Chocolate is almost everyone’s favorite. However, health experts recommend the consumption of dark chocolate as it is the healthiest among them all. It gives off a bitter taste but what I can say is that it’s worth it. This is because dark chocolate is packed with antioxidants and nutrients that give off many health benefits.
For many reasons such as finance, fun, or a hobby of preparing your meals, you may want to make dark chocolate at home. It is quite easy because it requires no fancy equipment like thermometers, ovens, or special gadgets. All you need is a bowl, whisk, freezer, and heater.
Before learning how to make dark chocolate, let us first learn what dark chocolate is, what makes dark chocolate healthy, and how we can distinguish it from other types without tasting.
What is dark chocolate?
Dark chocolate is a form of chocolate containing cocoa solids, cocoa butter and is made without sugar or dairy products like those found in milk chocolate. Dark chocolate also has a bitter taste as it contains large amounts of cacao which is an ingredient used in the making of chocolates. In comparison to milk chocolate which has less than 10% of cacao, dark chocolate contains at least 35% of cacao.
Dark chocolates may contain sugar and milk but it’s very less compared to the cacao. The health benefits of dark chocolate are attributed to flavonoids which are the antioxidants got from cacao. Since dark chocolates contain a higher percentage of cacao, this makes them healthier than other types.
Are you excited about making dark chocolate yet? Let’s look at the ingredients we need to make dark chocolate at home.
What ingredients are in dark chocolate?
To curb your chocolate cravings, reach out and make your dark chocolate. The ingredients used in making dark chocolate are healthy for different types of diets such as raw, low carbs, keto, paleo, vegan, gluten-free, and refined free sugar diets.
You can enjoy dark chocolate without the guilt of ruining your diet as the case with milk chocolate which contains milk, and sugars that can be a restriction in other diets.
Ingredients for making dark chocolate at home.
- Cocoa powder
- Cocoa butter or coconut oil (don’t subtitle with other oils as they don’t solidify as these two do)
- Vanilla extract (vanilla extract enhances the flavor. It can be optional but the chocolate will be plain)
- Nuts (peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or chia seeds) optional.
- Sweeteners like honey syrup, stevia can be used to reduce the bitter taste.
How to make dark chocolate at home.
It will not take you a lot of time if you have the ingredients ready. Below are the ingredients you will need.
What you will need.
- I tablespoon of coconut oil
- 100 grams of cocoa butter.
- 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla extract.
- 40 grams of unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Pinch of salt.
Instructions.
- Combine cocoa butter and coconut oil in a pan on medium heat. Keep stirring until the mixture is melted completely.
- When melted, remove the pan from the heat. Add the cocoa powder into the melted oil and whisk until there are no lumps.
- I preferred sweet, add a sweetener of your choice at this stage. It is at the same stage you add nuts or seeds.
- Pour the mixture into shaped molds of your choosing. I prefer square or rectangular but heart-shaped molds work too.
- Place the molds into the fridge for about an hour or two.
- After this time, the chocolate can come out easily from the mold.
How do you make dark chocolate less bitter?
During the process of making dark chocolate at home, apply sweeteners. Many sweeteners bond well with chocolate to give it a better and sweet taste.
- Sugar.
- Honey
- Stevia.
- Fruit extracts such as apple, strawberries
- Fructose.
The bottom line.
Dark chocolate is healthier than other types and if the reason for making chocolate at home is health benefits, choose to make dark chocolate. It is however very bitter if no sweeteners are added into it. You can add a moderate quantity of sweeteners to reduce the bitter taste. Choose natural sweeteners like fruit extracts, honey, or stevia.
By the way, did you know that you can eat chocolate and still lose weight? We have written an article that throws more light on chocolate and weight loss. Read it here.
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