When I first ditched sugar, one of the things I missed most was a simple piece of delicious chocolate, so developing one with Perfect Sweet™ xylitol which I can enjoy guilt-free was high on my list. This chocolate is sugar free, raw, dairy free and gluten free. I keep it in the fridge, ready for when I feel like a sweet something with my coffee or to use in recipes. For the creamiest consistency, I leave it out of the fridge for a few minutes before I indulge.   (Also see below Heart Shaped Raw Dark Chocolate with almonds and Goji Berries )

Makes 300g

Ingredients

• 200g cacao butter, finely chopped or grated
• 60g Perfect Sweet™ xylitol, powdered
• 100g cacao powder, sifted
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method

1. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil.  Place cacao butter in a heat-proof bowl, large enough to sit on the rim of the saucepan, without touching the water.  
2. Once water is boiling, remove saucepan from heat, and immediately place heatproof bowl with cacao butter on top. Stir constantly until all the cacao butter is melted (approx. 5 minutes).
3. Add the powdered xylitol and mix with a hand-whisk until completely dissolved.
4. Add the sifted cacao and vanilla extract and whisk again until mixed.
5. Transfer mixture to a blender or food processor and blend on high speed for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until smooth 
6. Pour immediately into ice cube trays, plastic or silicone containers of choice, and refrigerate to set. 
7. Store in the fridge.

Tip

Finely chopping your cacao butter, helps with the slow melting process in step 1.

It is important to remove the saucepan from the heat before you place the bowl with the cacao butter over it, as you will spoil the texture and appearance of the final chocolate.

Depending on the consistency of your mixture at the end of step 3, you may not need to blend the chocolate. This is only required if you still have some xylitol which hasn’t fully dissolved.

Heart Shaped Raw Dark Chocolate

Recipe as above plus

• 2-3 tbsp whole or flaked almonds
• 2-3 tbsp goji berries, soaked for 10 minutes and drained

1. Chop the almonds and goji berries to the size you require.
2. Once you have made the chocolate, pour half into the heart shaped moulds.  This will give you a nice smooth top to the hearts when they come out of the moulds.
3. Mix the almonds and goji berries into the remaining half of the chocolate.
4. Pour into the heart moulds.
5. Refrigerate to set.
6. Store in fridge.