SUGAR HIGH FRIDAY #29 RAW CHOCOLATE

If you thought that Meeta's latest Monthly Mingle was head-scratchingly taxing, then you weren't prepared for the evil brilliance of Emily Stone over at Chocolate in Context and her Sugar High Friday Theme: Raw (that's right, RAW) Chocolate.
What this loosely means is chocolate in its most natural form: pods, nibs, cocoa butter, unprocessed cocoa.
At first I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't be able to source any of the above raw chocolate ingredients anywhere, but, as usual, good old Ebay came to my rescue. I hate being a slave to that faceless online bidding meat market, but damn, if they haven't scored me some good bargains and paid for some bills too!
So, I managed to find a supplier of Cacao Nibs (which apparently go hand in hand with current new superfood, Goji Berries) and eagerly awaited their arrival.
I admit, being a major chocolate fan, that I was incredibly excited about trying the nibs. I had read such wonderful things about their health properties but more importantly (to me anyway), their taste!
When they did turn up, I opened the packaging and deeply inhaled the rich, earthy smell, more redolent of purest cocoa powder than chocolate bars. The nibs themselves resemble tiny wood chips and their texture is not far off wood either (not that I am a secret wood nibbler though). Taste wise they are much like a very high cocoa content chocolate: the flavour doesn't come through straight away, but gets stronger as it melts and the taste lingers on your tongue. There is a slight smokiness to the nibs and they leave a not too unpleasant bitter taste in the mouth.
In this most purest of form, they are apparently a great aphrodisiac, one of the greatest sources of anti-oxidants and are supposedly good for boosting your mood. I can't vouch too much for any of these claims but what I can wholeheartedly confirm is their intensely delicious taste when cooked or mixed with a natural sweetener.
In preparation for the event, I bought a book called Naked Chocolate written by superfood junkies, David Woolfe and Shazzie (no surname), who take every opportunity to extole the virtues of cacao nibs, blue sea algae and all manner of revolting sounding 'foods'. Whilst I don't buy into their hippy ethos of pure living through the consumption of raw foods, I am, if nothing else, always up for trying new and unusual ingredients. Generally I would not use the recipes listed in their book; for one, most of the ingredients are not your usual store cupboard staples (Optimum Source Chlorella, anyone?) and therefore they are extremely limiting, but I also enjoy trying to utilise unusual ingredients into 'normal' recipes such as cookies, or even chilli. I think it's important as a cook to familiarise yourself with recherche ingredients, and to use them in everyday recipes is the best way of achieving this familiarity.
But, to strike a fair balance for this post, I thought it would be interesting to use the Cacao Nibs in a regular cookie recipe but to also make some Truffles that use pureed dates for moistness and sweetness, the nibs for the chocolate hit and sesame seeds as, I suppose, added texture. A dash of Vanilla Extract adds a delicate flavour.
The Cookies are just your common or garden sugar biscuit recipe with half a cupful of the nibs used instead of chocolate chips. Interestingly, the nibs don't melt like chocolate chips but retain their woody nature. For people who are unable to eat nuts due to allergies or intolerances, the nibs texture is redolent of chopped hazelnuts with the flavour of rich, dark chocolate.
CHOCOLATE NIB COOKIES makes 20-24 depending on size
Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Softened Butter
1/2 Cup Demerara Sugar (or any brown sugar)
1/2 Cup Vanilla Sugar (or white sugar)
1 Egg, beaten
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Pinch Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Cacao Nibs
1 Cup Plain Flour, sifted
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 170c.
Line a couple of baking sheets with greaseproof paper.
Cream the softened butter with the sugars until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg and Vanilla, if it splits, add some of the flour.
Add the sifted flour, salt and baking powder and mix thoroughly.
Fold in the Nibs.
Spoon dessertspoonfuls of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between the biscuits.
Bake for 10-13 minutes, depending on how crisp you like your biscuits.
Leave to cool on the sheets and then apply to mouth.
Be warned: these are very, very moreish which is probably in no small part to the pure caffeine in the nibs.

The truffles are an adaptation of a recipe taken from the Naked Chocolate book. In fact, an amalgamation of two recipes: their truffle recipe and their chocolate sauce recipe which forms the base of many other recipes.
I made the sauce several nights ago, being not entirely sure what I was going to do with it. I was planning on making a tart or maybe some muffins but eschewed those in favour of truffles. I love truffles but have never made my own so thought this would be a great excuse to lose my truffle virginity. Also, truffles exude an air of luxury, something we could do with during these lean times!
As I mentioned, they are made using a simple combination of nibs, vanilla, dates and sesame seeds and take no longer than five minutes from start to finish, unlike dairy truffles, which are made with fresh cream and have to chill in the fridge before you can form them. Therefore, it is feasible that you can be sitting down, bowl of truffles on your lap, watching reruns of Millennium before the craving has barely kicked in. I like this kind of cooking!
I admit that I felt a pang of dubiousness when I read the ingredients; would these taste like some mealy-mouthed, flavourless vegan substitute for rich, dairy truffles? Far from it. Whilst the texture is unlike that of creamy truffles, these have a grainy bite that is not at all unpleasant. They feel and taste substantial, and the pure caffeine in the nibs gives you a great sense of well-being. They are an instant good mood hit. The sesame seeds add a nutty flavour that is particularly tasty, and, when rolled in some deep, dark cocoa powder, they really taste sensational.
Remember though that I still had some of the chocolate sauce leftover in the fridge (we scooped some of it out with our fingers every time we visited the fridge) and because I had deep concerns about the dry texture of the truffles, I added what was left of the sauce to the final mixture. I am not certain that the final recipe required this so I am just going to give you the basic four ingredient recipe. However, if you find that the truffle mixture is a little too dry, or not sweet enough, I would suggest adding a drizzle of Agave Syrup or honey and a few drops of unflavoured vegetable oil. Remember that the nibs have no additives so may well need some lubricant.
CACAO NIB TRUFFLES - makes 12-14 depending on size
Ingredients:
Half Cup Cacao Nibs
Half Cup Sesame Seeds
Half Cup Dates
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Some Agave Syrup or Honey to taste
Few drops of Vegetable Oil
Cocoa Powder, Sesame seeds, icing sugar for rolling
METHOD:
In a coffee grinder, blend the nibs and sesame seeds until they form a dry, crumbly mixture. It will not be smooth, rather it will be quite pleasantly textured.
In a blender, whizz up the dates until finely processed. Depending on the age of the dates (mine were old and dried out that they resembled boot leather), they may take longer to process.
Add the nib/sesame seed mixture and process until combined.
Taste for sweetness and add some agave or honey. Process and taste again. If the mixture is still very dry (which it shouldn't be at this point), you can add a little of the vegetable oil.
Pour the mixture out into a dish and press down with the back of a wooden spoon to form a firm block.
You can now form the mixture into small balls, the size of walnuts, and roll them into some cocoa powder or sesame seeds, depending on your preference.
Options: You could add some rum or kirsch to mixture, omitting the Vanilla Extract, or swap the dates for dried figs or perhaps glace cherries. You could also add some chopped preserved ginger or roll the truffles in some chopped pistachios or hazelnuts.
Again, this recipe comes with a warning: these truffles are seriously delicious!