Indulgent ConfectionsIndulgent Confections

Indulgent Confections
February 2000 -- Design Elements

By: Paula Frank
Technical Editor

  Everyone looks forward to February for that exquisite box of gourmet chocolates we all hope to receive on Valentine's Day. And throughout the rest of the year, the general population continues to consume decadent, rich confections at an ever-increasing rate. According to the National Confectioners Association and the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, the annual per capita consumption of chocolates is 11.7 lbs. (which for some of us chocoholics might sound more like our weekly quota).Decadent beginnings  The perception of decadence often begins with a confection's packaging, pricing and brand name. This perception is then confirmed by an indulgent treat that literally melts in your mouth. But higher prices don't necessarily mean higher quality. Dollar for dollar, some of the best chocolates in the world for the value come from the well-known boxed-chocolate manufacturers in this country, according to Robert Boutin, executive vice president of Knechtel Laboratories, a division of Knechtel Research Sciences Inc. in Skokie, IL. "They are retailing for less than 50% of the price of some of the more gourmet products, and they have maybe 95% or 97% of the quality," he says.  How can product designers deliver a gourmet treat without the gourmet cost? Since most high-end confections contain chocolate, this is the best place to start. "A lot of the trick is to get something that tastes good and looks good, but also tastes good with some stability," says Randy Hofberger, technical manager of Peter's Chocolate Company in Burlington, WI. He considers the complex chocolate-manufacturing process to be both a science and, to a large degree, an art.  To make chocolate, cocoa beans are roasted, the shells are removed, and the center of the bean, or the nib, is ground. The nibs, which contain approximately 53% fat in the form of cocoa butter, liquefy during grinding to form the cocoa mass. About a third of this becomes chocolate liquor, also known as unsweetened bakers chocolate when cooled and solidified. The cocoa mass is put through presses, where part of the cocoa butter is squeezed out, forming what is referred to as a cocoa cake. Reserved cocoa butter is used for viscosity reduction in chocolate manufacturing, and pulverized cocoa cake forms cocoa powder. The liquor is further processed into chocolate, and various ingredients are added depending on the desired outcome.Learning the trade  Further processing not only develops chocolate's flavor, but texture as well. "Particle size gives a whole range of flavor, mouthfeel and textural properties," says Dan Dermer, president of Beachwood Ingredient Services, Inc., Beachwood, OH. "Particle size is very important in terms of making a good confection. Refining and grinding time will determine particle size." Finer particle sizes require more fat, because more surface area is available, he notes. "Therefore, it will be a smoother, creamier product as a result, and also more expensive, because you are putting more time and effort into making the product, as well as the additional amount of fat."  Grinding particles to at least 10 to 15 microns gives a desirable finished-product texture. First the chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids are mixed to a paste-like consistency and then run through either a three- or a five-mill roller mill. The distance between the rolls determines the grind size. As the particle size is reduced, the surface area increases, which turns the plastic mass into a dry powder, explains Boutin. The powder then passes through either a dry or a liquid conch.  The term "conching" is very ambiguous in the confectionery industry, says Boutin. "It is used to mean everything from a slow mixing process to actually a very serious high-shear heating and mixing, during which the sugar crystals are changing characteristic and shape, and the fat is getting a chance at being dispersed better throughout the mix."  In a dry conch, the powder that comes from the roller mills enters a device that looks almost like a concrete mixer. Mixing with heat and shear changes the shape of the sugar crystals from pointed, irregular configurations to round spheroids. This increases surface area, spreads the fat around, and makes the mass more fluid, explains Boutin. In liquid conching, after the powder exits the roller mills, it enters a mixer, where it's fluidized with cocoa butter. The liquid mass then enters the conch mixer. Vanillin or artificial vanilla flavor, and lecithin if used, are added toward the end of the mix cycle and prior to tempering.  During conching, amino acids from cocoa and milk proteins react with reducing sugars to generate Maillard-reaction flavors. Off-flavors produced during cocoa-bean fermentation volatilize from the heat during this stage. Boutin cautions against too-high temperatures (around 160°F), which can promote protein denaturation, and subsequently, gritty protein nodules. However, the temperature should be high enough to generate desirable flavors, since flavor reactions depend on time and temperature. Another benefit of heat generated during conching is that it drives off undesirable moisture; this enhances the chocolate's flow characteristics.  "The main purpose of conching is taking out a lot of the harsh volatiles to give it a more refined flavor," says Hofberger. "Conching doesn't make a finer particle size per se, but it may round out some of the rough edges, so it might have a smoother mouthfeel. It will also affect its rheology, which are the flow characteristics."  Boutin points out that some older conching methods take 24 to 48 hours, while newer methods use a continuous process. "So, what separates one chocolate from another is not the formulation, because the formulations are reasonably controlled (by the standards), but the way the ingredients are processed," he says. Different equipment or processes produce different outcomes, and under certain circumstances, you can narrow the gap between the two if desired. For example: "If I take a formula and use a continuous conch and a 48-hour conch, I get two different products," he explains. "Let's say I want the one done the old-fashioned way, but it takes too long, is too slow and too expensive. So now maybe I go back and change the roasting technique. Instead of roasting at a very high temperature to make it more robust, I take a lower-temperature, slower roast. Instead of using beans that are known to give a more robust flavor, I use more neutral beans. You end up reverse engineering with the equipment you have to get what you are looking for."Temper, temper  Tempering follows conching, and involves a series of cooling cycles that direct the polymorphic fat crystals in cocoa butter to their most stable phase, the beta form. If chocolate cools rapidly without tempering, its fat crystals form a highly disordered structure, resulting in fat bloom. When this occurs, the surface takes on a dull, dusty, grayish appearance. Cocoa-butter fat crystals have 24 carbons shaped in an L-pattern. In the stable beta form, these crystals pack together to form a herringbone pattern. Multi-phase crystals do not pack neatly together, which results in migration of fat crystals to the surface. A properly tempered chocolate will maintain a shiny, glossy appearance for years, notes Hofberger.   It can be difficult to determine when exactly chocolate is at temper, since it relies on time, temperature and agitation. "It depends on the formulation and the equipment, but generally 88° to 90°F is a fairly typical temperature for chocolate, but a dark chocolate will generally be 2°F warmer than a milk for the same degree of temper, because with more milkfat, the chocolate's fat is softer," says Hofberger.  Many professionals are able to determine the degree of temper by looking at the chocolate's consistency and seeing how fast it sets up. According to Hofberger, "some traditional craftsmen would put a little on their lip and check the temperature that way." If you lack the time, proper equipment or experience however, there are ways to estimate the degree of temper. Hofberger recommends placing a small amount of chocolate on a spatula and monitoring the set-up time. If the product sets up in five minutes at typical (68°F) room temperature, the temper is good. If it sets up in one minute, it's most likely over-tempered. If it takes over eight minutes, it's probably under-tempered, and anything beyond ten minutes has little or no temper.  Product out of temper not only manifests itself by blooming, but also affects the overall appearance and performance of a candy. A good temper gives a glossy, shiny surface, while over-tempered chocolate appears dull, with numerous bubbles. Under-tempered chocolate does not have good snap to it, and melts in your hands, not in your mouth.Chocolate's kin  Certain fats mimic particular cocoa-butter characteristics, and can be used for products called compound coatings. Hydrogenated palm-kernel and coconut oils, also referred to as "hard butters," act as cocoa-butter substitutes. These fats are blended with cocoa, sugar, milk powder and vanilla, and possibly lecithin, making a product that looks and tastes like chocolate, but cannot be labeled as such. Instead, these are labeled as imitation chocolate, artificial chocolate or chocolate-flavored.  While compound coatings are similar to chocolate, they have significant differences as well. One of chocolate's most unique traits is its ability to literally melt in your mouth. As chocolate or compound melts, the ratio of solid to liquid fat changes. Measurements of this ratio, termed solid fat content (SFC), taken at certain temperature intervals help correlate different fats' melting characteristics. An ideal confectionery-coating fat has a high solid-fat content at ambient temperatures and a low one at body temperature. Manufacturers with sales in tropical regions often use higher melt-point fats to lessen temperature-abuse issues prior to consumption.  Much of chocolate's solid fat melts at around 88°F, while most compound coatings exhibit a similar solid-to-liquid fat ratio between 92° to 96°F, depending on the formulation. "Chocolate is kind of unique, because it melts right around body temperature, and it is a very quick melt," says Hofberger. "With compound coatings, the fats will have a much more gradual, longer range of melting, so you're going to get some melting at 70°F, some at 90°F, maybe some at 100°F." This difference in melt profiles enables chocolate to quickly dissipate in the mouth, while compound coatings often leave a waxy, greasy feel.  Chocolate requires tempering, because cocoa-butter crystals go through several phases before reaching the most stable form. Palm kernel or coconut oils have only one crystal phase, which enables the coating to set up quickly without tempering.  Palm kernel and coconut oils are known as lauric fats because of their high lauric fatty-acid content, and are incompatible with non-lauric fats such as cocoa butter. Mixing the two promotes fat bloom and produces a product of inferior quality. These fats are incompatible because of their chemical structure. Lauric fats (C12:0) have short, straight carbon chains of 12 atoms. The short, straight fatty acid chains of palm kernel don't match up with the longer, herringbone-shaped cocoa-butter chains. The shorter chains slide, causing the oil to migrate to the surface, resulting in fat bloom, explains Dermer. In spite of their incompatibility, compound coatings are sometimes used as a bottom coat for confections that will be enrobed or moulded with chocolate, because of their quick set-up time, and the fact that they don't require tempering. Special settings  Products developed by Neilson International Limited of Cadbury Canada, Toronto, enable processors to produce coatings and confection centers with unique properties. The company's Star Concept™ couverture and center-base premix products are labeled similarly to compound coatings, with sugar, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, cocoa powder (dark type), soy lecithin and vanilla flavor listed on the ingredient statement. Because the United States has no separate category for this type of product, they were originally referred to as compound coatings, but "people thought that they could put compound coating made with palm kernel oil or coconut oil into them, which are not compatible," says Dermer.  Certain fats, when fractionated and blended, such as shea oil, illipé butter and palm oil have a similar structure and composition to cocoa butter. They can be used as replacements for cocoa-butter, and are termed cocoa-butter equivalents (CBEs). Certain countries in Europe have a 5% diluent rule that allows this type of substitution in chocolate without sacrificing the standard of identity, but the United States has no such allowance.  Neilson's couverture and center-base premix products are more similar to CBEs than to compound coatings, because their 18 carbon-length chain is closer to the chemical structure of chocolate. Also, no tempering is required, and they are compatible with milkfat and water. Both the couverture and the center base, which come in dark-type and white-type, can be used for a confection's center, while the couverture can also be used for either the bottom coat or the entire coating. The couverture can work as a stand-alone coating, or it can be blended with up to 25% chocolate, says Dermer. "The dark is strong in terms of its flavor profile and color, and therefore requires three parts of white blended with one part dark to make a milk chocolate."  These products also have the ability to emulsify and encapsulate other confection ingredients, serving as both oxygen and moisture barriers to extend shelf life and prevent bloom. Take, for example, an espresso-coffee truffle, with 26% cream, 9% brewed espresso coffee, 9% water, and 7% hazelnut paste, says Dermer. "This is a very short shelf-life product that you normally would make and sell within three weeks and have to refrigerate. By adding 40% Star Concept to the total blend, you don't need any refrigeration, and it has over a year-long shelf life." This technology is compatible not only with the nut oil, water and milk, but the center can be coated with chocolate, and will not bloom.   Formulas using a variety of ingredients, including peanut butter, heavy whipping cream, jelly and cordials, have been developed with the couverture and center-base premix either as part of the filling, or with couverture as the coating. "If you are going to use a lot of water or cream, you may need to use the chocolate couverture with the center base to give it structure, so that you can enrobe. If you are just going to fill a cup, you can use the center base by itself," says Dermer.On the shelf  Temperature fluctuation puts chocolate under stress, giving it a tendency to bloom. "You wouldn't want to store either chocolate or compound where it will condensate," notes Hofberger. "For both, a consistent temperature (68°F) is better than one that fluctuates from 48° to 78°F, especially for chocolate. Most compound coatings should be stored in a little warmer temperature (65° to the low 70s°F), because colder temperatures seem to promote blooming in compounds. With chocolates, you can have the colder temperatures without promoting blooming; in fact, this probably delays blooming."  Proper handling and storage not only protect the textural integrity of indulgent confections, but the flavor as well. "With both chocolate and compound, you want to have an odor-free environment, because the oils act like a sponge and pick up off-flavors," says Hofberger.  Humidity may cause another type of bloom as well - sugar bloom occurs as humidity dissolves sugar crystals on chocolate's surface. As the temperature changes, the sugar recrystallizes. This process repeats until the crystals are large enough to be seen on the surface of the confection, actually forming a gray film on the candy's surface, similar to fat bloom, says Boutin.Chocolate roundup  Chocolate wouldn't be chocolate without the cacao bean, or Theobroma cacao. "When you make chocolate, depending on the flavor profile of the chocolate you desire, you use beans from different regions of the world," explains Boutin. "All the beans give flavor, but certain ones are more bland, some have fruity characteristics, and others have sour notes. For example, Mexican and Brazilian beans are blander beans desired more for their cocoa-butter content than for the flavor component. Ivory Coast, Ghana, Malaysian and Java beans are considered the 'A' beans."  Once cacao beans are harvested, they undergo fermentation and a drying process, after which they are called cocoa beans. They're then shipped to processors for grinding and roasting. The flavor and color of cocoa beans are affected by "the season, the soil, the species, the fermentation process, the drying process, the roasting process, whether it is alkalized, the degree of alkalization, how you alkalize, where you alkalize (i.e., nib, liquor or cake), and the type of reagents you use to alkalize," says Mike Schaff, director of technical services at ADM Cocoa, Milwaukee. The most common agent used for alkalization is potassium carbonate, or potash.   Alkalizing, or "dutching," darkens the cocoa and removes some of the acidic flavor that develops during fermentation. Alkalization gives a variety of hues, from yellows to reds to grays and even black. The pH of non-alkalized, or natural, cocoa powders ranges from 5.0 to 6.0, while that of alkalized cocoa powders ranges from 6.0 for a light treatment to 7.8 for a stronger one. Natural cocoa powders are used for compound coatings, notes Schaff. "You need more strength, or flavor release, from cocoa, because the vegetable oil that you use covers up some of the chocolate flavor. It's a higher-melting fat than cocoa butter, and it melts differently in your mouth." The alkalization process tends to mellow the acid, resulting in a milder flavor.  The decision to alkalize is based on the desired finished-product flavor. Different types of confections have different flavor nuances. For instance, dark chocolate may complement a bland center more so than a milder milk chocolate. On the other hand, a strong, robust coating shouldn't overshadow a flavorful confection center. It's helpful to understand the various flavor components of dark, milk and white chocolate when pairing complementary flavors. Setting the Standard  In the United States, chocolate's standard of identity specifies minimum and maximum ingredient requirements. Anything outside the standard of identity cannot be called chocolate, and is referred to as compound. This is true even if only listed ingredients are used, but in proportions other than what is specified. Chocolate liquor must contain no less than 50% and no more than 60% cocoa fat by weight.  Chocolate varieties include sweet; bittersweet, or semi-sweet; and milk chocolate. According to the standards of identity, sweet chocolate contains 15% to 35% chocolate liquor and less than 12% milk solids (solids other than lactose, with a minimum of 3.39% milkfat). Legally, there is no difference between semisweet and bittersweet chocolate in the United States, says Randy Hofberger, technical manager, Peter's Chocolate Company in Burlington, WI. Traditionally in Europe, a 50% chocolate liquor would be considered bittersweet, whereas a semi-sweet would have a range from 35% to 50%. Milk chocolate must contain a minimum of 10% liquor solids and a minimum of 12% dairy solids. "You can't put anything that mimics milk or chocolate in there," says Hofberger. "In other words, you can't put in an artificial milk flavor or an artificial chocolate flavor." In addition, an emulsifier (i.e., soy lecithin) is allowed at a maximum of 1%.  White chocolate is not really chocolate at all, and can only be recognized by the government as white chocolate with a marketing dispensation request. It then follows the European standard of identity: cocoa butter must be at a minimum of 20%, milk solids at 14%, and milkfat at 3.5%. The nutritive sweetener, typically sugar, must not exceed 55%. White chocolate contains sugar, milk solids, lecithin, vanilla and cocoa butter, but no chocolate liquor. Without cocoa butter, the product is considered confectionery, or summer, coating. For more information on chocolate and its categories, see "Chocolate: Food of the Gods" in Food Product Design's May 1999 issue.Taste treats  Company literature from Virginia Dare of Brooklyn, NY uses a schematic diagram generated from sensory paneling to define the degree to which certain flavor characteristics exist in chocolate. The flavor descriptors used include cocoa, bitter, hay-like, vanillin, creamy, cooked milk, fresh milk, fudgy, fruity, floral and nutty. White chocolate can be defined as creamy, strong in dairy and vanillin and mildly fruity, with a slight floral and hay-like quality. Milk chocolate is strong in cocoa flavor, with moderate bitterness, and vanillin and dairy notes. Dark chocolate is stronger in cocoa and more bitter than milk chocolate, and has a floral character equal to that of white chocolate, but lacks dairy and vanillin notes.   Vanillin is commonly used in chocolate, says Anton Angelich, vice president of the sweet business unit for Haarmann & Reimer, Teterboro, NJ, because it is fairly stable and can be added at any time during conching. Flavors more prone to volatilization are added toward the end of conching. "If you put them in the conching process, where you've got fairly high temperatures, you're going to drive off some of those low-boiling aroma substances," he says. "For centers, such as fondant, flavors are added at the end of the mixing process."  Although pairing chocolate with flavored centers is done at the discretion of the manufacturer, certain flavors naturally blend better with certain chocolates. "A very sweet center might be better with a harsher chocolate, such as raspberry and dark chocolate," says Hofberger.  Peanut butter is commonly paired with milk chocolate. "It doesn't mean that people won't request a white chocolate to go with peanut butter if they're looking for something different that's out of the realm," says Janet Schurig, director of applications with Virginia Dare. "For a while there were just typical flavors used - like certain flavors went with chocolate like vanilla or maybe a coffee - but now you really do see a big crossover."  Many interesting flavors are in fact turning up in confection fillings these days. "We seem to see a lot of cordial flavors in the indulgent or decadent type of candies," says Paulette Kerner, director, marketing communications, Virginia Dare. "A lot of the liqueur flavors like kirsch, orange brandy or nut flavors were taken from cordials. Also, in the chocolate decadent candies, we see a lot of flavors from desserts migrating to candies, such as cheesecake truffles or tiramisu truffles. And instead of plain old coffee, you see the influence from the coffee industry. For instance, you see cappuccino candy, not just coffee candy, and there's latte and espresso too."  Chocolate itself can be flavored, although this isn't as common in the United States as in Europe, where chocolates flavored with orange are popular. American consumers just haven't embraced the taste of citrus in chocolate, says Angelich, characterizing it as an acquired or cultural taste.Sweet and functional  Confections satisfy the need for a sweet treat. Sugar not only sweetens naturally bitter chocolate liquor, but when inverted it contributes to Maillard-reaction flavors and structures confectionery centers by acting as a texturizing agent. "Sugar and corn syrup are inter-reactive in that the proper balance of the two manages crystallization in candy products," says Carl Moore, senior research scientist with A. E. Staley Manufacturing Co. in Decatur, IL. "If you don't want crystallization, the high ratio of corn syrup dilutes the sugar out to a concentration below its ability to crystallize. If you want crystallization, use a high ratio of sugar to corn syrup."  Solubilizing sugar and corn syrup and cooking them to a high temperature to reduce the moisture content is the first step in making fondant. The batch is then cooled to the proper creaming temperature, which ranges from 100° to 130°F. At this point, agitation begins, forcing the sugar to recrystallize into very fine crystals - moderate agitation generally produces smaller and more numerous crystals. "Crystal size that is too small for detection by the tongue is the desired result. That's why a cream center, which is really a fondant, tastes like a cream," says Moore. The creaming temperature is critical to the finished fondant texture. A gritty texture may result if the temperature is too high. Undissolved sugar crystals affect grain size, a phenomonon termed seeding. Intentional seeding produces grain in caramels, marshmallows and nougats.  "Fondant is a two-phase system," explains Moore. "It has a syrup phase with sugar crystals dispersed in it, and as you increase the syrup phase the fondant will soften. A lower D.E. syrup will make the syrup phase higher in viscosity, whereas 64 D.E. will make a syrup phase that washes away a little cleaner when you eat it." Invert sugar can also retard crystallization, but corn syrup is a lower-cost alternative.   Invertase, an enzyme that converts sucrose to invert sugar, or its component glucose and fructose monosaccharides, is added to fondant creams and cherry cordials. Since invertase doesn't act immediately, the fondant remains firm enough to be unmoulded and enrobed. As soon as the invertase begins to work, it solubilizes sugar back into a syrup, which increases the syrup-to-solids ratio of the center, thereby softening it, according to Moore. "Most creams are either an 80:20 or a 90:10 sugar to corn syrup ratio," adds Hofberger. "Corn syrup gives a chewier, longer texture. The more sucrose, the shorter the texture."   Sugar and corn syrup are also found in other confectionery fillings such as caramel, toffee, nougat and marshmallow. The two latter fillings use an aerating agent, such as egg whites whipped to a foam. The ratio of sugar to corn syrup, as well as the temperature of the cooked syrup added to the foam, determines whether the nougat will have a short or a chewy texture. Other ingredients, such as nuts or flavors, are often added to the mixture. Caramels are made by mixing milk proteins and butter or vegetable fats with sucrose and corn syrup. Caramel's characteristic flavor and color is produced as the milk proteins and sugars react at high temperatures during the Maillard reaction. Toffee is produced when sugar is combined with butter and nuts and cooked to a temperature of 310°F. Toffee's brittle texture and caramelized flavor blend well with a chocolate coating.Nuts for chocolate  Many ingredients complement chocolate, but none more so than nuts, which add richness and texture to a confection. Although almonds and peanuts are the most common additions, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, cashews, macadamias and pistachios are beginning to show up more often. Using less-common varieties enables processors to differentiate their products with new innovations. Nut suppliers offer many standard shapes and sizes, and often customize products to meet a processor's specifications. Nut pastes and butters are also available for confectionery centers. Almond paste, for example, is a blend of ground almonds, sugar and water. Almond paste mixed with sugar and corn syrup or glucose forms a product called marzipan, a delicacy in many European countries.  Processors must handle nuts with care, because their high levels of unsaturated fats are prone to rancidity. Drying shortly after harvesting helps control moisture and prevent oxidation, which ultimately ensures quality and extends shelf life. Storing in a cool environment (40°F) away from excessive heat, light and humidity is recommended. Roasting nuts can improve flavor and appearance, but since it makes them more susceptible to rancidity, roasting shortly before use helps avoid this problem. Exposing nuts to air initiates oxidization, but coating them with chocolate, an excellent moisture and oxygen barrier, slows the oxidation process.  Panning coats confectionery centers, particularly nuts, with either a sugar shell or chocolate. As nuts are tumbled in a drum-like mixer, they're coated with a thin spray of chocolate. This continues until reaching the desired thickness. Jordan almonds are made using a process called hard panning, which involves successive liquid applications of corn syrup, alternated with an adhesive-type material such as gum arabic. After several coatings, a finishing syrup with color and/or flavor is sprayed onto the confection.Sculpting to perfection  Once a decadent formula is derived, it has to be moulded into an appealing design. There are three types of moulding, says Hofberger. Hollow moulding produces a chocolate shell with an empty core; shell moulding is used to coat soft-centered chocolates; and enrobing showers a center with a good coating of chocolate as it passes through a cascade.  "Generally, enrobing viscosity will be higher than moulding viscosity," says Hofberger. "The type of chocolate doesn't matter as much as the viscosity. For shell moulding, you have to have either small inclusions, or something that will be flowable at 90°F or less. If you have something that is very firm, either like large nuts, toffee, or hard caramel, then it should be enrobed."  The thickness of moulded coatings affects both the eating quality and the amount of protection needed. "If you have a soft center and you need structure to keep it from collapsing, then you want a thicker coating. A cordial cherry has to have a fairly substantial shell, because it has all that liquid in it. Chocolate is a pretty good moisture barrier, and will prevent leakage," says Hofberger.  Since viscosity is so critical to the moulding process, chocolate suppliers in the United States use a standardized viscosity measurement, called a MacMichael (McM) measurement. According to Hofberger, the lower the number, the lower the viscosity. For instance, a viscosity in the range of 60° to 100°McM indicates a very thin product suitable for moulding. Thicker viscosities are generally preferred for enrobing and hand-dipping.  There's a lot of science involved in designing confections, but when all the components come together, the final product is an indulgent treat that seamlessly unites the complex processes into a consumer-pleasing product. After all, who thinks about the science behind the confections when devouring that decadent, eagerly awaited box of Valentine chocolates?
(You did send a box, didn't you?)
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