Making Pure Raw Chocolate is simple, here's our recipe.
When you make raw chocolates your kitchen will fill with the heavenly aromas first unlocked by the ancients of Meso-America. So enjoy the sensuality of the
colours, tastes and aromas of making your own raw chocolate... happy creations.
You will need...
- A bain marie (i.e. a large saucepan of boiling water with a heat proof bowl on top of it).
- A mixing spatula or spoon.
- Moulds for the chocolates to set in. If you don't have moulds you can use ice trays or cake cases.
- Roughly equal proportions by weight
of Raw Cacao Powder,
Raw Cacao Butter and
Agave Syrup. Typically a small batch would be
100 grams of each (making 20 small chocolates), and
a more sizeable batch would be 250 grams of each
(making 50 small chocolates). You can also vary your proportions of Cacao and Agave depending on how sweet or bitter you like your chocolate.
- Vanilla or other flavours to taste.
Method - Step by step
1. Boil some water in the pan of the bain marie then remove from it the heat.
2. Place the Cacao Butter in the bain marie bowl and wait until the last of the solids have just disappeared.
3. Add the Vanilla and stir into the melted Cacao Butter.
4. Add in the Cacao Powder and mix until it is smooth.
5. Add in the Agave and mix until completely blended.
6. If you are adding any other ingredients, add them now.
7. Put your Raw Chocolate mixture into the setting moulds and allow them to set (they set faster in the fridge, and take about 30 minutes to set properly).
8. Pop out your Raw Chocolates and share them with those you love... if you don't eat them all first!
Making Varieties of Raw Chocolate
You can make all sorts of varieties of raw chocolates by adding in various flavours, herbs or other delicious superfoods to your recipe. We have six different
recipes with different herbs for men, women, lovers, etc. We also like to make delicious raw chocolate muesli bars with Inca Berries and oats ... very popular with the kids, and
good for them too.
Acquiring the Ingredients
Here at Indigo Herbs we go to great lengths to ensure a consistent supply of Raw Chocolate ingredients that are reasonably priced, of top quality, and where the
farmers themselves get a fair deal out of it.
Our Cacao supplies are of the highest grade, being exclusively either Organic or in some cases even Wild-harvested. If you are a true
connoisseur you'll also love having the choice between the subtle taste differences of the Cacao we supply from the differing regions of Peru, Ecuador and Bali.
We supply complete chocolate making kits which are ideal for making your own raw chocolate and come with instructions and our recipe. We also supply all the
ingredients separately, as well as the finished, neatly wrapped, Raw Chocolates which we hand craft here in Glastonbury.
Making raw chocolate is one of the finest culinary experiences there is. It fills your kitchen with the delicious aromas first unlocked by the
ancients of Meso-America. Here at Indigo Herbs we're giving away our 'secret' recipe for free!
Why Raw Chocolate?
Much of Cacao's natural goodness gets destroyed in the heating process of conventional chocolate making. Consequently the feel good factor often
experienced when eating raw chocolate is significantly more noticeable because much more of the feel good chemical compounds responsible remain intact. Also, when eating chocolates made
by following our Pure raw chocolate recipe, they are not inhibited by dairy or sugar.
Chocolate folklore & history
It was the Mayans that really got into this “food of the Gods”. According to Maya mythology, the Plumed Serpent gave cacao to the Maya after
humans were created from maize by divine grandmother goddess Xmucane. In a similar creation story, the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl discovered cacao (cacahuatl: "'bitter water"'), in a
mountain filled with other plant foods. There are several recipes for cacao described in ancient texts, for ceremonial, medicinal uses as well as culinary purposes. Some recipes
included maize, chilli, vanilla, peanut butter and honey. Making Raw Chocolate is easy, delicious and fun.
Why do we feel so good?
Well, the raw cacao bean contains over 300 nutritional compounds, is high in anti-oxidants and rich in essential minerals. It contains various exotic phyto-chemicals
including the highest natural source of theobromine (widens blood vessels and stimulates the heart). It even contains the natural 'love molecule' PEA, believed by scientists to be
responsible for the feelings associated with being in love. These phyto-chemicals, which raw chocolate is packed with, trigger the brain's happy feel good neurotransmitters such as
serotonin, dopamine and anandamide.
So in other words as well as being good for your physical nutrition, it can also promote your mental wellbeing. So raw chocolate making not only benefits
your appetite but also your mental wellbeing.
