Chocolate, raw vegan - homemade, Lucuma powder

This basic recipe for a delicious raw vegan chocolate with lucuma powder provides an easy-to-prepare, easily expandable treat.

A versatile basic recipe: This recipe produces a raw chocolate whose composition you can change as you wish. You can find more information under "Alternative preparation". However, the quality of the raw food is questionable, because the pulp fermentation process, which lasts around 10 days, takes place at around 50 degrees so that the beans lose bitter substances. Drying often takes place in the sun, which can easily reach 50 degrees in such areas, and is probably rarely done in modern heat exchangers.

Yield: After preparing the amount we specified for 8 people, you will get about 300 grams of raw chocolate.

Lucuma powder: Lucuma powder is obtained from the plant species with the Latin name Pouteria lucuma, which is originally native to the Andean valleys. The subtropical stone fruit of the Lucuma plant is dried at gentle temperatures before the dried fruit is powdered and packaged. The sweet and mild powder is suitable for flavoring various dishes and, due to its good solubility, also for fruity drinks.

Cocoa butter: See Wikipedia - also for the physical processing of cocoa beans under cocoa. As you can see, processes usually go well above temperatures of 42 degrees. In addition, raw quality is not always really raw.

The high proportion of saturated fatty acids, primarily palmitic acid (16:0) and stearic acid (18:0), compared to the small amount of unsaturated fatty acids, leads to a long shelf life.

Cocoa powder: Unsweetened cocoa powder in Criollo quality is available in raw food quality or roasted. In addition to the high fat content, cocoa also contains a variety of different and sometimes valuable ingredients. The secret of raw food quality cocoa powder lies in its gentle production and the natural fermentation process.

The pulp of the cocoa bean decomposes naturally without roasting. This way, the nutritional values are preserved.

Achieve a different texture: Industrial chocolate mass is conched, i.e. refined into a smooth mass by constant mechanical kneading and rolling. In our case, however, fine particles of the cocoa bean can be felt. You can increase this even further by replacing half of the powder with dry-ground cocoa beans (mortar, cloth and hammer, electric coffee grinder).

Avoid lumps: If one of the powders you are using contains lumps, you can add them to the other ingredients through a sieve. Adding slowly and stirring constantly will prevent lumps from forming.

Expanding the preparation: This chocolate recipe can be easily expanded. You can mix various nuts, seeds, coconut flakes or dried fruit into the chocolate mixture before it has cooled down. Flavor enhancers include peperoncini (chilli), vanilla (vanilla bean pulp), cinnamon, amaretto, Grand Marnier, etc.

Examples of nuts are: pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts, hazelnuts or walnuts, as well as pistachios or cashews. With the latter, however, you should note that these are rarely actually raw. Cashews that are declared as "raw" in stores are usually steam-treated, with temperatures of over 42 °C being used.

If you want to ensure a better ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids, we recommend using walnuts.

Examples of dried fruits are: In addition to organic fruits that have been gently dried (raw food quality), freeze-dried fruits can also be used. Strawberries, raspberries, bananas, pineapples, mangos or apples go well with chocolate.

Examples of seeds: You can also mix chia, flax or hemp seeds into the mixture, although it is up to you whether you grind the seeds before using them or just leave them as they are. However, if you are after the ingredients, grinding them is worth it.

Alternatives for sweetening: carob powder, coconut blossom sugar (never raw!), dates - either chopped from frozen or mixed with a little water to make date puree.