sharing raw, vegan recipes and advice
In my efforts to make the raw chocolate halvah, I realized I was super low on cocoa powder, ouch! Fortunately, however, I've decided bumps in the road like that are perfect opportunities to get creative so I started experimenting with some other ingredients until I had something worth eating! I started adding vanilla, then threw in some coconut oil, plus the little bit of cocoa powder that I did have. The nutty sesame flavor mixed with the chocolate, coconut, and vanilla give these little "truffles" a malted chocolate flavor that really surprised (and delighted) me. Definitely a successful endeavor, enjoy!
I thought the flavor was pretty authentic. It's a bit like cookie dough made with whole wheat flour.
This is a high-fat recipe, and I don't know if there are acceptable substitutes for some of these ingredients. You need not add as much agave, though. If you cut down on it, you may need to add a few teaspoons of water to form the balls.
Nuts are completely optional, but the walnuts do add to the authenticity. Macadamias would probably be delicious too.
This recipe is quick to mix up, but needs to set in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Honestly the most time-consuming step is grating the cacao butter and melting it. Note that ingredients like cacao butter and coconut oil will go soft and liquid in warm weather, so keep these in the refrigerator and don't let them sit outside for too long.
Although I selected "none" for equipment needed, it's true that a dehydrator is helpful for making almond flour and melting the cacao butter. However, I think almond meal would eventually dry out on its own or in an oven on a low setting.
At a consultation with a naturopath about my need to gain weight, eat more and improve my relationship with food, she advised me to have a treat as an afternoon snack. What I really wanted to make was a raw chocolate bar but didn't have enough ingredients to make lots, or any trays to set it in, so I made these crunchy things as a kind of experiment. I haven't tasted the finished product yet as they're still freezing but the bits I tasted whilst making it were yum! The photo doesn't really do them justice, they look a lot more decadent in real life!
I've been having major raw choclate cravings today. I stopped using condiments of all kinds, including cacao, awhile ago but tonight I needed a little induldge if you know what I'm saying. This one is simple. It's a mixture of bitter, tart and sweet. I didn't use any added sweeteners as the cherimoya needs to act as it's own natural sweet goodness in this drink. It's very nice to be able to appreciate natural flavors without having to add stuff to jazz things up. Coconut water, caco, cherimoya. Hits the spot.
