FRUIT SKEWER AND ITS CHOCOLATE & COCONUT SAUCE [Recipe]

You won't believe how versatile it is.

You can use it for:

- sweet (mousse, cakes, ice cream) or savoury recipes (chutney, sauces)

- cosmetics (cacao butter, husk, powder)

- perfumery (cacao absolute and CO2 extract)

- drinks (hot chocolate, teas, champagne, yes, champagne flavoured with cacao and juice)

- confectionary (syrups, chocolate bonbons...)

and even as a spiritual tool (only unroasted and ceremonial grade). 

I use cacao for all those purposes, unroasted and 85% minimum. So you can assume I have a lot of cacao at home.

Cacao is another strange fruit.

It's impossible to eat it unprocessed. And if you don't trust me, I dare you to go find a cacao tree (no need to climb as most of the fruits grow on the trunk. Yes, bizarre), open the pod (don't forget your machete), and munch in it.

I bet you'll spit the contents of your month on the ground due to its high bitterness aroma.

Cacao beans must be fermented (5 to 7 days in general) and dried, usually sundried, for about the same length of time.

Those processes will trigger the development of the aroma and reduce the bitterness.

Multiple other steps are taken to produce chocolate. But the one that can be skipped is roasting.

While roasting develops further chocolate aromas, it also alters or destroys, in some cases, most of the beneficial nutrients like probiotics, enzymes and vitamins.

For that reason, I buy only unroasted cacao (incorrectly called raw). Indeed during fermentation, the temperature can rise between 50 and 60 degrees celsius. So not exactly the definition of ''raw''.

Anyway, I cook the cacao at the lowest temperature possible (around 60 degrees) for this recipe.

Cacao's best pairing: nuts, red fruits, exotic fruits, mint, cinnamon, coffee, orange, avocado, maple syrup, vanilla.

Texture of the dish: creamy, crunchy

Taste: bitter, nutty, sweet

RECIPE SERVES 4 PERSONS

Preparation 15 mins ∞ Cooking 5 mins ∞ Rest 30 min ∞ Total time 50 mins

 

Ingredients:

 

For the fruit marinade

2 Mangoes (marinated with 4 tsp of lime juice and 12 mint leaves. Plus a drizzle of honey)

1 Papaya (marinated with 2 cm of ginger, 2 tsp of lime and a drizzle of honey)

250 g raspberry

 

  

For the dark chocolate sauce

 

1/2 cup of unroasted (raw) dark chocolate 85%

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup coconut flakes

1 cup coconut cream

1/2 cup coconut milk

 

  

Instructions:

 

Fruit marinade

 

1. Slice the mangoes and the papaya into small cubes.

2. Marinate the mangoes with lime, shredded mint and honey.

3. In a different container, marinate the papaya with ginger, lime and honey.

4. Let marinate for 2 to 3 hours

5. Remove excess juice from the marinade and keep it to add to a smoothie or juice of your choice.

 

Dark chocolate sauce

1. Cook everything EXCEPT the chocolate for 5 minutes on a medium stove

2. Cover and let infuse for 30 minutes (out of the fire)

3. Reheat for 1 or 2 minutes on a medium stove

4. Then pour over the chocolate pistoles and whisk.

5. Add extra coconut flakes if needed

5. Bon appétit!