Whoever said chocolate is for lovers couldn’t be more correct. Chocolate is indeed a natural aphrodisiac. Maybe, it’s the melt in your mouth, rich, smooth, buttery texture, but savouring chocolate is definitely a “sweet” treat (albeit more bitter in the case of the dark variety).
There is something about chocolate that seems to be hard wired into our brains to represent love. Women crave chocolates even more than men as well. Contrary to popular belief chocolate is actually really good for you. Dark chocolate is chock-full of antioxidants and flavanols, vitamins and nutrients. It lowers your blood pressure, protects your skin, reduced inflammation, boosts your brain power and increases your good HDL choloesterol. On top of it all, regular consumption of small amounts of dark chocolate can help to reduce your BMI. Real cocoa is a brilliant source of lots of great stuff and dark chocolate (99%) is a great low carb source of fat as well. The secret? The darker, the better.
Dark chocolate is definitely an acquired taste if you have grown up like most of us on sickeningly sweet milk chocolate. But once you begin to acquire the taste, you really get to appreciate the intense, complex flavours of real chocolate. Dark chocolate is not sweet. It is bitter. But “bittter” and “sweet” are so meant to be together that they have actually been combined in a compound word in the English language (“bitterweet” for our non-native English language subscribers). Dark chocolate is a match made in tasting heaven with coffee or champagne. Chances are you will already be popping a bottle of bubbly this valentines so this is the perfect complement. As I write this, I am enjoying mine with a triple shot of espresso.
Homemade Keto Dark Chocolate for Valentines
The beauty is that you can add as much sweetness as you like as this is a recipe that allows for experimentation and lots of tasting and adjusting to personal preferences. In other words, this is a recipe to play with… and playing with food as sexy as chocolate can only lead to fun things later on.
- 1 bar Lindt 99% Excellence Dark Chocolate
- 1/2 cup Unsweetened shredded (or desiccated) coconuts
- 2 TBSP organic cold pressed coconut oil
- 2 TBSP grassfed butter
- Liquid Stevia to taste (supplement with powdered stevia
- A pink of Himalayan Pink Salt
- YOU WILL NEED:
- A silicone chocolate mould (preferably one with deeper pockets so you can add fillings
- A small liquid measuring cup
- Kettle with boiling water
- bow big enough to fit the measuring cup
- Add a few tablespoons of boiling water, pinch of Himalayan pink salt and a few drops of stevia to shredded coconut to rehydrate it and let it sit for about 15 mins.
- Rub a litter butter on your index finger and into the crevices of each of the mould pockets
- Put chocolate, butter and coconut oil in the measuring cup
- Place measuring cup in a bath of hot water for a few seconds, remove for a few seconds, then place in water bath for a bit longer. Mix chocolate and butter and coconut oil together while melting.
- Once melted, pour a small amount of chocolate in each lightly greased mould. Use the tip of a knife or a wooden skewer to cover the entitre mould area with chocolate.
- Freeze to set
- Once set remove from freezer and add coconut to each pocket
- Cover an fill each mould with the melted chocolate and freeze to set
Sandra Garth says
These deep dark chocolates are so pretty! I buy Lindt frequently just to eat as is. Never thought of jazzing them up a bit and molding them. Thank you for the inspiration!
Chef and Steward says
Sandra, thanks so much. Chef has pretty much gobbled them all up! It’s nice to do something special with chocolate from time to time!