Saturday, April 19, 2014

Easy Easter Eggs

That chocolate can be raw and healthy still fascinates me. As I was growing up, healthy also meant boring, or at least tolerable but never nice, yummy or tasty. That chocolate could be guilt free, divinely delicious and healthy was an oxymoron.

So deeply embedded is this belief that I still get a little-girl thrill of making and eating chocolate and, not feel even a teensy bit naughty.

Of course, one can eat chocolate at any time of the year, and ‘one’ does. Today the beautiful liquid was lovingly spooned into egg and cross shapes. A Rocky Road style poured out carefully into a small tray to be cut into square-ish chunks when set.

My usual approach to a recipe is to make it as instructed and then play with it until it suits me.

This Easter weekend I offer you my version of perfect chocolate.

Dairy, egg, gluten and refined sugar free
No palm oil
Tastes amazing
Nutritionally good for you

No matter which way I look at it, I have ‘ticked all the boxes’ – the boxes that are most important to me, anyway.

Happy and blessed Easter!


Chocolate Easter Eggs (Raw)

100g cacao butter
½ c cacao powder
¼ c agave syrup or maple syrup or coconut sugar
small pinch good salt such as Himalayan or Celtic
1 t vanilla essence
¼ c your choice of ‘extras’ – see below instructions**

Melt cacao butter in Bain Marie or on very low element*. Grating the cacao butter before melting will help to keep temperature even and melting faster than keeping it in blocks.

If using coconut sugar stir through melted cacao butter to dissolve.

Cool if cacao butter heated too high (over 46C it loses its ‘rawness’ and enzymes reduce rapidly).

If using maple or agave syrup, stir into melted cacao butter. Add oil drops and mix well.

Then stir through the cacao powder and salt with any ‘extras’ you’d like.

Spoon into Easter molds of your choice.
 **chopped cacao nibs, diced sour cherries or chopped nuts.

Set in fridge. Keeps for weeks.

This is a deeply satisfying and rich chocolate; you’ll only need a piece at a time. This could help with sugar levels as generally, you’re not tempted to eat too much.

All ingredients in italics are available from www.gomoreraw.com

Variations:
Coconut – Use 70 g cacao butter and 30g coconut oil (raw if possible). Melt cacao butter first then add coconut oil to melt. Omit essential oil and stir through ¼ c desiccated coconut (raw if possible). Add 1 t pure vanilla essence.

Jaffa – replace vanilla essence with 10 drops orange oil (food grade).

Mint – replace vanilla essence with 10 drops peppermint oil (food grade).

Raw Rocky Road – in small tray (approx 9 x 7 cm; line with baking paper) spread over chopped nuts and dried fruit of choice – figs, apricots, sour cherries, raisins, dates. Pour over melted chocolate mix. Tip to spread chocolate evenly.

Fresh Fruit Chocolate:  Place small amount of melted chocolate in each mold space. Allow to set briefly. Place one piece of fruit in each chocolate mold and cover with chocolate. Or include some fresh fruit in Rocky Road to replace the soft texture that marshmellows give. Fresh Fruit Chocolate should be eaten within three days. Keep in fridge.

*if using the stove element to melt the cacao butter, keep the temperature on low and watch carefully so it doesn’t get too hot. Remove before it has completely melted and the remaining should melt with stored heat.

Copyright to Go More Raw Ltd and Christine Smith
www.gomoreraw.com

Christine
www.gomoreraw.com
email: christine@gomoreraw.com

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The Anglo-Far East Company
The Original Private Gold and Silver Bullion Custodian
Your reference when you order: an-001
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