Dark Chocolate Turtles
Posted: November 20, 2008 Filed under: Agave Nectar, desserts, Snacks, Stage 2, Vegan Leave a comment »
Something had been missing in my life. I couldn’t put a finger on what it was for a while, but it bothered me that I didn’t have a clue as to what it was. One day, while doing some shopping, I got caught in the candy aisle. My mouth started drooling! I couldn’t believe it! Then I realized that I haven’t had any good candy for a long, long, long time! Aha! It was time to get creative.
I already had the unsweetened chocolate and the cocoa butter in my pantry as well as a copy of David Lebovitz’ The Great Book of Chocolate. In his book, he explains that unsweetened chocolate has the cocoa butter removed. So, I decided to experiment with adding some in my chocolate treats to see how they come out.
I was quite pleased with the end result. I added some agave for sweetness, and they are quite….addicting!
I have gotten so geeky about chocolate candy making that I actually went out and bought candy molds! So, I’ll be making candy bars, nut butter cups, and truffles with different sweeteners and posting the results.
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate (organic preferably)
4 oz. cocoa butter (You may be able to use coconut oil instead)
1/2 cup agave
1 cup your favorite nuts (I used almonds and brazil nuts)
Arrange nuts on a parchment lined cookie sheet. I put two Brazil nuts together and arranged a few almonds around them. I didn’t roast mine, but you can roast them for 10 minutes in a 350 degree F oven. Let cool.
Melt chocolate and cocoa butter in a double boiler on low to medium heat. I put a small metal bowl over a saucepan filled halfway with water. The water should only simmer. Stir chocolate and cocoa butter together until smooth. Add agave and keep stirring until smooth.
Spoon mixture over nuts, and place cookie sheet in refrigerator for about 10 min. for candies to harden. Keep candies stored in fridge.
Makes about 14 candies
