Deep, Dark, Decadent Raw Hot Chocolate

I really haven’t missed much from the cooked food world since I went raw, and as time goes on, I crave or miss less and less. The exception over the past several weeks – perhaps because of the time of year – is the amazing, totally rich and decadent, REAL hot chocolate served at certain specialty chocolate stores and bakeries. By REAL hot chocolate, I mean chocolate that has been melted and thinned with a little…well, in most cases, with a little cow juice. My former self, and to an extent my raw self, was/is a chocolate snob, and a little bit of a connoisseur…and I certainly had my favorite hot chocolates…City Bakery was my all-time favorite, but Burdick’s in Cambridge, MA, Jacques Torres, and Vosges all have fabulous versions. City Bakery in New York even had chocolate warming machinery built into its counter…and, if you can stand it, they serve their hot chocolate with a homemade marshmallow. I could take the sweetness, but as a purist, I usually had mine straight up. And I always, ALWAYS finished my whole cup. Most of the time when I had a companion in hot chocolate drinking, they would whine that it was too rich and they couldn’t finish, but not my friend Monika…she’s my sister in hot chocolate drinking. So this post is dedicated to Mon.

Anyway, I wanted to make a raw version. I experimented a bit…an avocado version was tasty, but never the right consistency…and I think I’ve got it pretty well nailed. Although, for the sake of humanity, I may continue my research. In any case, here’s the recipe, below.

1/3 of a cup raw cashews

1 cup water

¼ cup extra virgin, cold pressed coconut oil, warmed to liquid consistency

½ cup raw cacao

¼ cup raw agave nectar

First, make your cashew milk…you can do this in a Vita –Mix if you have one, or a regular blender. The beauty of the cashew is that it is a soft enough nut that it should turn into nice smooth milk that you won’t have to strain, even from a regular blender. Use more if you like, in a 1:3 nut to water ratio, but I wanted to make just enough for two small servings.

Next, whisk together your cacao powder and agave with a fork. Get out all the lumps. Then add “melted” coconut oil, little by little, until you have gorgeous, glossy, smooth chocolate syrup. Add several tablespoons of the chocolate to the cashew milk – I used 4-5 heaping tablespoons – according to taste. Gently blend together, or hand whisk. It’s better to do this once the cashew milk is a little bit warmed from the blender (NOT hot, of course!), so that the coconut oil doesn’t congeal. Once the chocolate is all blended with the nut milk, it will thicken a bit upon standing, and only get more delicious (if less “hot”).

Please note – this is not really a health food. Merely a HEALTHIER version of something that would otherwise contain processed sugar and dairy. Please only make this as an occasional indulgence, as it is high in calories and fat…and despite it being “healthy” fat, and having a few antioxidants and minerals courtesy of the chocolate, it’ll give you love handles if you have too much.

If you have extra chocolate sauce, throw some raisins in it, toss to coat, spread out on a plate and throw it in the freezer…homemade, raw chocolate covered raisins!