• about equal amounts of cacao butter to cacao powder. Use small amounts of coconut butter instead of the cacao butter if you want a softer chocolate.
• agave nectar to taste. I used 10 tbsp for 3 cups of cacao butter and 3 cups of cacao powder.
• raw coconut butter
• flavourings (vanilla pod, orange and ginger, chilli, cinnamon and cardamom)

method

• Gently melt the cacao butter/coconut butter using a glass bowl over warm water (careful about the heat if you want the chocolate to remain raw)
• stir in the cacao powder, agave nectar and any flavourings
• after the mixture is smooth, pour into a suitable mould (ice cube trays or tupperware is fine) and transfer to the freezer for 15 minutes
• turn out onto a plate and let the chocolate come back up to room temperature for maximum flavour and texture appreciation!

the base

• almonds and cashews
• dried dates
• a bit of tahini

blend it in a food processor until the mix starts sticking together. Add more dates if it needs more stickyness. Add more nuts if it needs more bulk.  Squish it into a greased tin and put in the freezer for 30 minutes.

the chocolate bit

• 6 ripe avocados
• a banana
• sweetener like date syrup or golden syrup
• cocoa powder

Blend the avocados and then add the banana. Start adding cocoa powder and sweetener to taste. As usual, the most important rule of improvised cooking is to keep tasting! Spread over the base and put in the fridge. A few hours before you want it is good.

tasting hint

I drink and gargle a bit of water and then smell coffee in between tastings. This seems to help keep my palette fresh.

These came about while experimenting with ground cocoa powder. You’ll need most of these ingredients:

• cocoa powder
• a runny sweetener (golden syrup, date syrup, honey etc.)
• a thickener like tahini or ground nuts (I used tahini and cashews)
• something to dust the outside with like dessicated coconut

Mix up the nuts, tahini and sweetener in a bowl. It’s easier to get the sweetness right now than later because stirring runny sweeteners into thick paste is hard. So if you want really chocolatey truffles you’ll need this mix to be quite sweet because cocoa is bitter.

Pour in a good amount of cocoa powder and blend it in. Taste and check for texture. Keep adding cocoa until the taste and the texture is just right.

Pull off little pieces of the mixture and roll into balls. Then drop into a bowl of your dusting material and roll around. Stack them up on a plate and cool them for a bit in the fridge before eating!