With Easter this weekend, I felt compelled to post a recipe for chocolate.... how bad really?! For me making homemade chocolate is about three core ingredients; cacao butter, cacao powder and maple syrup. After that, add whatever extras take your fancy. I tend to avoid using coconut oil in homemade chocolate unless I'm specifically making a coconut flavoured chocolate; otherwise the flavour is too over powering.
For today's chocolate, I wanted a fruit and nut version. Think cranberry and cashew, raisin and almond and you get the picture. In the end, I landed on a dried fig and pecan nut combo - yum!!
This chocolate is melt in your mouth and satisfies on every level. And did I mention the added bonus? Zero refined sugar and one or two pieces is plenty enough to satisfy even the craziest chocolate cravings.
Keep reading for the recipe...
Ingredients
3/4 cup cacao butter
1/4 cup cashew nut butter
3/4 cup raw cacao powder
1/4 cup maple syrup
Pinch sea salt
1/4 cup dried figs, chopped into small pieces
1/4 cup pecan nuts, chopped into small pieces
Method
Melt the cacao butter in a saucepan over a gentle heat.
Add the melted cacao butter along with the cashew nut butter, raw cacao powder, maple syrup and a pinch of sea salt to a blender and blend until smooth.
Spoon a teaspoon of the chocolate into individual silicone moulds. If you don't have silicone moulds, use ice cube trays or simply line a baking tray with baking paper and spread the chocolate onto the baking tray. Press some chopped fig and pecan nuts into each chocolate mould before spooning another teaspoon of the chocolate on top.
Place the chocolate moulds in the freezer to set. This takes about 15 minutes.
Once set, either remove from the silicone moulds or ice cube trays or in the case of the lined baking tray, break the chocolate into small pieces.
Store in a tuberware container in the fridge.
Enjoy xx
