Frequently Asked Questions and Useful Information

Simply email your question to marion.ab@chocolatebox.com.au and we will endeavour to send a reply within 24 hours.

Alternatively you can ring our Melbourne head office on (03) 9676 6400

Please contact your nearest Chocolate Box store or order online.

Shipping normally costs $12.50 per 2.5kg to anywhere in Australia, although at times we offer discounts on shipping. Orders are accepted from other countries but we only deliver within Australia except by special arrangement (via email).

Your order may take up to 7 working days for delivery depending on the destination. Capital cities will usually be delivered within 3 working days unless stock is unavailable.

You will receive an email from 'cborders@bechoctomistic.com' detailing your order when it has been completed. If you do not receive an email please contact us.

HOT WEATHER PROTECTION

To ensure that your chocolates and confectionery arrive at their destination in the best possible condition, The Chocolate Box may delay the delivery of chocolates for one or two days if the weather is extremely hot on the day the chocolates are ordered. Also, if it is a Friday, we will generally attempt to send products on the following Monday so that the products do not sit in a delivery depot over the weekend. Since The Chocolate Box is located in Melbourne, Melbourne customers may choose the option of picking up their order from one of stores upon arrangement.

If the deliveries are time-dependent, we have developed a "hot weather protection" pack, which consists of a foam box, an ice block in a protective bag, and various packing materials to line the box. This is usually sufficient to protect the order from heat for the duration of the delivery and is available for purchase during the ordering process for $10. We recommend that all interstate and remote regional locations order Hot Weather Protection during the hotter months. If we experience severely hot weather and consider it more prudent to delay the order, in addition to using Hot Weather Protection, we will make every effort to contact our customer using their supplied contact details.

Occasionally customers ask to place a single order to be split and delivered to multiple addresses. Unfortunately due to the complexity of calculating shipping costs etc you must place a separate single order for each destination address.

If you wish to send 5 or more gifts to multiple different addresses you can contact us directly via phone or email to place your order.

We constantly add new products to the site, especially seasonal ranges such as Christmas, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Valentines Day and Easter.

Occasionally products are not available due to being sold out or simply no longer manufactured. Please enquire if you can't find a favourite!

A new version of the brochure is coming soon.

Please contact Marion (marion.ab@chocolatebox.com.au) with your name and address and she would be delighted to send one to you.

We currently accept Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club and American Express.

1. Nutrition and Chocolate - Nutritional Facts about Chocolate.
You've read the news articles about stranded mountain-climbers and adventurers surviving out in the wilds under freezing conditions with nothing but a bar of chocolate...
So what are chocolate's magical ingredients?
Sugar, yes, but lets take a look at the whole package... Chocolate contains many valuable nutrients such as calcium, phosphates, protein, vitamin D, potassium, magnesium, vitamin A, as well as small amounts of other vitamins and minerals.

2. Chocolate and your skin.
There is a widely held belief that eating chocolate will cause your skin to break out in pimples or acne, but dermatologists believe that no food 'causes' pimples or acne, in spite of the anecdotal evidence. It is more likely a combination of factors. Dermatologists believe that acne has far more to do with heredity than diet and when it comes to chocolate - it may be more likely that it is the guilt from eating chocolate, rather than the chocolate itself which makes people's skin break out.

3. Chocolate and your heart.
There is growing evidence that small amounts of dark chocolate consumed regularly have a beneficial effect on the health of the human heart. e.g New Scientist: Eating Chocolate May Halve Risk of Dying. We offer a special Healthy Heart Kit containing not only dark chocolate but other items considered good for the heart such as green tea.

Compounded chocolate is made with vegetable fat instead of cocoa butter, and since chocolate derives a lot of its flavour from the cocoa butter component, compounded chocolate does not have the same rich flavour.

The most expensive ingredient in chocolate is cocoa butter, and the use of vegetable fat substitute means that compounded chocolate is also much cheaper to produce.

Researchers have discovered that chocolate contains phenylethlamine (PEA), which is the amphetamine like chemical present in the human brain that helps arouse emotions. So can chocolate make you amorous?

Chocolate does have texture and taste with sensuous overtones but not enough PEA to alter your emotions.

These are very specific instructions for tempering high quality chocolate, according to the manufacturer's specifications. For our recipe page click here. If you're not an expert cook, you may find that compound or cooking chocolate is easier to temper.

1. Using a double-boiler, or two saucepans of varying size, place the chocolate pieces in the smaller saucepan. Fill the second saucepan with water and heat to a low temperature of approximately 45°C

2. Place the saucepan containing the chocolate over the second saucepan and allow the chocolate to melt slowly. Heat very gently, stirring regularly to avoid burning the chocolate. DO NOT allow the cooking temperature to exceed 50°C, and never heat your chocolate over a naked flame.

3. Cool chocolate to a temperature of approximately 27°C for milk chocolate, or 27°C to 28°C for dark chocolate by leaving on a marble or cold table, or by submerging your saucepan partly into cold water. Stir continually, constantly scraping the chocolate from the sides of the bowl. Take care that no water is allowed into the chocolate as the mixture will become thick and unusable.

4. Return the saucepan of chocolate to the pot of warm water, stirring constantly, raise the temperature of the chocolate to 30°C- 32°C for dark chocolate or 29°C - 31°C for milk chocolate. The chocolate is now ready for moulding or dipping. Centres for dipping should be at 20°C - 25°C.

5. Cool finished products at 14°C - 18°C in a dry place. DO NOT refrigerate, or risk condensation.

6. Unused chocolate can be removed and re-used in the above manner.

'Callebaut' Callets
Callets are round drops of chocolate. Callebaut Callets are the ideal aid to produce perfectly tempered chocolate quickly and efficiently. They are also the best solution for applications requiring fast melting or the option of small quantities of chocolate. Manual tempering (pre-crystallization): Fill the melting pot with Callebaut chocolate. Allow to melt completely at a temperature of 40-45°C (104-113°F) and then lower the thermostat to the processing temperature (31-23°C (88-90°F) for plain (dark) chocolate or 28-29°C (82-84°F) for milk and white chocolate). Add a further 20% callets whilst stirring with a spatula. This will ensure an optimally tempered chocolate.

Chocolate should be stored in a cool place at room temperature away from strong light. We don't recommend refrigeration of couverture chocolate, which is used in most Chocolate Box products. The other type of chocolate, called compound, is a more robust but generally not as high quality type of chocolate that may be less affected by refrigeration. Chocolate should be kept away from extremes of heat and cold, away from strongly smelling foods like onions, and removed from sealed polystyrene containers which can transfer their strong smell to the chocolate.

For more technical detail read below:

CARING FOR CHOCOLATE
Chocolate is a very "hardy" product, but in saying this one also has to remember that it is a "perishable" product too. The product you have received is REAL chocolate; ie a proper couverture, not a compound.

Below are some helpful hints on the care of your chocolate.

Store the product in a cool, dry and ventilated room. Recommended conditions are as follows:
Keep away from strong light
Temperature: 14-22° centigrade
Humidity: preferably less than 50%
Do not store in the foam esky in which the chocolates were delivered, as over time they will pick up the polystyrene smell.
Use air conditioning where possible and avoid fluctuations in temperature as these may cause condensation to the product. Avoid dampness as the chocolate develops a sugar bloom when moisture collects on the surface of the chocolate. Chocolate stored in overly warm conditions will show fat bloom, which is caused when stable cocoa butter crystals melt, reform as the unstable variety and then transform back to larger crystals that appear on the surface. Neither type of bloom renders the chocolate unusable. It just doesn't look as fresh.
Keep chocolate away from strong smelling goods such as soap, detergents, perfumes, onions etc and avoid direct sunlight. Do not store in a space near a ceiling where hot air collects.
Keep your storeroom, shelves and the immediate surroundings free of rodents and insects and beware of moths. Moths LOVE chocolate.
If you need to refrigerate, place chocolates in an airtight container then wrap the container in a towel before placing in the fridge. When you wish to use the chocolate remove from fridge, leaving container wrapped in the towel, until it has warmed to room temperature. It will then be less likely that blooming will occur.

Yes, organic, dairy-free and other special chocolate treats are available from our Special Diet section.

Cocoa Trees have grown wild in Central America for over four thousand years. In actual fact, birds and monkeys were the first to taste the flavorsome beans. Through their nibblings, these chocoholics spread seeds all around Central America. So it is not surprising that American Tribes were the first humans to savor the delights of the cocoa bean. One particular tribe known as the Aztecs believed that a god named Quetzaloatl had brought the seeds of the cocoa tree down from heaven. He showed the people how to grow the tree and how to make chocolate from it.

Marcia & Frederic Morton "Chocolate" 1986 Published by Crown Publishers Inc New York