Chai Chocolate Rounds with Candied Ginger

I just really love chai flavors. It’s probably one of the reasons why Indian cuisine is one of my favorites. And you know what I love more than chai? Chocolate!!!! Combining the two was really a no brainer. So here you are friends, my latest chocolate creation, just in time for Valentines Day. Because if you love yourself or someone else, you surely want whats best, and what is better than home made refined sugar free chocolate? I rarely turn down chocolate, even the higher quality store bought one with sugar in it, but if given the choice, I will always go for a home made nutritionally beneficial option.

These little chocolates are so easy to make. I used silicone cupcake molds, but you could use actual chocolate molds, or even an ice cube tray. Just don’t fill that one up to the top unless you want a really thick chocolate!

If chai isn’t your thing, you can always play around with the flavors! Creativity is welcome here 🙂

 

Ingredients:

• 100 g. of cacao butter
• 1/8 cup coconut butter
• 1/2 cup cacao powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tsp clove powder
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 1/4 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp orange zest
• dash of himalayan sea salt
• 2 TBS agave
• 2-3 TSBP thinly chopped candied ginger (optional, for a pure refined sugar free option) I have made these chocolates with freshly grated ginger and that was tasty also!

Steps:

• put all ingredients except ginger in a double boiler, or a bowl over a hot pot of water
• whisk together until all melted and well combined
• pour in molds, add a few pieces of ginger per mold, and freeze until hard
• depending on size of molds they can be done in a little as 30 minutes!!!
• keep in fridge or freezer until ready to eat

 

For some of my other Valentines Inspired recipes click here:

Fudge Balls:

https://anaboreal.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/cherry-cacao-fudge-balls/

Raspberry Ice Cream:

https://anaboreal.wordpress.com/2015/02/14/vegan-raspberry-ice-cream-with-peanut-butter-chocolate/

Pistachio Delight and Nutella Divine:

https://anaboreal.wordpress.com/2015/02/07/pistachio-delight-and-nutella-divine/

Gianduja Chocolates:

https://anaboreal.wordpress.com/2014/12/24/gianduja-chocolate/

 

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Vegan Raspberry Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Chocolate

Happy Valentines Day!!! This treat is more delicious than the title suggests. “More” because it is soooo creamy and dreamy that you wouldn’t guess it’s vegan.

I bought some out of season, over priced, still pretty tasty, raspberries earlier this week because I really wanted to make this Valentines Day treat for my kids. Every now and then I go out of my habitual seasonal produce shopping because what I have in mind sounds so delicious that I must make it, like really soon. And I am so glad I did not wait for spring to make this!!

This guilt free silky smooth indulgence paired with the amazingly deliciously simple crunchy peanut butter chocolate hearts made for a perfect Valentines for my family last night (although I will not wait a whole year to make it again 😉 )

Ingredients for raspberry ice cream:

• 1 cup raspberries
• 1 cup soaked cashews (30 minutes in hot water, or 4 hours in cold water)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 TBS lucuma (optional but it adds to the creamy texture)
• 1 cup coconut milk cream (the full fat cream that comes in cans)

Steps:

• put first 5 ingredients in the blender and blend on high until super creamy and nuts completely broken down
• add the coconut cream and finish blending
• if using an ice cream maker, follow directions for that
• if you don’t have an ice cream maker you can freeze these in ice cube trays and once frozen put them in a food processor or blender to create a nice cold mixture. (You might need to add a little liquid if doing it in the blender.)

This is so tasty that you don’t have to make it into ice cream! You can just eat it straight out of the blender as a yogurt substitute!

While waiting for ice cream, make your chocolate hearts.

Ingredients for chocolate hearts:

• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup cacao powder
• 2 TBS natural crunchy peanut butter
• 2 TBS honey or other liquid sweetener (adjust according to desired sweetness).

Steps:

• in a saucepan, put the coconut oil and barely heat it up. Just enough to get it to starts melting.
• Turn off the heat and add all ingredients except for honey.
• Mix well until uniform
• add the honey and mix until honey is very well incorporated in the mixture
• pour in little heart shaped molds if you have them, if not you can pour this in anything (Ice cube trays, small containers, large containers), and set in the freezer to set
• the small molds I have only take about 10-15 minutes to set