What should I make with all this fancy cacao?

August 6, 2015 12:37 PM

I have in my cupboard about a half a pound each of totally artisanal cocoa powder and whole roasted cacao beans. I'm looking for suggestions of creative ways to cook with them. Baked desserts are pretty much my wheelhouse, I don't need much in that vein. And ideally, what I make needs to be free of gluten, pork, and shellfish, so things that are either natively so or easy to substitute would be best. Savory or sweet, hot or cold, food or beverage, share with me your favorite recipes or ideas!
posted by expialidocious to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

--Cocoa covered roasted cauliflower.
--Roasted nuts with cocoa, of which there are many recipes.
--There's a variety of cocoa on meat recipes if you look; I like best the ones for chili

posted by barchan at 12:49 PM on August 6, 2015

I assume whole beans means cacao nibs, right? Here are some ideas:
- you can infuse cream with the nibs and then use the cream in another recipe. My favorite is butternut squash soup (squash, yellow onion, stock, and nibby cream).
- this asparagus recipe can be made with sea salt instead of prosciutto, and green beans instead of asparagus if you want
- more simple ways to incorporate nibs.
posted by alligatorpear at 1:04 PM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Hi, I always throw a little cocoa into baked beans, chili and brisket (all coincidentally I do in a slow cooker).
posted by archimago at 1:37 PM on August 6, 2015

You could make the powder into no-cooking-required chocolate bark candy - using just coconut oil and honey.
6 tablespoons coconut oil
4 tablespoons honey
6-7 tablespoons cacao powder
Blend in a food processor, spoon it onto parchment paper (I just "glob" it on then fold the paper and press to desired thickness), put it in the freezer for at least 20 minutes (you can just keep it in there).
Optional: add whole almonds and a sprinkle of sea salt before putting in the freezer. Yum!
posted by Slothomatic at 1:55 PM on August 6, 2015

My first impulse for savory would be mole (it's been a while since I've made it so I don't have a favorite recipe on hand, but maybe someone else does?) and for sweets I would make ice cream (do you have an ice cream maker?) — this Serious Eats post talks about adding nibs.
posted by rafaella gabriela sarsaparilla at 2:48 PM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Rick Bayless' granola has cacao nibs in it, and it is awesome. Granola.
posted by Fig at 3:11 PM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

I go through a fair amount of cocoa nibs by eating them in smoothies (banana, coffee, cocoa nibs!) or yogurt (unsweetened yogurt, raw cashews, dried fruit, cocoa nibs).
posted by jeweled accumulation at 3:29 PM on August 6, 2015

Are the whole cocoa beans shelled? If not, you'll need to remove the brittle, thin shell surrounding the beans. Once the beans are shelled and broken up/crushed, you have cocoa nibs. Yay you!

I adore cocoa nib roasted asparagus. A hot oven, asparagus tossed with a good amount of nice olive oil then put on a roasting sheet. Add a heavy sprinkle of kosher salt, and an even heavier sprinkle of cocoa nibs. Roast to desired doneness. Put a slice or two of burrata or fresh mozz on a plate, then several spears of asparagus and a drizzle of the roasting oil and the nibs that fell off during cooking (hence using a generous amount of both at the start). This is also lovely served on grilled bread, but only if you have a GF bread that you already enjoy.

Nibs are also a fab garnish for things like chocolate mousse with whipped cream. (Their texture makes them a great sub for nuts, as well. A friend with a nut allergy needed repeated reassurances that I wasn't trying to kill him when I served him this particular dessert.)

I would also add 1/2 or 3/4C of nibs to this Pavlova recipe, and form small cookies out of them.
posted by jenquat at 4:58 PM on August 6, 2015

You can make this dairy free chocolate smoothie
It is vegan and rich in cacao antioxidants. Made with unsweetened chocolate, cocoa powder and cocoa beans.

INGREDIENTS:

3 FROZEN BANANAS

1/2 CUP 100% DARK CHOCOLATE MEDALLIONS

2 TBSP. COCOA POWDER

2 CUPS ICE

8 FL. OZ. BREWED COFFEE

2 CUPS ALMOND MILK

Combine ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Garnish with crushed roasted cocoa beans.
posted by Lazar89 at 11:21 AM on August 2, 2016