Raw Chocolate

Raw chocolate is a great place to start when learning chocolate work. It’s quick and easy, involves no tempering and is much healthier than the commercially available alternatives.

It’s also a good demonstration of the flavours and properties of cacao, which comes in handy when moving on to tempering and more advanced chocolate work.

Ingredients

60 cacao butter
45g cacao powder
45g date syrup
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla powder
pinch of salt

1. Using a bain marie makes the process near foolproof, but an ordinary pan works fine. You’ll just need to keep a close eye on the temperature
2. Get it going on a low heat, and start melting the cacao butter slowly
3. Once the cacao butter begins to liquify, you can add the date syrup and half a teaspoon of vanilla paste
4. Also add a pinch of salt
5. Once it has melted entirely, with no solids remaining, add the raw cacao powder
6. Cacao powder can be a little stubborn, so be prepared for some stirring to get it properly incorporated.
7. Pour into a silicone chocolate mould
8. Fit for at least an hour and serve frozen