Request: Laura's Chocolate
- Thread starter darksai
- Start date
aaronfransen
Jedi Master
Ditto me on that! My own recipe is stupid simple, and I suspect there are much better ones.
(Coconut oil, cocoa, xylitol, vanilla...)
(Coconut oil, cocoa, xylitol, vanilla...)
I've been having pretty good luck with a 1:1 ratio of fat to chocolate powder, 1/2 cup of xylitol (powdered in a coffee grinder) then adding whatever flavours might be nice. Lately it's been:
3/4 cup of butter,
1/4 cup of cocoa butter melted together
If you cut the stick of butter and melt it first in a pyrex measuring cup, you can then add chunks of cocoa butter until it reaches the one cup mark.
Then put it in a heavy metal pot on low, or low flame, get it completely liquid, and beat in the xylitol. You'll want to keep stirring it until all the clear butter fat floating on the top is mixed in. When it looks silky, like smooth gravy, start beating in the cocoa powder till all of that is mixed in.
You can add the flavouring in then and pour it into your molds. I divide the batch to make two kinds. Peppermint, vanilla, and orange are favourites here, but plain old chocolate is great too. I've also used liquid lecithin from the health food store (NOT the kind used for making liposomal vit C), as it's supposed to help with the emulisification. It doesn't seem to make much difference afaict, but you could give it a whirl.
Hope that helps. :)
3/4 cup of butter,
1/4 cup of cocoa butter melted together
If you cut the stick of butter and melt it first in a pyrex measuring cup, you can then add chunks of cocoa butter until it reaches the one cup mark.
Then put it in a heavy metal pot on low, or low flame, get it completely liquid, and beat in the xylitol. You'll want to keep stirring it until all the clear butter fat floating on the top is mixed in. When it looks silky, like smooth gravy, start beating in the cocoa powder till all of that is mixed in.
You can add the flavouring in then and pour it into your molds. I divide the batch to make two kinds. Peppermint, vanilla, and orange are favourites here, but plain old chocolate is great too. I've also used liquid lecithin from the health food store (NOT the kind used for making liposomal vit C), as it's supposed to help with the emulisification. It doesn't seem to make much difference afaict, but you could give it a whirl.
Hope that helps. :)
herondancer said:
I can attest to the fact that the above method is highly successful.
herondancer said:
Thanks, I'll give it a try!
So that no one else might scratch their head as long as I did on this, (me over-analysing again
) it's one cup of cocoa for the above recipe.Or 4:3:2:1 of cocoa, butter, xylitol and cocoa butter respectively in the general case, a very tidy ratio, I must say :)
herondancer said:
Yeah the 1:1 ratio works best for me too. I use mainly butter+coconut oil, and find it helps to slightly cook the butter for a while before adding the cocoa. Then leave the cocoa+butter bubbling for a while. Take it off the heat, add vanilla/stevia/Xylitol.
I used soy lecithin granules, dissolved overnight (the same type I used for liposomal vit C), and it really gives it the proper chocolate texture, and makes it creamier/sweeter so you can use less xylitol. Helps if you stir in the lecithin last of all, after it's all settled down a bit.
Thanks Carlise, I'll have to give those variations a try. I tried with the liposomal liquid, but it didn't work so well. Maybe it was because of adding it in too early? I guess more research is necessary.
herondancer said:Thanks Carlise, I'll have to give those variations a try. I tried with the liposomal liquid, but it didn't work so well. Maybe it was because of adding it in too early? I guess more research is necessary.
Yeah it could have been. I tend to use about a tablespoon, though it depends on how much I make. I try not to make too much now cause I inevitably eat it all in one go :P . Also a little sprinkle of finely ground salt really brings out the flavor, and helps hide the weird aftertaste of stevia extract.
My first batch last week tasted fine, great in fact, though the texture was a bit lumpy. The problem was that I used a saucepan instead of a pot which ended up overheating the mixture and causing it to clump despite being on very low heat. The second was that I forgot to sieve the cacao powder beforehand, and only sieved it into the saucepan directly which was slow and cumbersome, so I got my dad to help who didn't quite get the idea that it had to be mixed in SLOWLY and kept adding more before I could get a chance to mix it all in properly,
Correcting these mistakes, today's batch was much better, no lumps whatsoever :D I used a much larger and thicker pot which firstly stopped it from overheating (it was cool enough to touch at the end whereas the first batch singed my skin) as well as made it much easier to control how much cacao I put in at a time. I sieved the powder into a mixing bowl, and then again as I added it to the fat and xylitol mixture, using a small glass dish as a scoop (instead of a tablespoon or measuring jug, neither of which are pretty). I made also made sure to stir a few times extra between when the cacao looked mixed and adding more. I should note here that I used a 20cm pot and 12cm sieve, which happens to be quite ideal for these quantities.
My texture is still a little "powdery", which has a slight tickle on the throat, but I'm not sure what I can about that without using an emulsifier, which I haven't been able to source as yet. I would prefer to perfect it as far as possible without it though. Next time I'll start experimenting with spicing it up a bit.
Thanks again for the tips :)
Correcting these mistakes, today's batch was much better, no lumps whatsoever :D I used a much larger and thicker pot which firstly stopped it from overheating (it was cool enough to touch at the end whereas the first batch singed my skin) as well as made it much easier to control how much cacao I put in at a time. I sieved the powder into a mixing bowl, and then again as I added it to the fat and xylitol mixture, using a small glass dish as a scoop (instead of a tablespoon or measuring jug, neither of which are pretty). I made also made sure to stir a few times extra between when the cacao looked mixed and adding more. I should note here that I used a 20cm pot and 12cm sieve, which happens to be quite ideal for these quantities.
My texture is still a little "powdery", which has a slight tickle on the throat, but I'm not sure what I can about that without using an emulsifier, which I haven't been able to source as yet. I would prefer to perfect it as far as possible without it though. Next time I'll start experimenting with spicing it up a bit.
Thanks again for the tips :)
Mr. Premise
The Living Force
I mix the two tablespoons of liquid lecithin (the stuff before you add vitamin C) to a quarter teaspoon of salt dissolved in a small amount of water. I then stir in the lecithin salt water mix at the very end of the process in the saucepan on low heat. You can see it thicken. Then pour in a pan over some parchment paper.Carlise said:herondancer said:Thanks Carlise, I'll have to give those variations a try. I tried with the liposomal liquid, but it didn't work so well. Maybe it was because of adding it in too early? I guess more research is necessary.
Yeah it could have been. I tend to use about a tablespoon, though it depends on how much I make. I try not to make too much now cause I inevitably eat it all in one go :P . Also a little sprinkle of finely ground salt really brings out the flavor, and helps hide the weird aftertaste of stevia extract.
The reason I started mixing salt with a little water is when I added salt directly to the mix, no matter how much I stirred it, I couldn't get it to mix evenly. Some pieces would be too salty, others not salty enough.
Our recipe at the chateau is:
Ingredients:
250gr butter
1 cup of xylitol
1tsp vanilla essence
1 cup of cocoa powder (or 1 1/2 depending on how bitter you want it to taste)
Preparation:
- Melt the butter and the xylitol, at very low heat. (If it gets too hot, it won't blend perfectly with the cocoa)
- Add the vanilla essence
- Turn the fire off, and incorporate the cocoa powder very slowly, stirring constantly or with the help of a hand whisk.
- Pour into molds, and cool in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
Done!
Optional:
- If you are not sensitive to nuts, you can add some cashews, almonds, etc.
- If you aren't restricting carbs too much, or for a special occasion, you can add raisins, dried cramberries, orange zests, or other fruits in moderation.
- Add three drops of peppermint essential oil to get mint-flavored chocolate without any added carbs.
Chocolate pudding:
Follow the same recipe as above plus, once the chocolate is done and still warm:
Mix 8 egg jokes in a blender, incorporate the chocolate slowly and blend some more, add two table spoons of gelatin powder. Cool in the fridge or eat warm if you prefer it that way.
:)
Not adding anything else and using normal butter makes it so that, unfortunately, it melts fast when not refrigerated. But it is still yummy!
Ingredients:
250gr butter
1 cup of xylitol
1tsp vanilla essence
1 cup of cocoa powder (or 1 1/2 depending on how bitter you want it to taste)
Preparation:
- Melt the butter and the xylitol, at very low heat. (If it gets too hot, it won't blend perfectly with the cocoa)
- Add the vanilla essence
- Turn the fire off, and incorporate the cocoa powder very slowly, stirring constantly or with the help of a hand whisk.
- Pour into molds, and cool in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
Done!
Optional:
- If you are not sensitive to nuts, you can add some cashews, almonds, etc.
- If you aren't restricting carbs too much, or for a special occasion, you can add raisins, dried cramberries, orange zests, or other fruits in moderation.
- Add three drops of peppermint essential oil to get mint-flavored chocolate without any added carbs.
Chocolate pudding:
Follow the same recipe as above plus, once the chocolate is done and still warm:
Mix 8 egg jokes in a blender, incorporate the chocolate slowly and blend some more, add two table spoons of gelatin powder. Cool in the fridge or eat warm if you prefer it that way.
:)
Not adding anything else and using normal butter makes it so that, unfortunately, it melts fast when not refrigerated. But it is still yummy!
Mr. Premise
The Living Force
I mix the two tablespoons of liquid lecithin (the stuff before you add vitamin C) to a quarter teaspoon of salt dissolved in a small amount of water. I then stir in the lecithin salt water mix at the very end of the process in the saucepan on low heat. You can see it thicken. Then pour in a pan over some parchment paper.Mr. Premise said:
The reason I started mixing salt with a little water is when I added salt directly to the mix, no matter how much I stirred it, I couldn't get it to mix evenly. Some pieces would be too salty, others not salty enough.
[/quote]
I just made a batch and it came out a little too salty. I would change the above to 1/8 teaspoon salt instead of 1/4.
beetlemaniac
The Living Force
Mr. Premise said:
Some times the saltiness just depends on how much your body needs salt at the moment, I think :)
Of herondancer's recipe:
[quote author=Approaching Infinity ]
I can attest to the fact that the above method is highly successful.
[/quote]
Yes, indeed - it is like a gift of chocolate 'Manna' to the forum.
Appreciate the additional variations, too. :)
[quote author=Approaching Infinity ]
I can attest to the fact that the above method is highly successful.
[/quote]
Yes, indeed - it is like a gift of chocolate 'Manna' to the forum.
Appreciate the additional variations, too. :)
