Rawr Foods and Chocolate Blog » cacao

Raw & Natural Valentine’s Day Ideas

Kendra — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:13:29 +0000

Whether you’re planning Valentines for a loved one, or are going to be pampering yourself on 14th February, here’s how to keep the love all-natural, raw and vegan.

Cacao Butter Massage

Massage is sensual and relaxing, and can be great for your skin’s health. A chunk of slightly warmed organic cacao butter is all you need for a great-smelling, moisturising massage bar. Coconut butter works well too, and melts a little faster in your hands.

For a little more pizazz, melt some cacao butter over a bowl of hot water or in a dehydrator, add a few drops of fragrant essential oil or some rose petals, and pour into a heart-shaped mould to set.

For more elaborate and luxurious homemade raw bath recipes, have a read of The Holistic Beauty Book.

Romantic Raw Chocolate

What would Valentines be without chocolate? Our Passion bar, aptly-named and with a heart-decorated wrapper, makes a perfect post-dinner treat. Or make a gift of the Rawr Love Collection – 4 raw vegan chocolate bars (including Passion), with red ribbon, heart-themed tag and optional gift message. Alternatively, create your own chocolate gift.

Bathing with Love

Run a relaxing, nourishing bath, adding essential oils, a few sprinkles of grated cacao butter, rose petals, or a natural pre-made bath soak, such as Raw Living’s bath salts or bath bar. Don’t forget the…

Toxin-Free Candlelight

Most regular candles are made from petrochemicals, which release toxic fumes as you burn them. Not terribly romantic! Make sure your Valentines candles are made from plant wax, such as these tea lights from Funky Raw.

Raw Dinner, in or out

If you’re in the UK and are lucky enough to live in or visit London, there’s an increasing number of raw restaurants where you can enjoy a romantic meal out - Saf, Inspiral Lounge, Vantra, Wild Food Cafe to name a few. If you want to eat raw at home without the preparation, Raw Fairies offer a food delivery service.

Dinner at home allows you to tailor your meal to your partner’s (or your) favourite raw foods. For example, if you both love avocados, why not make a delicious avocado-based salad followed by chocolate-avocado pudding?

Check out these raw food website and book suggestions for recipe ideas. This list of aphrodisiac raw foods will help give your dinner an extra boost!

New Flavour!! – Organic 80% Cacao Intensity

Kendra — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 19:56:32 +0000

We’re thrilled to announce our new flavour, Intensity! This is our darkest bar at 80% cacao content (Purity, our other dark bar, is 70%), and it is absolutely delicious. We’re very proud of it. It’s already proven itself at our recent stalls and events, and we think it’s going to be a bestseller.

Here are its 100% organic ingredients: Cacao Paste, Cacao Butter, Agave Nectar, Cacao Powder, Cacao Nibs (4.5%), Coconut Butter, Mesquite, Madagascan Vanilla.

You can order Intensity here. Please leave us a review if you try a bar, we’d love to know what you think!

Recipe: Raw Chocolate Crispy Cakes

Kendra — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:19:54 +0000

Raw Chocolate Crispy Cake

Summary: Raw chocolate crispy cakes, with not a cornflake in sight! Truly delicious.

Ingredients

3 cups dried coconut (flakes or dessicated)
1 cup dates, soaked overnight and soak water kept
1 cup raw cacao powder
1/3 cup coconut butter
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Set the coconut butter to melt over a mug of hot water.
Make the date paste. Put the soaked dates in your food processor with a little of the soak water and pulse. Continue to add small amounts of water and pulse until you achieve a smooth, paste-like consistency.
Transfer the date paste to a mixing bowl. Add all of the other ingredients, including the melted coconut butter, and mix well.
You should end up with a thick mixture. Add a little more of the date soak water if you feel it’s necessary, although you’re not aiming for stickiness.
Using an ice-cream scoop, scoop up the mixture and press it into the scoop using a spoon.
You can either eat the cakes now or dehydrate for 3-4 hours until warm and crispy on the outside.

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Number of servings: 9

Meal type: dessert

Recipe: Raw ‘Hot’ Chocolate

Kendra — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:28:16 +0000

Hot choccie

Summary: A really creamy, milky tasting dairy-free hot chocolate! Believe me, the sunflower seeds do work – they add thickness to the drink without adding sunflower taste.

Ingredients

2 tbsp sunflower seeds, soaked in water for 2 hours or more
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp carob
1 tsp mesquite
1 tbsp cacao powder
1 tbsp yacon syrup or agave nectar
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch of salt (optional)
Sprinkle cayenne chili (optional)

Instructions

Put everything in a blender and run for long enough that the sunflower seeds are fully broken down.
Pour the mixture from your blender into a saucepan, running it through a sieve as you do so to ensure any chunks of sunflower seeds are taken out.
Heat the hot chocolate to the required temperature, stirring all the while. If you want to keep it raw, stick a finger in as you stir and turn off the heat just before the liquid becomes too hot to be comfortable.
Find a tall mug, pour and enjoy!

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Number of servings: 1

Recipe: Raw Chocolate Breakfast

Kendra — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:32:36 +0000

The End Result - Chocolate Oatmeal

The Raw Ingredients

Summary: Adapted from Kristen Suzanne’s ‘Ultimate Raw Vegan Chocolate Recipes.’ Quite possibly the nicest raw breakfast I’ve ever had!

Ingredients

1/2 cup raw oat groats, soaked overnight then drained
1 apple, chopped
2 tbsp hemp seeds
1 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tbsp goji berries
1 tbsp yacon syrup or agave nectar (I generally prefer yacon for everything except making chocolate bars!)
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch salt (optional)

Instructions:

Process everything in your food processor, using the ‘S’ blade. Enjoy!

Number of servings: 1

Meal type: breakfast