FEED ME MONDAYS – The Willy Wonka Edition

Well a very simple image on instagram attracted a few ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ last week as I endeavoured to finally nail a recipe that has been pestering me for months – raw chocolate. I have attempted a few batches in the past but after the first one tasted incredible but resembled dog excrement and the second came out a better consistency but split (with a coconut layer and a chocolate later and an overwhelming vanilla extract/alcohol taste) I threw my apron in the corner and proclaimed that I would never attempt this wretched desert again. Until one Monday afternoon, I was stuffy with a cold, and call it emotional eating or whatevs, I wanted chocolate. My eating habits have become very settled lately and I’ve sort of found my balance, where eating anything processed or refined is kind of just a non option (obviously the occasional treat is permitted and savoured but my body usually reminds me fairly quickly how much better it works on good, clean, nutritious fuel). So dairy milk was out, my mum’s left over baci chocolates from her visit (one month ago) were out, raw chocolate and a non guilt inducing evening treat was oh so freakin’ in.

I’ve sort of played around with the ratios and measurements and cannot remember specifically what exactly they were (oops!) but I am hoping that the copious number of pictures I took can provide a bit of a mind jolt and serve as a comparison pic for all you players at home!

Raw ‘Start the Car!’ Chocolate

200g cacao butter (this baby can be found in the fridge/cooler section of most health food stores)
5 Tbspns raw cacao powder (less if you ain’t a fan of dark, more if you is!)
2 Tbspns organic coconut sugar (or raw sugar, or honey, or natural sweetener of choice really!)
1-2 tspns vanilla extract
1 tspn sea salt (I don’t know why but this WORKS and it tastes amazing)
Assorted chopped nuts, berries, bee pollen etc (Whatever floats your boat! I did a handful of raw/unsalted almonds, cashews, walnuts and hazelnuts and chopped them fairly coarsely).
Step one – Cacao Butter on the stove
Cacao powder, coconut sugar, vanilla and chopped nuts.
After pouring and ready for the freezer!

Step One – cut a hole in the box. Oh wait, that’s a different ‘recipe’* Step one is to heat/melt the cacao butter. This is a relatively simple, but finicky process, as you need to ensure your full attention is on that bowl of white deliciousness. Set a heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water and add cacao butter. Stirring fairly frequently to ensure the butter doesn’t burn or overheat. I am guessing it would have taken mine about 10mins to heat through and I often removed then returned the bowl to the heat as I went to allow for some ‘melting time’ off the boiler. Keep stirring until it’s a pure liquid with no lumps. I returned mine to the heat for maybe 30 seconds, stirring continuously, to ensure that the mixture was still hot when I was due to add my other ‘bits’. This is where it gets a little tricky, and where I now recognise I failed in the past, if the temperature isn’t relatively steady/high, the batch will split. When your happy with the heat (and test with your pinky finger every now and again and we’re hoping it’s approximately 45 degrees), add the raw cacao and the sugar to the mixture, stirring continuously and scraping the sides to ensure every last bit is combined. Keep stirring to ensure that the sugar crystals have completely disolved. Add your vanilla and stir. I used a lined baking tray and transferred the mixture evenly so that it made a 3-4mm sheet of delicious chocolate bark. Scatter your assorted goodies (nuts, seeds, dried fruit etc) and distribute evenly. Pop in the freezer and leave to set for about 2 hours. It tends to harden quite quickly, as the cacao butter returns to its original solid form quite naturally, but the 2 hours allows it time to set properly and make sure that there are no chocolatey soggy bits. When you take it out of the freezer, break it up with your hands and it will naturally snap apart, or if you’re pedantic and like it neat then using a knife try to cut into even squares. This baby is best enjoyed with a green tea and loves being shared around.

Blessings from my fist pumping kitchen because I finally freakin’ smashed this recipe! x

* If you understood this SNL reference, please call me. We need to get married. Today.

Lovely comments

  1. 1

    Hannah s says

    Yum! I’ve tried making some with coconut oil but had the same prob as you and also my sugar didn’t dissolve! But my spatula did haha! It was a strange phenomenon!

    Reply

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