Alice Medrich facts for kids
Alice Medrich is a famous businesswoman, baker, and cookbook author. She is especially known for her amazing chocolate creations! People sometimes call her the "First Lady of Chocolate" because she has done so much with it. Alice started her own chocolate shop chain called Cocolat and has written many popular cookbooks.
Contents
California Truffles: A Sweet Invention
Alice Medrich introduced chocolate truffles to the United States in 1973. She started making and selling them from her home in Berkeley. Before her, most people in the US didn't know what chocolate truffles were!
Alice's truffles are special because they have very soft centers. This makes them look a bit "lumpy" and larger than traditional French truffles. Because of their unique style and where they were created, they became known as "California truffles."
Alice's Wonderful Cookbooks
Alice Medrich has written many cookbooks, sharing her delicious recipes with the world. Here are some of her well-known books:
- Cocolat: Extraordinary Chocolate Desserts (1990)
- Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts (1994)
- Alice Medrich's Cookies and Brownies (1999)
- Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate (2003)
- Pure Dessert (2007)
- Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies (2010)
- Flavor Flours (2014)
She also helped write A Baker's Dozen Cookbook and contributed to the famous Joy of Cooking cookbook.
Awards for Her Books
Many of Alice's cookbooks have won important awards:
- Cocolat won "Cookbook of the Year" from the James Beard Foundation. It also won awards from the IACP.
- Chocolate and the Art also won "Cookbook of the Year" from the James Beard Foundation.
- Bittersweet won "Cookbook of the Year" from the IACP.
- Chewy Gooey won an award for "Best Book: Baking Sweet or Savory" from the IACP.
- Cookies and Brownies, Bittersweet, and Chewy Gooey all won "Best of the Best Awards" from Food and Wine Magazine.
The Story of Cocolat Stores
Alice Medrich started her chocolate store chain, Cocolat, in 1976. By 1990, Cocolat had grown to seven stores in the San Francisco Bay area. It was a very popular place for chocolate lovers!
However, the company later faced some big challenges. In 1991, their main office in Berkeley was damaged, and the company also had financial difficulties due to an employee's actions. Because of these problems, Alice decided to sell her part of the company.
