've written Ghirardelli and voiced my complaint to someone who could care less. I've asked Vermont Nut Free and Divvies if they'd be willing to sell a few pounds. I even found myself Googling "how to make your own cocoa powder." I have cocoa mulch in my garden, maybe I could find a nice cocoa farmer willing to spare some beans. Anyway, thankfully, I found an easier source. Apparently, silly old Nestle makes a cocoa powder that suits our needs. Now I'll have to find another thing to obsess about...which should not be hard.
Addendum! The Super-Sweet Queen Bee of Divvies, Lori Sandler, heard of my plight and called today to give some cocoa advice ( and other baking advice and general cheerleading!) and it seems I'm on the right track with Nestle and Hershey's here...but Divvies is working on packaging to sell the cocoa from their bakery! I'd be more than happy to support them any day!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Can you spare some cocoa brother?
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10 comments:
I think it's really crappy how nuts are in all the chocolate. My personal favorite cocoa powder is Askinosie cocoa, in Springfield, MO. It's a pretty artisan cocoa company and the product is amazing. Being that it's a small, civic minded company, they might have uncontaminated cocoa. I also can tell you they sell it in kilos if you want it.
http://www.askinosie.com/
Not sure if this is nut-free, but it sounds interesting. WORLD WIDE CHOCOLATE!
Found it via this...
Nourishing Gourmet
to this...
Elana's Pantry
mmmmm.... chocolate...
I have never written to Hershey, but there is nothing on the labeling that indicates a possible cross contamination. I have used it without any problems.
I finally got my tag up - thanks!!
A
I think you may be right about Hershey's, their allergen statement seemed a bit vague to me, I don't always trust a "no declaration" to mean 'No allergens"...I sometimes think it means "we haven't got around to changing our packaging." It's funny that I checked out Ghirardhelli, Dagoba, Sunspire, SharffenBerger, Green and Black, Ahlaska, Rapunzel and Wonderslim, only to come back to Nestle and Hersheys. My guess is that those two companies make so dang much cocoa powder, that their entire production line is devoted to cocoa (which should always be free of dairy, wheat, soy, eggs, nuts, peanuts and other allergens). But I may be able to convince Divvies to start selling their cocoa to the home baker...I'd rather pay a little extra and support them anyday!
I just want to write a big THANK YOU for posting and sharing what you have learned and know. As a mother of a milk protein intolerant and soy allergy baby...and not sure what else until Friday's visit to the allergist, I need all the help I can get. And, I am a chocolate fanatic...so is my 2 year old. So, cutting it from our diet to be fair to "baby brother" doesn't seem fair to us. ha! I look forward to trying some of the recipes I have found perusing your blog. Thanks again!!
It stinks when you lose the use of such an easily aquired ingredient.
I finally got around to going to Gordon's for some Rich Whip. It's defrosting in the fridge right now. The ingredients drive me nuts but if it tastes good I'm willing to make the nutritional sacrfice once in a while. Have you ever refrozen the leftover unwhipped stuff?
I also got around to posting my meme entry. Thanks for the tag!
Boy, you've got some real challenges with those allergies. My wife has a number of them as well, though not as severe. Your cake looks great. For cocoa, you might try (if you don't mind Dutch process) Droste. It's imported from Holland and is Kosher - so it's most likely processed without anything else to potentially contaminate it (you may want to check it out further) not to mention that it's great cocoa for baking.
I live in a very Dutch part of Michigan, so Droste is on the shelves of every grocery store and I've been eyeing it....maybe I'll give them a call. Sorry for calling you 'Mama", I shouldn't assume!!! You're a proud PAPA!
Also Hershey's makes an allergy-friendly cocoa. Call them first, but they seem okay.
But I agree - it's tough to find a really, really good cocoa. Or nut-free chocolate, for that matter. Right here in Somerville, MA, there is a stoneground chocolate company that makes absolutely splendid nut/dairy/peanut-free chocolate...and they just added an almond variety.
Sigh.
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