Raw Chocolate for Molds

Raw chocolate bar

It's easy to make good tasting raw cacao sauce, but it's tricky to make raw cacao that will solidify into a nice even texture or hold the design of a mold.

I was resorting to using coconut oil and agave in my raw chocolate recipes but even though I was mixing the sauce evenly, it would never solidify completely. The agave remained a liquid after everything else solidified or the chocolate would melt instantly in my hand. Instead I decided to give cacao butter and powdered maple syrup a try.

Cacao butter (cold pressed oil of the cacao bean) is more dense and remains a solid better than coconut oil. The taste of it really lends to a deeper overall cacao flavor as well. The maple syrup powder is a great powdered sweetener that lends for a nice smooth solid chocolate bar and I like the flavor of it too. Other great options for powered sweeteners are stevia or xylitol, depending on your dietary needs or flavor preferences.

The recipe:
2 tbsp raw cacao butter, melted slowly
3-4 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 - 1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup powder
1/4 tsp vanilla
sprinkle sea salt

Melt the cacao butter slowly, place in a mixing bowl, add in everything else and mix well. Pour mixture into a chocolate mold or you can cover a plate with wax paper and pour on that. Place in fridge and wait for it to solidify. Chocolate should shrink a tad and separate from the mold and be easy to pop out. If you are just pouring on wax paper on a plate, just break up the chocolate into pieces. Makes around 2 chocolate bars using this mold. Keep chocolate stored in fridge.

This recipe is easy to multiply or add flavors to. Add 1/8 tsp of peppermint extract for mint chocolate or other extracts like orange or lavender  Other flavor additions could be shredded coconut, nuts, cacao nibs, coffee, ginger, dried fruit etc.

 Sea salt, mint, and coconut almond

HAVE FUN

Raw Almond Butter Mousse

Raw Almond Butter Mousse

CRAZY good. I used an online recipe found here and substituted in almond butter and agave for peanut butter and maple syrup. Takes a few fancy ingredients but it's so worth it. Throw on some raw cacao nibs and go to town. Makes 2-4 servings.

Raw Jicama Chili Cheese Fries

Raw Jicama Chili Cheese Fries

Fun and tasty recipe from Amanda Nicole Smith's raw blog. You can find the recipe here. I really like the chili and the cheese sauce. The jicama is a little tough to eat a lot of as it was so tender and chewy but I would make the beans and the sauce again just to put on salad.

Marinated jicama going into the dehydrator

Raw Chocolate Chip cookies

Delicious and easy to make!

2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup agave
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4-1 cup cacao nibs

In a mixing bowl, first mix together the flour, coconut, and salt. Then add in the coconut oil, agave and vanilla,  mix well and then mix in the cacao nibs.

Scoop out 1 tbsp sized balls and place on dehydrator trays. Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 6 hours. Then store in fridge, good for up to 7 days.

yuummmzzz

Upgraded!

After many months of saving, help from loved ones, dreaming and hoping, I have finally bought myself a Vitamix blender. And let me tell you its worth it. Especially if you make smoothies everyday like I do.

I got the Vitamix Pro 300, because it's shorter (but wider) to fit under cupboards, and it's 40% quieter than older Vitamix styles. This matters to me living in a apartment building with a moderately sized kitchen. It's definitely quieter in general, especially compared to two other industrial strength blenders I've used in the past. And it makes EVERYTHING smooth and creamy, I've returned to blending kale and it is glorious. No more giant chunks of greens all over my teeth all day, everyday.

SWEET BLISS

How to Make Tasty Green Smoothies

A simple tidbit that helps with making green smoothies everyday: use mostly fruits with soluble fiber and your green smoothies will turn out creamy and delicious instead of bitter, chunky and watery. With that info in mind, you can make up many of your own recipes.

If you are just getting started with green smoothies, I recommend getting the original book on green smoothies. Or the Green Smoothie iphone App is great to use everyday for recipe ideas.

Black & White Cookies

The raw version.

I decided to try the old new york classic cookie from a raw perspective. Made from cashews, macadamia nuts and shredded coconut, topped with half vanilla coconut frosting and half cacao frosting. Sweet and salty and filling! Can only eat a few of these at a time, and tasty at that.

Recipe from Everyday Raw Desserts by Matthew Kenney.