Chocolate Dream Cream, Sacred Chocolate, and Be Real
Valentine’s day is a wonderful excuse, if any were needed, to have a decadent feast of the greatest superfood on the planet – chocolate! Let’s start with breakfast; how would you fancy a crunchy, chewy and delicious granola cereal smothered in a rich, thick, silky and extremely chocolatey smoothie and topped with super-sprinkles? It’s a heavenly way to start the most romantic day of the year.
Recently I was in West London for a couple of weeks, and I couldn’t take any of my raw staples with me. I decided to have faith that I would find what I needed and lo, it turned out that Planet Organic was just round the corner from where I was staying. I knew Planet Organic have begun stocking Raw Living products so I wasted no time in exploring the store. And there it was, a whole section of shiny packets with the familiar purple labels, and quite a few other branded goodies too. It was like bumping into old friends in a foreign country. Actually it was more exciting than that, I felt like Dorothy in a sort of raw food Oz – chia and cacao and maca, oh my!
Inspiral Artisan Raw Chocolate Box
A box of chocolates has to be decadent to be proper, doesn’t it? These Artisan chocolates are definitely, decadently proper. That’s my gift shopping sorted. I shall reserve these especially for anyone who thinks I’m somehow missing out on treats because I’m high raw.
I have tasted relatively few brands of ready-made raw chocolate. I tend to notice the untempered quality of raw chocolate that means it lacks the glossiness and crisp snap of the mass-produced stuff. Some brands, while tasting great, are quite grainy in texture. As far as bars of raw chocolate go, I like Whoosh best (from Raw Living) because it’s smooth and reminds me of a slightly darker version of Dairy Moo. For boxed chocolates, Artisan are sensationally smooth and melt-in-the-mouth luxurious.
Raw Chocolate Pie – Peppermint
Made by Living Foods of St Ives, I had been eyeing up the raw chocolate pies for a while, so was a bit (over) excited when I got to sample the Peppermint version!
The ingredients are lovely: cacao nibs, coconut butter, agave nectar, lucuma, ground almonds, carob flour, and natural peppermint essence.
It’s recommended that you enjoy these straight from the fridge, and so this is what I did. The texture was satisfyingly dense and pleasantly crumbly, a mix between chocolate bar and cake…different to any other raw chocolate I’ve yet tried, and very moreish! It started to soften quite quickly once out of the fridge, becoming almost truffle like. Such decadence! The cacao nibs added another dimension; a fun, crunchy contrast.
Here’s a raw chocolate making video I did for Iceland’s most popular women’s magazine-style website. Unfortunately, I can’t embed it here so you have to click HERE to go see it.
Iceland really is the most incredible place and has possibly the most enthusiastic and thriving raw community of anywhere in Europe. In part this is down to Solla and her incredibly inspiring drive and passion for this way of eating. But I think it is mainly down to the fact the people are so open and ready to accept the best things in life – they have the best air and the best water, why not eat the best food?!
raw living chocolate crispy
Ticru Raw Chocolate Crackerette
With just four ingredients – dates, sesame seeds, cacao and coconut – you would be forgiven for questioning just how good these little chocolatey discs could possibly be.
My suggestion is this; don’t question, just try one.
They are dark and delicious, light and moreish. Made from only pure, natural, organic ingredients. There’s a lovely balance between sweetness of the dates and the intensity of the cacao. Easy to transport, perfect for a quick energy boost. I think that they would be a really good thing to keep in your bag when you’re on the go. Especially since they don’t do silly things to your blood sugar levels like other snacks can. Mind you, I wouldn’t know, since mine didn’t last long enough for me to test out my theory!
I was very excited when I got an email from Amy a few weeks ago inviting me to her raw chocolate class. I know a lot of people
who have been on the course and rave about it. Plus everyone I’ve met who’s been on the course, and whose chocolate I’ve tasted afterwards, has been producing amazing delights.
The course is out where Amy lives on the Sussex/Kent borders. It’s an idyllic rural location, out in the middle of nowhere, but served by efficient high speed rail links so easy to reach from London.
The mellow birds of Raw chocolate. SuperMagic is a layerlicious DuoPolitain bar. It’s a two toned chocolate bar comprising of a layer of Raw Living’s famous Be the Change Bar (containing Etherium Gold and Crystal Manna) and the new Truth bar (a white chocolate bar containing Mucuna and Aulterra). That is a lot of super foods.
Texturally, it’s nice and hard like all of Raw Living’s choc bars, no coconut butter in here… the combination of dark and light make for a less buzzy, more mellow and smooth chocolate flight. As I have mentioned before, I’m one of those sensitive souls for which too much cacao can bring on the jitters, but in this combination it’s not too much stimulation and all the right frequencies, perfect any time of day when you fancy a sweet, uplifting treat.
