Dark Christmas – so dark, it’s good for you..

Remember the old White Christmas?  Full of processed Copha, rice bubbles and some dried fruit?

Well, the other day I was mixing up some home made cereal with puffed ancient grains, pepitas, goji berries, coconut etc and thought ‘WOW, if I poured my homemade raw chocolate mixture over the top of this, it could be a ‘New age White Christmas’…except DARK.

And dark, of course, means cacao, which is always deliciously chocolatey!!

I will just put it out there that:

• cacao is a stimulant, so probably best to use carob or organic cocoa powder for the kids… but cacao is also full of magnesium and antioxidants and even iron
• copha is a hydrogenated coconut oil – which basically means ++ processing and this leads to silent inflammation on your insides.  Silent inflammation is being found to be connected to diseases and cancer
• You can use moulds to make individual chocolates, instead of chocolate-bark style – you’ll need to halve the recipe or buy about 10 or so moulds!
• organic ingredients mentioned below – find at your local health food store.  It’s worth avoiding the extra chemicals
• the chocolate will begin to melt – you can replace some of the coconut oil with cacao butter which will make sure it stays more solid for longer

Now let’s get to it!!

Bits to toast

Set oven to 200deg C.

You’ll need:

• 1 cup puffed ancient grains (any combination of : puffed quinoa, amaranth or millet)
• 1/2 cup chopped, mixed nuts
• 2 tablespoons pepitas
• 1/3 cup desiccated coconut (organic to avoid nasty preservatives)

Spread across a baking tray and toast for about 10 minutes, keeping an eye out for when it’s all lightly browned.  Remove from oven.

Preparation before chocolate

Line a tray (a baking tray is a good size for this quantity).  Pour the toasted bits in and also add in :

• 2 tablespoons goji berries
• 2 tablespoons sultanas
• 2 tablespoons organic dried apricots (to avoid nasty preservatives)
• 1 flat tablespoon cinnamon (true cinnamon – cinnamon zeylanicum is a safer version if you have sensitive people in the house)
• zest 1/3-1/2 organic orange (no point in zesting an orange that has been sprayed)

Dark Chocolate

You’ll need:

• 1.5 cups coconut oil
• 1.5 cups cacao powder
• ~2-3tbs raw honey
• optional – 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
• optional – 1 heaped tablespoon tahini (creamier chocolate)

Either mix in processor, just enough to combine honey with oil.  OR heat over very low heat in a saucepan and stir to combine.  This is necessary in winter when the oil is more solidified.

Thermomix – add ingredients to bowl.  Mix 10secs – SP 5 to combine.  When coconut oil is solidified, 37 deg – 2mins – SP3. Scrape down and add a bit more time if not all melted. Then combine 10secs – SP 5.

Note : honey will settle so be prepared to pour your chocolate….or mix again before you do.

Pour over the mixture in tray.  Afterwards, use a spoon to drag any puffed bits into the chocolate, just to make sure they are sticking to something.

Refrigerate or even put in the freezer for about 1/2 an hour.  Break it up and store in the fridge.  You have DARK CHRISTMAS!! Enjoy!

And remember to let me know what you think!  I would love to hear from you… 🙂 Heidi