This healthy raw date and nut chocolate not only taste great but is quick and easy to make, I use raw cacao powder and butter as opposed to cocoa (the heat processed version) as it still contains the high level of flavonols and antioxidants found in the raw cacao bean. I use the brand choc chick which you can order on line, some health food shops may sell it but I tend to use a lot so I like to buy large quantities. The smell of raw cacao butter is much more intense than the processed cocoa butter which I thinks makes for better chocolate as it’s the cacao butter that produces that lovely smell that we all recognise as chocolate!
Recipe:
1 cup or 130g cacao butter
1/2 cup or 40g cacao powder
4 tablespoons of cashew butter
6 drops of medicine flower vanilla extra or 1 teaspoon of regular extract
8 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 heaped tablespoon of purple corn flour (optional – just added in for extra nutrition)
Small pinch of himalayan pink salt or celtic sea salt (optional but a pinch of salt is supposed to make chocolate more chocolatey)
1 cup or 140g almond nuts
1/2 cup or 60g shelled pistachio nuts (unsalted)
10 brazil nuts
7 medjool dates
Method:
Melt the cacao butter in a bain marie, while it’s melting (may take a little while) chop down the almonds and pistachios in a food processor till they are broken down into small pieces, rough chop the brazil nuts (I like to do this with a knife so the brazils stay chunky), remove the stones in the medjool dates and chop down them down into small pieces. When the cacao butter has melted stir in the cacao powder, purple corn flour (if using) and the salt till its all well incorporated, then add the cashew butter, vanilla and maple syrup. When this is all well combined stir in the chopped nuts and dates. Line a tray with greaseproof baking paper (or cling film will work too) and press the chocolate into a slab, place in the fridge for a few hours to set. When it has firmed up cut into chunks or bar shapes and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Notes
When the cacao butter cools it will start to firm up making it difficult to mix so to keep everything moving I find it helps to preheat your mixing bowl by turning the oven on for about one minute then turn it off and place your bowl in there for a few minutes before you add the ingredients so it’s not cold to start with. If it still starts to set while you are mixing then just place it back on your bain marie again to remelt it. I use a large glass pyrex bowl so you might not have this problem if your bowl is plastic. You can mix the first set of ingredients in a blender jug too but I prefer to mix by hand.
