Cacao WOW

It makes a great truffle. My guests are always amazed by the flavor combination I use and generally freak out after dinner and beg me for the recipe. I am not exaggerating, it happens every time, like clockwork. 

They say it reminds them of the film Like Water for Chocolate. This is obviously a huge compliment as I put lots of love, intuition and hard work into the food I prepare. I’m happy to know I’m giving my guests something yummy as well as super nutritious. For the truffles, I use a Mexican bittersweet chocolate and chipotle chiles. The coating is a mixture of raw crushed cacao beans, Mexican cinnamon, coco powder, and organic cane sugar. I serve them in pairs and they’re accompanied by an orange quarter. Simple but delicious, I think the emotional reaction stems from the crushed cacao bean coating, because it’s got this amazingly sweet bitterness which works so well with the dark chocolate chipotle. It’s a culinary high. The blood starts pumping from the chile’s subtle heat and then the endorphins kick in and the skin starts to tingle. The euphoria from the chocolate and cacao sneak up on you and before you know it, you’re wide awake! It’s like heaven. THANK YOU CACAO aka Chocolate.

People who don’t like chocolate are not to be trusted. They obviously have fundamental issues with pleasure!

The next time you’re at the market, buy a handful of cacao beans and try them for yourselves. Just a few will do as they are really powerful. Creamy, bitter, sweet and so damn good and packed with concentrated nutrients which classify them as a super-food. Cacao IS chocolate. You can crush cacao into your granola, or add to a smoothie with banana and fresh coconut, crush on top of cookies or brownies before baking, eat them as is, or of course you can make my truffle recipe.

Cacao is botanically known as “Theobroma cacao”. The beans and nibs, the raw materials for making chocolate, are high in flavonoids and contain more antioxidants than most fruits and just as much as a glass of red wine. They are known to lower cholesterol and relieve depression.

In fact, the whole cacao fruit was used medicinally as well as recreationally among the Maya, Olmec and Aztecs, and was spread from there to Europe after the Spanish conquest. The Mayans consumed cacao as an aphrodisiac, energetic and digestive. Montezuma was said to have drank copious amounts of this cacao beverage for these reasons exactly.

The Aztecs not only associated cacao with the fertility goddess but also used it as currency. Sex and money….valuable stuff. There are many amazing stories of cacao in the history of Mesoamerica.

From the 16th through the 20th centuries, medical texts reported over 100 medicinal uses of cacao. Most commonly, the uses stimulate the nervous system and improve digestion and elimination, and heart health.

- Dark chocolate, which contains more cacao and less fats and sugars, can positively benefit the cholesterol profile

- Cacao provides the same amount of antioxidant polyphenols as a glass of red wine

- Cacao stimulates the production of natural antidepressants in the body, as well as containing its own stimulants, theophylline and caffeine

- Cacao beans are rich in magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese and potassium. They’re also a good source of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C, E and pantothenic acid - Most of these nutrients are lost during the commercial chocolate making process. Health practitioners recommend that anyone interested in eating cacao for its health benefits use raw, unprocessed cacao beans and nibs rather than processed chocolate.

Constituents are Caffeine, flavonoids, phenylethylalamine, anandamide, magnesium, sulfur, oleic acid, theobromine, and tryptophan. Cacao beans and nibs contain more flavonoid antioxidants than most other vegetables and fruits and up to four times as much concentrated antioxidant as green tea.

Cacao stimulates the production of serotonin and endorphins, and contains phenylethylalamine, a chemical that elevates the mood and help increase focus. Cacao MAKES YOU HAPPY!

Bittersweet Cacao Truffles

12 oz Bittersweet Chocolate

¼ cup Almond or Rice Milk

The Chipotle JUICE from one small can of chipotles

If you’d like a spicier truffle, add the juice from two cans.

Save the chipotles for a salsa or later in the week.

Truffle Coating

½ cup of crushed cacao beans (use your coffee grinder)

1 cup organic cane sugar

1 heaping tablespoons of cinnamon

½ cup of coco powder

Mix together. Set aside until ready to coat truffles.

For truffles:

Melt chocolate with milk in a double boiler until smooth and creamy.

Add chipotle JUICE ONLY. Combine thoroughly and chill in the fridge until chocolate has a hardened but is still malleable.

Use a melon baller, coffee spoon, or small scooper to form small balls of chocolate. You will need to use your hands to

roll a well formed truffle ball. Toss in cacao sugar mixture to coat.

EAT! Have a nice slice of orange ready. They work really well together.

Makes about 15 truffles.

Provecho.