“Raw” Chocolate with Sea Salt

I am sort of insecure when it comes to cooking or baking for people.  Yes, selfishness might play a small role when it comes to sharing some of my treats as well 😉 ; but I have such different taste than many people, I worry.

I said I would practice & perfect my chocolate making before sharing a “recipe” – I will still practice & perfect, don’t you worry – but after approving “mmms” when Dave took some to work to share with friends, I decided I could share what I did.  [Honestly, I think they were simply impressed by the fact I made chocolate myself.]

The idea of making my own “raw” chocolate was initially intimidating, but there is not much to it!  And you need only one pot.

This isn’t really a recipe but loose instruction on what I did, which was actually just a lot of pouring, melting & tasting.  If anyone is interested in giving chocolate-making a go, maybe this will give you a good place to start.

I mentioned before I read equal parts of fat, chocolate & sweetener by weight is key.  If you try this & have a kitchen scale, please let us know if this is accurate; also, feel free to include approximate, coordinating volume measurements too! [for those of use without a scale]

I started with equal parts coconut butter & [shaved] raw cacao butter, totaling about ¾ cup.  I melted this in a small saucepan over low heat & removed from the burner once it was liquid.  I stirred in a scant 1.5 cup raw cacao powder until mixed well; then added 2 big spoonfuls of almond butter, mashing & mixing until well incorporated.  I also stirred in 1 – 2 tsp [alcohol-free] vanilla.  I used raw blue agave to sweeten, maybe 2 – 4 T – with the agave I really just squeezed a bit from the bottle, tasted, squeezed a bit more, tasted, etc.  It is really about tasting as you go & finding your perfect preference!  You could also use raw honey or maple to sweeten instead.  I finished off with a couple [or maybe just one] teaspoons of sea salt & poured into molds to freeze.  I also sprinkled a little sea salt over half the cups for extra saltiness before freezing — you really have not lived until pairing chocolate with sea salt.  You could add other flavors like cinnamon, mint instead of vanilla, espresso powder, finely chopped dried fruit or nuts or make it really pretty with pink Himalayan sea salt.  My next batch will include lavender-sea salt.

This made enough to fill 12 silicone cupcake molds halfway, which is a lot of homemade, dark chocolate!  I am not complaining though. 😉  We keep them in an airtight container in the freezer & chop each cup into quarters.  They are going to last awhile.  A small piece is indulgent.  In the future, I will make half the amount & freeze in mini cupcake molds or small candy molds.

To start off our anniversary weekend, we paired a couple pieces of this chocolate with vanilla bean coconut ice cream & vanilla-wafer-like cookies by Country Choice.  Now I just need a recipe to make our own vanilla wafers.

Thank you for the sweet anniversary wishes!!!

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Do you have a kitchen scale?  I am considering getting one.  What do you find most handy about having one?  Have you ever made homemade vanilla wafers?!

 

Sea Salt & Chocolate Pleasure

Only five days until Christmas?  Really?

Wow.

In need of a last-minute gift or a little something to enhance an offering?  I was.  Natalie saved me with her suggestion.

Simple, pretty & I needed only three ingredients.

• 1 bag [12 oz?] of dark chocolate chips [I used Guittard 60% cacao, non-dairy]
• ~1 cup almonds [I had leftover almond crumbs, but I’m sure I can think of something to do with these. ;)]
• sea salt, to taste

I Love Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt.

It is my current favorite combination.  Salt brings out the complexity of dark chocolate, & I’ve been CRAVING it recently.  It didn’t take much to convince me to make this bark, & it definitely lived up to expectations.

Mmmm…now I don’t want to share.

Line an 8×8 baking sheet with parchment paper if you have it — or take your husband up on his offer to run back to the store when you realize you forgot it — it is worth it for the ease of cleanup & removing the chocolate from the pan.  Use a larger baking sheet if you want thinner bark.

Toast the almonds, chop [the food processor is great for this] & spread them over the parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate.  You can do this in a microwave or using a double boiler. I love melting chocolate with my double boiler — there is something therapeutic about stirring the chips & watching as they slowly melt into dark, rich liquid.

Pour the melted chocolate over the almonds, spreading gently if needed.

Sprinkle with sea salt, to taste by sight — ok, so you can’t really taste test yet; I just guessed & thought it best to error on the lighter side for the sake of general taste [of others].  Start with a light dusting & increase the amount on your next batches if desired — you’ll want to make more.  Promise.

Allow to cool & harden [I left mine in the fridge overnight].

Remove the harden bark from the baking sheet & break into pretty pieces.  [This is fun.]

Fill a clean mason jar with chocolate bark pieces.

Tie a couple pretty ribbons around the jar for a nice, finishing touch.  I also cut a circle out of gold tissue paper & inserted it between the lid & screw-top to hide the not-so-pretty, generic writing.

This made enough to fill two 12-ounce jars.

I keep thinking how pretty pink, Himalayan sea salt would be…but these are still very pretty.

Natalie also brought up that pistachios & dried cranberries would be a festive alternative to almonds.  That would be a fun combination — let me know if anyone tries it — you simply can’t go wrong with almonds though.

Thanks again for your help Natalie!

~

Friday was downstairs.  Here’s a little look at the upstairs.

Hook a left & meet the linen closet & full bath.

Keep hooking & you’re in the spare room.

I love the storage space in our rental.  This closet will be perfect for our outdoor gear.

The spare has become the workout room for now.

If you hook a right at the top of the stairs:

another nice closet…which has some of Eisley’s things, & she knows it. 🙂

Our bedroom

I like the tree right outside, & yes that is our bed for the time being “rolled” up against the wall.  The memory foam mattress pad is perfectly cozy for me, but Dave’s heavy, broad shoulders sink to the floor…I can see how that could be a bit uncomfortable.  We padded it with thick blankets underneath, so he doesn’t hit the hard floor any longer.  I like having it out of the way during the day — plenty of play room for me & Eis — but I’m sure we’ll be getting an actual bed soon.

Aw…& a walk-in closet.

In case you don’t see enough of Eisley 😉

& want close-up of the “bed”.

Sometimes she reminds me of a deer.

~

What “last minute” things do you need to take care of this week before the holidays?  I think I just have one two gifts left & some cards to make — oh yeah, & a family portrait to take.

Hope you enjoy your Monday!