Hello there,
Wow, I can’t believe we’re in December and Christmas is only a few weeks away! I haven’t even written one Christmas card…. but I did get in early with the Christmas decorations around the house. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas!
Back in October, when Rosco and I had our anniversary, I experimented with making chocolate.
It’s actually surprisingly easy. I tried a few different recipes with a few different sweeteners (coconut sugar, agave, maple syrup) and differing quantities of cocoa/cacao (sometimes I use one, sometimes I use the other). This is what I learned:
- There is never really a wrong way to make chocolate – they all tasted pretty delicious
- You can put so many things in the chocolate – coconut, goji berries, chilli, buckini’s, rice puffs, buts…. pretty much anything in your pantry
When you put them in cute moulds and alfoil cases, they make them look super amazing.
Anyway, since then I’ve been tweaking the recipe. This is the one that I think tastes the best:
- ¼ cup cacao butter
- 2 heaped tablespoons cacao powder
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- Whatever your added something is - I added Loving Earth Buckini's (mostly because I bought them but they're too sweet for me to eat for breakfast)
- Melt the cacao - I do this by filling one bowl with boiling water, and then placing another bowl over the top and putting the cacao butter in and stirring.
- Once it is melted, add the cacao powder and maple syrup and then stir until all mixed in.
- Place in the fridge to set.
If you use your pyrex measuring jug for the cacao butter, then when it comes time to pour the chocolate, you'll have a much easier time.
Now, I did almost have a heart attack when I saw how much I paid for cacao butter, although I must admit that a little goes a long, long way. If this is too far above your budget though, you can always use coconut oil, or just buy and melt dark chocolate (although if you buy dark chocolate, you obviously don’t need the cacao powder or sweetener). If you do choose to go all in with cacao butter, I definitely recommend shopping around for a good price.
These make a great Christmas present for anyone.
Have you started writing your Christmas cards yet?
Robyn xx