Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been experimenting with making raw chocolates, today I actually measured the ingredients so I could tell you what I did and can improve for next time.

Ingredients for the chocolate:

• 50g cacao butter
• 3 tablespoons cacao powder
• 2 tablespoons lucuma powder

Flavourings:

• Currants
• Hazelnuts
• Cacao nibs
• Pollen grains

Method:

First I melted the cacao butter. I grated it to make it easier to melt, placed in in a dish and then placed this dish in a larger bowl of nearly boiling water. I had to change the hot water several times as it cooled. (Another way of doing this is with a double boiler on a stove, but I don’t have one of those yet.)  When the cacao butter had completely liquefied I added the cacao powder and lucuma, a tablespoon at a time, stirring it in until dissolved.

I then poured the liquid chocolate into moulds and then added the flavourings.  I’m guessing that there is an optimal time to wait before adding stuff, otherwise it all sinks to the bottom.  I ground the hazelnuts up first and did a hazelnut and current flavour.  Once the chocs were made, I put them in the fridge to set before eating.
Next time I will try using more cacao powder, and probably more lucuma also.  The chocolates with currents were great because the currents were an additional sweetener, the others could have been a little sweeter.

I also tried making a chocolate coated brazil nut, but will have to work on a method of getting an even coat!