Homemade Chocolate! page

[wiltondeportes]

So I was jonesing for some chocolate tonight, and a drive to the store was simply not happening. I desperately looked into my cupboard for something to satisfy me. I have attempted making chocolate, chocolate with almonds, hot chocolate, chocolate-fruit shakes, and I've mostly failed miserably. My concoctions were essentially ground up cocao nibs + sweetner of whatever form (agave for chocolate, fruit for the shakes). They all came out extremely bitter and just not very satisfying.

Anyways, I had these nibs still in my cabinet. I grounded them up and ADDED COCONUT OIL. This was my key mistake. The chocolate needed fat. Along with the coconut oil, I added some honey for sweetner. I threw it in the freezer for 5 minutes, and wahlah! chocolate. It tasted store quality. I encourage every chocoholic to try making your own chocolate with ground nibs OR cacao powder (haven't tried this option yet...it's basically nibs minus cacao fat), some form of fat, and some form of sweetner.

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Why have the sweetener? Ask your self-is it the chocolate you are craving or that sweet taste?

From 70% to 90, then 100% (over 3 years). I now find a few cocao nibs on their own satisfies a niggling chocolate desire. (or sprinkled on whipped cream!)

Search out mild nibs. Hotel Chocolat good. Expensive but not much needed to scratch the itch.

[Zophie]

I could kiss you! ((smooch))

I am going to try that today.

[Dr. Bork Bork]

magnesium will help calm a chocolate craving in the biggest chocoholics (like me-- I've noticed a huge decline in chocolate anxiety since starting Magnesium)

whatever you do, do NOT mix MojoMilk with melted coconut cream concentrate-- unless you want to form an addiction. Same goes for these:
Tropical Traditions - Recipe - Chocolate Coconut Crème Bar

I added just 1 or 2 drops of liquid stevia raspberry chocolate flavor and it totally hit the spot

[wiltondeportes]

Why have the sweetener? Ask your self-is it the chocolate you are craving or that sweet taste?

From 70% to 90, then 100% (over 3 years). I now find a few cocao nibs on their own satisfies a niggling chocolate desire. (or sprinkled on whipped cream!)

Search out mild nibs. Hotel Chocolat good. Expensive but not much needed to scratch the itch.

Just because I like the taste of chocolate with sweetner. It's candy to me... I only add maybe a teaspoon of honey for a minibatch that produces a piece of chocolate the size of the bottom of my cup.

I could check out those other nibs possibly...I do buy quality though. It's organic raw cacao nibs, raw local honey, and organic extra virgin coconut oil (courtesy my local co-op). I think my next variables to change are trying powder instead of ground nibs and using other types of honey like orange clover (I used buckwheat which is really strong).

[wiltondeportes]

I could kiss you! ((smooch))

I am going to try that today.

Haha glad I could be of some assistance. I just finished off my cookie size chocolate creation from last night. That fat adds creaminess and makes for the right texture when frozen.

[wiltondeportes]

I tried the cacao powder today instead of the ground up cacao nibs....wow! Another big difference. It's creamier and creates a quite perfect chocolate in the freezer. The syrup from the blender is syrupier when using the powder. It's great with berries and nuts too. /to clarify again, cacao powder is simply the cacao solids that have been extracted from the cacao fats/oils. To my understanding, cacao powder + cacao butter = cacao nibs = cut up whole cacao beans.

Ok, I'm taking this to the ultimate level. I just ordered a mortar and peddle and some whole cacao beans. I got the Criollo variety which is the rarest and most prized variety for it's flavor. It's the plant native to Central America, so I'm assuming it is the variety the Aztecs had.

I did a little research on fat content of cacao fat vs coconut fat. These are also known as butter and oil respectively when you buy them. They both are primarily saturated and monounsaturated fat. Cacao is about 2.5:1 saturated to monounsatured. Coconut is almost purely saturated. These are both great. They also contain relatively similar polyunsaturated content. Per ounce, coconut has about 500mg and cacao has 700mg of Omega 6 (neither have much Omega 3). Coconut has primarily lauric acid for its saturated fat content. Cacao has primarily stearic acid for its saturated fat content. These are both good types of saturated fats according to a quick seach for research on this subject. This shows using cacao solids along with it's natural oils are about the same nutritionally as using cacao solids along with coconut oils.

I'm in way too deep here, but I'm going to experiment with grinding these beans down to see if I can make a paste like I was able to with the cacao powder today. It would simplify the ingredients list. My hope is that the grinder does a better job than blender.

[wiltondeportes]

Did I mention I like chocolate?

[randallfloyd]

I made my own chocolate coconut bar yesterday. It was totally delicious, very rich and bitter, with a softer texture than chocolate.

100 grams 85% chocolate
2 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons coconut butter
1 heaping tablespoon unsalted butter

Melt it all in a double broiler and refrigerate.

Beware.. it's easy to eat the lot.

[wiltondeportes]

Also, cinnamon, salt, and spearmint or peppermint herb are a few more ingredients you could add to make it even better.