Valentine's Day Newsletter

In this issue we are pleased to feature the Chocolate Royale Truffle Cake Family, which includes the Chocolate Royale Truffle Cake - a decadent flourless dark chocolate truffle cake, the Espresso Chocolate Royale Truffle Cake - dark chocolate and espresso truffle cake and the Chocolate Duet Royale Truffle Cake, a duet of dark and white chocolate in a decadent truffle cake.

Once we fretted whether CoffeeCakes.com could become a popular source for Valentine's gifts - after all we are not Tiffany's or even Godiva. We are finding, however, that our products are popular Valentine's Day gifts and we hope you enjoy our selection. Please note that the newsletter coupon is updated. Please use your newsletter coupon to save on all CoffeeCakes.com purchases.

DID YOU KNOW? - CHOCOLATE IN LOVE AND WAR

According to an ancient Mayan legend chocolate came from Paradise. The god Quetzalcoatl came to Earth on a beam of the Morning Star with a cacao tree and taught the people how to make the beans into a drink thought to bring wisdom and knowledge to those who consumed it. Thus it began - the fascinating journey of chocolate in love and war. "What use are cartridges in battle?" asked George Bernard Shaw (1894), "I always carry chocolate instead." Most soldiers, however, carried both. British troops stationed in South Africa during the Boor War received specially molded chocolate bars from Queen Victoria. M&Ms had their start with the U.S. military in 1940 and American soldiers in WW II carried a Ration D bar (pictured below) of concentrated chocolate. American troops and Desert Storm troops carried specially designed Hershey bars able to withstand temperatures of 140 degrees F.

American Soldiers in WW II Carried Hershey's Ration D Bar

Legend says chocolate is a powerful love potion and history is full of stories about people who put chocolate's reputation to the test: Montezuma, Casanova, Marquis de Sade to name a few. St. Valentine's day continues the tradition of sending chocolates to the one you love - the idea being that the candy's mysterious properties will seduce your beloved's heart and cause him or her to return your feelings.

Ingredients:
2 10-ounce packages of frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons arrowroot
3 tablespoons Chambord or other raspberry liquor

Directions: Defrost the raspberries in a strainer over a medium saucepan, reserving all the juice. Stir the arrowroot into the juice and heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the raspberries and Chambord. Refrigerate to chill. Serve with any of the Chocolate Royale Truffle Cakes

SOURCES
The Chocolate Source: http://www.chocolatesource.com/trivia/index.asp
Corriher, Shirley O. CookWise; the Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking. (NY, Morrow, 1997)
The Field Museum - All About Chocolate: http://www.fmnh.org/Chocolate/index.html
Food for fighting: http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0770006.html