CHOCOLATE!

In the spirit of Valentines I decided to try my hand at making my own chocolate! I didn't have the funds to buy all that was needed to make milk chocolate, so I made Dark Chocolate. I didn't have the ability to roast my own Cacao beans so I started with the Nibs, which are the beans already roasted, lightly crushed, and winnowed (shells removed). Again not having a food or coffee grinder I used my husband's mortar and pestle.

8 parts Cacao Nibs with two parts Sugar were placed into the mortar. Then Grind! Grind! Grind! Once the nibs were a powder I placed the mortar in the microwave to warm it up a bit. Warming the Mortar made it a little easier to grind the nibs to a more liquid type state. Just as it was starting to look liquid I added a dash of Cinnamon and Cardamon for flavor. 2 hours and some very sore arms later the chocolate was about as smooth as I was going to get it. There's no way to get it as smooth as the chocolate bars from the store unless you buy the machine for that kind of finishing.

At this point you can ether serve up the chocolate or... you can put it in a mold. I chose to mold it. I filled a 2"x 2" Tupperware with all of the chocolate made... it was about a quarter of an inch thick. It was then placed in the freezer for about 5 minutes till hardened. I broke it up into pieces which makes it easier to see how it's more grainy then store chocolate. A lot of work, but it was yummy. Next time I think I'll grind the sugar a little finer beforehand, and add a little more of the chosen flavoring. My arms would also thank me greatly if I get a food/coffee grinder to do the initial grinding lol.