How it's Made...
Chocolate Easter Bunnies
 Chocolate begins with the cocoa plant. Indigenous to South America, the cocoa plant produces a pod which contains cocoa beans. The beans are harvested and collected in bins to ferment. This process is essential to bringing out the flavors in the bean. After the beans ferment they are dried and processed into chocolate liquor. Chocolate liquor contains no alcohol, it is comprised of cocoa solids (or cocoa mass) and cocoa butter. The chocolate liquor is then put through a process called conching. This process is essential to creating a smooth texture in the finished product and is the difference between European and American chocolate. European chocolate is conched for a minimum of 36 hours whereas in America most chocolate is conched for about 12 hours. A conch is a container with metal beads that act as grinders which create very fine particles of chocolate. This pure liquid chocolate is then blended with sugar, cocoa butter and/or other ingredients to create the desired taste. At Reinwald's we use three variations of imported European chocolate.
- Dark chocolate contains chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, and sugar
- Milk chocolate contains chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sugar and milk powder
- White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, milk, but no cocoa mass.
 Before this chocolate can be used it must go through one final process called tempering. Chocolate has a crystalline structure. The fat in the cocoa butter can crystallize in 6 different ways as it cools (polymorphic crystallization). If the wrong crystals form you will have a finished product that looks very unappealing. You will be able to see the crystals giving the chocolate a grayish color, the chocolate will crumble instead of snap when broken and the texture will be gritty. Tempering involves bringing the temperature up to a point where all crystals melt. The temperature is then brought down to a point where only two forms of crystals are able to form. The chocolate is then agitated and heated slightly to eliminate the unwanted crystal structure, leaving only one ideal crystal structure behind. This structure allows for a perfect smooth texture, a glossy shine and a snap when broken.
If the process is disrupted, it has to be started all over.
Tempering is done right here at the bakery before we use the chocolate. When it is in temper the chocolate can be poured into molds, cooled, decorated, and finally enjoyed! At Reinwald's we have bunnies of all sizes and flavors for Easter. From our giant 3 foot bunny to chocolate lollipops, there is something for everyone here at the bakery. Stop by and pick one up this Easter and let the smooth texture and flavors melt away in your mouth.
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Special Holiday Hours
Easter Sunday, April 12 2009 Reinwald's Bakery with be closing early. We will be open from 6:30 am to 2:00 pm. We will be open regular hours for the rest of the week. Click here for store hours.
Remember to place your holiday order by Wednesday, April 8 to ensure that you have your favorites at your celebration. Remember you can place your order online at reinwaldsbakery.com.
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Huntington Easter Egg Hunt
Saturday April 11th at the Vanderbilt Museum.
Click Here for more information.
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The Easter Bunny is said to have its origins in Germany as early as the 1600's. Known as the "Osterhas" the lored hare shares many similarities with St. Nicholas. At Easter, children would build brightly colored nests in secluded corners of their homes. If the children were well behaved the hare would come and lay brightly colored eggs for them. Hold on a minute, hares don't lay eggs! Though contrary to what we learned in biology class this magical hare would. The story goes that eggs as well as hares were symbols of fertility expressing a feeling of new beginnings associated with the Spring season. Since they were forbidden during the Lenten season people welcomed the abundance of eggs at Easter. For these reasons the Easter bunny is associated with eggs.
