Foolproof Chocolate

Chocolate is one of my favorite things to make. I have all the fancy equipment needed to make delicious artisan chocolate that will impress anyone that eats it. From my love of chocolate making, I wanted to share a simple recipe that anyone can make with only a few ingredients & no fancy equipment needed! 

When you use these ingredients the chocolate is more medicinal than a sweet treat. Chocolate in its purest form is full of magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, zinc & selenium! When you understand how easy it is to make then you’ll never want to buy an expensive chocolate bar again! 

There are two different types of chocolate making. Tempered and untempered. Tempered chocolate takes more time, steps and understanding of chocolate. All the chocolate bars at the grocery stores are tempered. This method makes the chocolate shelf stable. Untempered chocolate will melt in your hands but it’s a lot easier to make! When the chocolate is untempered you need to keep it in the freezer unless you live somewhere cold.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups cacao butter cut into small pieces
• 2- 2 ½  cups raw cacao powder 
• 3-6 tbsp raw honey, maple syrup or sweetener of choice
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract optional or flavor of your choice 
• pinch of Himalayan salt 

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Melt the cacao butter in a double boiler or in a glass or ceramic bowl which you place over a saucepan filled with about 1inch of (boiling) water (make sure your bowl is not touching the water or the bottom of your saucepan). Stir the melting butter frequently as this speeds up the process.
• When most of the cacao butter is melted add sweetener, and vanilla (or flavor of choice like peppermint, chili, orange, etc) and salt. 
• Remove the saucepan from the heat.
• Add the cacao powder when your butter has completely melted (or only tiny pieces are left). Stir chocolate until well combined and no lumps are left. Start with 2 cups of cacao. You can test the chocolate by putting a spoon inside and let chocolate drip off. You want the chocolate to leave a thick coating without any bubbles or holes. If chocolate is too thin then add 1 tablespoon of cacao at a time until you have a beautiful dark, silky, & shiny chocolate. 
• Pour into molds or small sheet pan with parchment paper. 
• Let the chocolate cool once it is set you can pop out of molds or break into pieces
• Put in an airtight freezer safe container. Store in the freezer or if you live somewhere cold you can keep it in the cabinet. It will keep for several months.