Celebrate World Chocolate Day tomorrow with this gorgeous chocolate sponge pudding

Speedy Chocolate Sponge Puddings

And the best bit (apart from the taste)? It can be cooked in the microwave in just 4 minutes!

Fermented beverages made from chocolate date back to 450 BC

The Aztecs believed that cacao seeds were the gift of Quetzalcoatl, the god of wisdom, and the seeds once had so much value that they were used as a form of currency. Originally prepared only as a drink, chocolate was served as a bitter liquid, mixed with spices or corn puree.

It was believed to be an aphrodisiac and to give the drinker strength.

Today, such drinks are also known as “Chilate” and are made by locals in the South of Mexico. After its arrival to Europe in the sixteenth century, sugar was added to it and it became popular throughout society, first among the ruling classes and then among the common people.

The word “chocolate” comes from the Classical Nahuatl word chocolātl, and entered the English language from the Spanish language.

Source: Wikipedia

Can’t imagine life without chocolate? You’re lucky you weren’t born before the 16th century.

Before then, chocolate existed as a bitter, foamy drink in Mesoamerica.

So how did we get from a bitter beverage to the chocolate bars of today?

Deanna Pucciarelli traces the fascinating and often cruel history of chocolate in this informative and entertaining video, The History of Chocolate.

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