Tag: cacao powder

Raw Raspberry & Chocolate Slice

Today I’m sharing a recipe for a Raw Raspberry & Chocolate Slice.

I was looking through my recipes this week and came across this recipe that I had saved from one of those free magazines you can get from the supermarket.
It is an easy recipe to make and tastes very nice, sort of a spin on ‘cherry ripe’.

Having the raw chocolate topping helps to keep this slice healthier.

Raw Raspberry & Chocolate Slice

Makes approx. 12 pieces

Ingredients

Base
3/4 cup almond meal
10 pitted dates
1 ½ tbsp. cacao powder
2 ½ tbsp. almond butter
1 tbsp honey

Filling
1 cup raw, natural cashews
250g fresh raspberries
½ cup desiccated coconut
2/3 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla paste
1/3 cup honey

Chocolate topping
40g cacao butter
1 tbsp. coconut oil
1/3 cup cacao powder
2 tbsp. maple syrup

Method
Prepare a 20 x 20 cm tin by lining with baking paper
* For the Base – Place all of the ingredients into a food processor and mix until combined.
* Spread the mixture over the base of the tin, pressing it out evenly and refrigerate.

* For the filling – process the cashews until they are fine crumbs.
* Add the remaining ingredients and process for 2 minutes until the mixture looks smooth and creamy. Pour the mix over the base spreading it evenly. Return the tin to the fridge for 20 minutes.

* To make the chocolate topping, melt the cacao butter and coconut oil and mix in the cacao powder and maple syrup. Once well combined, pour the chocolate over the raspberry filling. You will need to work quickly as the chocolate may start to set if the filling is really cold.

Refrigerate till the chocolate is hard, then lift from the tin and slice into squares.
The slice will need to be kept refrigerated till served.

I think this recipe could be made using different berries if raspberries are not to your taste.

I hope you enjoy this slice as much as we did.

Till the next post,

Live clean n Prosper

Cacao Paste, it’s healthy!

Todays post is about Cacao Paste.

In February last year I wrote about the benefits of Raw Chocolate and posted a recipe.

Yesterday I went to buy more ingredients for making my chocolate and I came across Cacao Paste. I talked to the store owner who informed me that is could be used in a number of ways. It is most popularly used for making chocolate.

So I decided to give it a try, as well as do a bit of research to find out a bit more about it.

 So, what is Cacao paste?

Cacao paste is created when whole cacao beans are fermented, sun dried and roasted at temperatures below 47°C. They are then ground into a paste or liquid, commonly called cacao liquor. This liquid quickly solidifies at room temperature and the result is cacao paste, which is then dried.

Because no heat is used in this process, cacao paste retains its natural properties. Cacao paste is naturally about 55% cacao butter and is an extremely smooth product. Cacao paste is 100% pure organic cacao. No additives, sweeteners or anything else.

 It’s healthy

Not only does cacao paste provide a delicious, chocolatey taste, but it’s also packed with health benefits. It contains more antioxidants than blueberries, black and green teas, and red wine. These antioxidants give cacao the power to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and risk of stroke.

A single cacao bean contains 54% fat (that’s the cacao butter), 31% carbohydrates (mainly fibre with a tiny amount of sugars), 11% protein (including arginine, glutamine and leucine), 3% polyphenols (flavonols and proanthocyanins) and less than 1% trace minerals including magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus.

Cacao has been studied for its ability to reduce blood pressure and has been shown to produce “a small but statistically significant effect in lowering blood pressure by 2-3mm Hg in the short term”. It contains phenylethylamine, which controls pleasure and the feelings you get when you are in love. It also acts as a stimulant and can improve mental alertness. Cacao also contains serotonin and dopamine – which also stimulate good moods and ‘pleasure’ feelings.

Cacao also contains great levels of magnesium, which is an essential mineral during times of stress and helps you to feel more relaxed.

 How do you use it?

Cacao paste is recommended for use in several ways. It seems it can be used in any recipe that requires unsweetened chocolate.

Small chunks can be added to dried fruit and nuts to create your own trail mixes, or grate fine shavings over ice cream or sweet desserts. It is also suggested to use it to make a rich, European style ‘hot chocolate’.

I used it to make my Raw chocolate. It was recommended to use the paste instead of ½ of the cacao butter. I did this. The chocolate actually started to set at room temperature. It also gave the chocolate a very rich texture, however, I found that it started to melt a little quicker as I held it.

I think next time I will try making the recipe with 70grams cacao butter and 30 grams of the paste. Check out my recipe page for the recipe.

Enjoy,

Till the next post,

 Live clean n Prosper.

A healthy snack recipe – Cacao Fig Balls

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Today I’m going to share a Cacao Fig Ball recipe that is both yummy and nutritious.

 

Recently I was talking to a Nutritionist about the importance of calcium in the diet as people age. I asked if there were other calcium rich foods that we could incorporate, apart from the more commonly known dairy foods and greens.

Some of the foods that she recommended were Dried Figs, Sesame seeds or Tahini and Kale.

I decided put together a ball recipe that would include the figs and seeds to make a calcium rich snack.

 

I’ve decided to call these Cacao Fig Balls.

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Ingredients

8 x dried figs (or 100 grms – depends on how juicy they are)

20 x dates (or 100 grms depends – on how juicy they are)

½ cup unsalted Pistachio nuts

2 tbsp Sesame seeds.

½ cup fine shredded coconut

4 tbsp raw Cacao powde

30g Cacao butter – melted

1 tbsp Coconut oil – melted

1 tsp Vanilla essence/paste

+ ¼ cup fine shredded coconut to roll balls in

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Method

 First, put the pistachios into your food processor and quickly blitz to break them up, followed by the figs and dates, then pulse till crumbly and sticky.

Add coconut, cacao and Sesame seeds then pulse till combined.

 I then added the vanilla, cacao butter and coconut oil and mix till combined.

Now the mix should look crumbly, however, if you scoop out a teaspoon full it should press together.

 I used my tablespoon-measuring spoon to scoop out the mix and pressed the mix into shape.

 This mix made 21 balls. Some of which I artfully displayed on my trusty board to photograph.

 

 Now for some nutritional information,

 It seems that figs’ are a member of the Mulberry family!

 It turns out that apart from Calcium, dried figs are an excellent source of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants

 Dried Figs are full of minerals like copper, potassium, manganese, iron, selenium and zinc. 100 g of dried figs contain 680 mg of potassium, 162 mg of calcium, and 2.03 mg of iron.

 Furthermore, research studies suggest that figs help lower blood sugar levels and control blood glucose levels in type-II diabetes.

 

Now, about Sesame seeds.

 It seems that the Sesame plant is a tall annual herb and the seeds are one of the first oil seeds known to humankind.

 Sesame is among the seeds rich in quality vitamins, and minerals. They are an excellent source of B-complex vitamins such as niacin, folic acid, thiamin (vitamin B1), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), and riboflavin.

 The seeds are incredibly rich sources of many essential minerals. Calcium, iron, manganese, zinc, magnesium, selenium, and copper especially concentrated in sesame seeds.

 Sesame seeds are also valuable sources of dietary protein with fine quality amino acids that are essential for growth, especially in children. Just 100 g of seeds provide about 18 g of protein.

 

The dates also contribute health benefits to this recipe.

 Dates contain antioxidants known as tannins. Tannins are known to possess anti-infective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hemorrhagic (prevent easy bleeding tendencies) properties.

 They are also an excellent source of iron, potassium and minerals like calcium, manganese, copper, and magnesium. (Facts source – http://www.nutrition-and-you.com)

 

I have previously written about the health benefits of raw cacao, so I won’t go there.

 So, all these ingredients come together to create a great tasting snack that is very good for you.

 

Till the next post,

 

Live Clean n Prosper

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