Homemade Chocolate - Dinosaurs and Stars (Shared by Alvina Foo)

Homemade Chocolate - Dinosaurs and Stars

Ingredients:
1 cup of organic cocao nibs or cocao powder
1 cup of organic apricots
1/2 cup of organic coconut oil
1/2 cup organic dessicated coconut
15mL of organic maple syrup (depending on the level of sweetness you prefer)
A handful of organic inca berries

You do not have to use organic if you don't want to. The reason I prefer to use them is because some of these products would otherwise contain sulphur dioxide (E220). My son is asthmatic and any asthmatics should avoid this additive as it can trigger breathing difficulties. It is also found to cause stomach upsets. Even though I'm not asthmatic, whenever I consume products with E220, I start getting wheezy. Therefore I try to avoid them. 

In regards to the maple syrup, 15mL is a very modest amount. Personally, I find that the apricots and the inca berries are going to add to the sweetness. You may prefer to use 20-25mL if you prefer your chocolate to be sweeter. 

 If you are using cocao nibs, pop them in a high powered blender and set it on High to reduce them to powder. The blender I used is Bio Chef Blender, this is 950W. Love it as it's not as expensive as some of the other ones and works as a food processor as well. If you're in the Nowra region and keen to get one, let us know as we can order one for you. 

Place the dessicated coconut in the grill and put it on low heat until it turns light brown. Keep an eye on it as it doesn't take long to toast them. They smell delicious when toasted!

Chop up the apricots.

• Heat up a small amount of water in a saucepan to create a water bath. Place the coconut oil in a glass container and melt the oil over the water. 
• Once the oil is melted completely, remove from the stove.  
• Mix in the cocao powder and maple syrup with the oil. Mix well. 
• If you do not have molds, line baking trays or any containers with grease paper. 
• Spread the chopped apricots and dessicated coconut on the baking trays or molds. I put an inca berry in each mold, as I like its tanginess. 
• Pour the chocolate mixture into the molds or tray. 
• Stick them in the freezer for 30 minutes to harden. If you're using anything else other than the molds, I recommend that you remove them from the freezer after about 15 minutes where it is still soft enough to break them into pieces before popping them back in the freezer again. 

And the results...