National Chocolate Caramel Day falls on March 19 and is a fun way to enjoy mouthwatering sugary treats. From cookies to brownies, ice creams, and milkshakes, the irresistible combination of chocolate and caramel never fails to impress those with a sweet tooth.
While chocolate has been around since ancient times, the invention of caramel had to wait until the European settlers emigrated to the New World. The combination of the two flavors by a clever confectioner gave us delicious chocolate caramel candy.
- 1000 AD – the Arabs were the first to discover caramel around 1000 A.D.
- The Arabs called it “kurat al milh,” which roughly translates into “sweet ball of salt.”
- 1650 – Caramel arrives in the United States.
- 1800s – Milton Hershey’s Lancaster Caramel Company was one of the few companies focusing on making chocolate-covered caramels instead of hard candies.
- 1866 – The world’s first cream-filled chocolate bar is invented by the English chocolate company Fry’s.
- 1884 – Household recipes for caramel become common in recipe books, including the famous “Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book,” which is published in 1884.
- 1893 – chocolate-covered caramels became popular. Milton Hershey was so greatly influenced by the machines used by the Germans for making chocolate bars that he adopted the same technology and started mass-producing caramel-covered chocolates.
- 1924 – MILKY WAY bars first go on sale. They are the perfect ratio of rich chocolate, creamy stretchy caramel, and fluffy nougat.
- 1939 – During the Second World War, Hershey distributes chocolate bars among the troops to boost their energy levels.
- 1960 – Famous French chocolatier Henri Le Roux creates the first caramel candy after attending a Swiss culinary school in the 1960s.
- More than 20,000 Kisses are made every single minute at Hershey’s plant in Pennsylvania.
- Many people do not know that Milton Hershey got his start preparing and selling caramel. It was the foundation of what would become his growing empire.
- There isn’t a consensus on where the word “caramel” comes from.
- In English, the word comes from French (caramel), which was borrowed from the Spanish caramelo.
- Another likely origin story is that the word is from the Latin phrase calamellus, which means “sugar cane,” which in turn finds its roots in the Greek word calamus, which means cane.
- However, there’s yet another possible origin of the word and that’s from the Latin cannamella, which combines two words: canna, meaning cane, and mella, which stands for honey. But even that’s not a proven theory, as some say that the word comes from the Arabic kora-moħalláh = ball of sweet.
- Chocolate Caramel Brownies. Starting with a simple brownie mix makes this super straightforward. Prepare the brownie mix per the box instructions and place batter in the pan. Add thick caramel sauce (often found in the ice cream topping section at the grocery store) by drizzling a generous amount on top in parallel lines. Draw a knife perpendicular to the lines to create a swirled effect. Bake as directed.
- Chocolate Caramel Pretzels. Lay pretzel twists flat on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place small caramel pieces (half a Kraft square) on each pretzel, then bake for 3-5 minutes to melt. Cool completely and then dip in melted chocolate, then dip in sprinkles as desired. A fun and easy treat almost anyone can make!
- Add Caramel and Chocolate to Almost Anything. Chocolate chip pancakes with caramel sauce, chocolate ice cream with caramel topping, and even a cup of coffee can taste great with a bit of chocolate and caramel swirled in (a barista will probably be happy to do this on request!).
- The origin of crème caramel, or flan, dates back to the Roman Empire, where its ancestor, tiropatinam, was a dish made with eggs, milk, pepper, and sometimes savory ingredients like fish, eel, and spinach or sweet additions like honey. This delectable treat evolved into modern flan when early Middle Ages Spain introduced caramelized sugar and streamlined the recipe, allowing it to take Europe, Latin America, and the world by storm.
- Before the days of caramel highlights at the salon, we had Arab confections leading the way: In the 9th century, caramel was initially used as a hair dye by the Arabs until they realized it could be mixed with sugar to create a mouth-watering treat, which eventually led to the creation of the first sugar refinery and the popularization of sugar in the confectionery world. Source => candyhistory.net
- There are more than 25 calories in a single Hershey Kiss.
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