Monday, February 20, 2006

Chocolate Fruit

The Theobroma cacao L. tree in the greenhouse bloomed in the fall and now has audacious fruit on it. It is a fascinating tropical. The blooms actually occur on old growth, so you get flowers actually bursting out of side of the main trunk of the tree. Then after a few months these large banana yellow pods (botanically a drupe I think) are ready. The pods are about 6-8 inches in length and 4-5 inches in diameter. The greenhouse manager and a couple of undergrads were going to try and make some chocolate. The process is pretty involved. You take the 'beans' out, ferment them, and then there is roasting and other steps involved. I estimate if they harvest all four pods on our young specimen they can probably make the equivalent of 2-3 Hershey's Kisses and probably enough cocoa butter to moisturize the back of one hand.

2 comments:

BullBunky said...

But can you make Red Velvet Bingles out of them? Perhaps a German Chocolate Bingle!

Buddy Tignor said...

I am going back through Richmond on my way to Asheville. You have my curiosity up now....I am going to have to give my 37-year-old digestive track a new challenge and actually consume a Red Velvet Bingle...if I survive i will blog about it :-)