Wednesday 17 June 2009

Paleo/Primal Chocolates - A Quick, Simple & Tasty Recipe

Having just emerged from the throes of a 5-day food and alcohol binge that made Christmas look like a minor lapse, I require a few days in which to gather my thoughts and prepare a written account that does justice to the truly Herculean display of gluttony to which I must confess.

In the meantime, I feel able to share two pearls of wisdom.

1. It is possible to get sick of cashew nut butter if you eat enough. Really - it's true.
2. A recipe for Paleo/Primal chocolate that's genuinely easy and tasty.
Paleo/Primal Chocolates - The Ingredients
50g Creamed Coconut (update 18/06/09: Creamed Coconut is actually the compressed, concentrated form of coconut meat. See here and here.)
50g Coconut Oil
50g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Small chunks of dried or fresh fruit
Paleo/Primal Chocolates - The Equipment
A pan
A cooker
A spoon
A flexible ice cube tray
Paleo/Primal Chocolates - The Steps
Put the creamed coconut and oil into the pan and heat gently until it's a liquid
Add the cocoa powder and stir until it's fully blended
Allow it to cool until it's a little less runny - this will make adding the fruit easier
Pour into the ice cube tray - remember to leave some room for adding the fruit
Add a piece of fruit into each - it should slowly sink out of view
Place in the refrigerator - or the freezer for faster readiness

After 30 - 60 minutes, pop out the chocolates...

Paleo/Primal Chocolates - Final Thoughts
Okay, so this is not exactly strictly Paleo/Primal. I am guessing dried fruit, cocoa powder and creamed coconut are not things cavemen kept in stone jars at the back of the cave. However, I think most of us are pragmatists and look for recipes like this as a way to avoid straying into the realms of processed garbage - and I do believe these will do that job just fine.

Also - thanks to Twitterers treelizard, Threnos, Paleo_princess and comaboy for their advice on this a couple of weeks ago.

Other Recipes:
My Mum's and my apple crumble
Our Paleo/Primal Curry - More of a Guide Than a Recipe

16 comments:

Kimmy said...

Those look yummy! Thank you for sharing. :)

Mark said...

That looks awesome.

Any idea if "creamed coconut" is like Artisana's Coconut Butter?

Methuselah said...

Hi Mark - Creamed Coconut is actually the compressed, concentrated form of coconut meat. See here and here.

Gina from Diet Renegade said...

Wow those look so incredibly delicious! I'm definitely going to try them!

Thanks so much for the recipe and pics.

Chef Rachel said...

Wow, looks delish! What is creamed coconut? Do you have a breand to recommend? Yours looks very firm. My Artisana coconut butter is more runny like almond butter.

Unknown said...

Looks great and cheers for the plug (comaboy)!

If you can get frozen berries they work really well too, they cool the hot chocolate mix as they defrost leaving an unsquashed fruit in the middle. Even in a fridge they make the process a ton faster.

Meeses said...

I've made myself sick on almond butter, for sure. I feel your pain! These look amazing. Father's Day treats!

Methuselah said...

Rachel - see the links in my earlier comment. It's kind of concentrated coconut flesh. Very more-ish!

Rafi Bar-Lev - The Fitness Adviser said...

I found this post pretty funny for some reason. It's an interesting recipe, but on account that I'm a terrible cook it's probably still a bit too hard for me. :P (I know, pathetic.)

-Rafi

Methuselah said...

Rafi - go on - give it a try :)

Shelley said...

These look great, and cant wait for your epic tale.

Artisan Coconut Butter could probably be subbed for creamed coconut, but would be a bit softer in the end result.

Bought some raw truffles from oneluckyduck.com a month or so back, they were fabulous but did have agave in them, but they were rolled in crushed cacao nibs. here is something to drool over, I am sure all of these could be changed slightly to have less sugar.

http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/04/all-things-chocolate-or-celebrating.html

Methuselah said...

Shelley - yes, I reckon the butter could make them softer. One idea would be to also add some almond meal, which would create a more truffle-like consistency...

Good link - choc porn supreme!

John said...

Hey the recipe is really looking nice and I hope when I will make it will look same as its looking in pic :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, this looks so yummy.. :)

mb said...

Just curious what the lighter brown is? This looks like a peanut butter cup, but...well, I'm just confused.

Methuselah said...

mb - I think the different colouration must have been a result of the coconut and cocoa parts separating little during the cooling process.

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