Status Updates From The Science of Chocolate

"Nuts like hazelnuts contain a fat that is almost all liquid at room temperature." -> This can lead to a softening of the chocolate when both are used together (either mixed directly, or from fat migration with a nut based filling).

"It is in fact because this fat [cocoa butter] is relatively simple in having so few main components that it melts rapidly over such a small temperature range, i.e. between room and mouth temperatures."

Free fatty acids are acids that have come free from the glycerol 'backbone' of the triglyceride. These will adversely affect the setting properties of the chocolate.

"Some manufacturers have specific 'house flavours', Cadbury and Hershey perhaps being the most well-known. Very often this is due to specific changes during the crumb making process, where changes in holding times, acidity and temperature can give rise to very different flavours in the final chocolate. For this reason, chocolate crumb making conditions are often kept a closely guarded secret."

"It is interesting to note that many of the early chocolate companies, including Cadbury, Rowntree and Hershey (in the USA) were founded by Quakers or people of similar religious beliefs. This may have been because their pacifist and teetotal beliefs prevented them working in many industries. The chocolate industry was, however, regarded as being beneficial to people."