With Easter around the corner we wanted to share some recipes to make healthier Easter eggs or home-made chocolates using raw cacao. These are easy and fun to make and you get to choose the quality and flavour! Commercial chocolates are often overloaded with trans fats, refined sugar, and poor quality dairy. A good enough reason to make your own, right?
5 BENEFITS OF RAW CACAO
1. 40 Times the Antioxidants of Blueberries
Raw Organic Cacao has over 40 times the antioxidants of blueberries. Yes, 40 times! It has an amazing ORAC score of 98,000 per 100g, vs blueberries at a mere 2,400. ORAC scores measure the ability of antioxidants to absorb free radicals (that come from pollution and toxins in our environment), which cause cell and tissue damage and can lead to diseases such as cancer.
2. Highest Plant-Based Source of Iron
On a plant-based/vegan diet and looking for iron? The search is over! Cacao is the highest plant-based source of iron known to man, at a whopping 13.9 mg per 100g. This compares to beef and lamb at 2.5 mg, and spinach at 3.6 mg. While you might not eat 100g of cacao in one sitting, it still makes it an admirable iron-boosting addition to your diet. Note the iron in cacao is non-heme (as is all plant-based iron), so to get the maximum benefits you’ll want to combine it with some vitamin C. Think oranges, kiwifruit or superfoods like camu camu (which have 40x more vitamin C than oranges).
3. Full of Magnesium for a Healthy Heart & Brain
Raw Organic Cacao is also one of the highest plant-based sources of magnesium, the most deficient mineral in the Western world. Magnesium is important for a healthy heart, and helps turn glucose into energy enabling your brain to work with laser-sharp clarity and focus.
4. More Calcium Than Cow’s Milk
Raw Organic Cacao has more calcium than cow’s milk would you believe, at 160mg per 100g vs only 125mg per 100ml of milk. Time to switch out the trim latte for a couple of squares of dairy-free raw chocolate.
5. A Natural Mood Elevator and Anti-Depressant
Cacao is a great source of four scientifically proven bliss chemicals – serotonin, tryptophan, tyrosine and phenylethylamine. These neurotransmitters are associated with cosy feelings of wellbeing, happiness, and can even alleviate depression.
HOMEMADE CHOCOLATES
This recipe combines cacao paste and cacao butter to make a luxuriously silky-finish chocolate. Cacao paste is made by slowly grinding cacao nibs at low temperatures, resulting in a smooth liquid cacao which then sets into cacao paste. This recipe uses orange as a flavouring, but you can swap it out and customise these chocolates in so many ways. Get your creative juices flowing!
INGREDIENTS
- 200g Cacao Paste, melted
- 100g Cacao Butter, melted
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- ¼ cup honey or maple syrup
- tsp salt
- 2 drops orange organic essential oil (optional)
METHOD:
Gently melt the cacao paste, cacao butter, and coconut oil using a double boiler or a glass bowl over a pot, with just-boiled water in the bottom pot.
Add the honey*, and essential oil and mix well to combine.
Transfer the melted ingredients into a bowl for easy pouring or use a tablespoon to spoon the mixture into the moulds. Make sure the chocolate moulds are on a hard flat surface (a tray makes it easier to transfer them to the freezer). Fill the chocolate moulds and set in the freezer.
*These chocolates taste sweeter once frozen, so resist the urge to add too much honey.
TIP: Try peppermint, rose or ginger essential oils instead of orange. You can also add chopped nuts or dried fruits to these chocolates, but rather add any chunky ingredient to the moulds once chocolate is already poured in.
BLISSFUL BERRY EASTER EGGS RECIPE
These adorable pink and brown chocolate Easter treats are so yummy and will delight children young and old this coming Easter long weekend. Using GLOW you can create berry-zing chocolates and a super cute berry-pink version!
INGREDIENTS
CHOCOLATE-BERRY VERSION
200g cacao paste, melted
100g cacao butter, melted
¼ cup honey
¼ cup Glow Superfoods Protein Shake
PINK-CHOCOLATE VERSION
1 cup cashews
1 cup cacao butter, melted
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
¼ cup honey
¼ cup Glow Superfoods Protein Shake
METHOD
CHOCOLATE-BERRY VERSION
Melt the cacao paste and butter. Add the honey and Glow Superfoods Protein Shake. Pour into easter egg or easter bunny chocolate moulds and allow to set in the fridge.
PINK-CHOCOLATE VERSION
Place cashews in a high-speed blender and quickly blend to powderise them. Add the melted cacao butter and coconut oil and blend till smooth. On slow speed, add the honey and Glow Superfoods Protein Shake. Pour into moulds and set in the fridge.
Blog Post by The Thrive Team
Recipes by Soaring Free Superfoods
SHOP PRODUCTS:
Soaring Free Raw Cacao Paste
Soaring Free Glow Superfood Protein Shake
Springvale Honey
Crede Coconut Oil
Cashew Nuts
References:
https://begoodorganics.com/cacao-5-little-known-benefits-of-this-amazonian-superfood/
https://superfoods.co.za/