If you’re a real chocolate lover, you have to try a hand at making your own chocolate. Making your own chocolate may take several tries before you arrive at a recipe and mix that you like, but you will enjoy it every step of the way. Here’s how
Ingredients
Cacao or cocoa beans
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Milk
Sugar
Cocoa butter
Nuts, raisins, etc. (optional)
Tools
Oven or coffee roaster
Chocolate molds
Juicer (optional)
Spatula
Procedure
Set your coffee roaster or oven at anywhere between 250 and 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Let the cacao beans roast from five to 35 minutes at the hottest temperature.
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Start gradually reducing the heat until you begin hearing the beans to crack. The cracking usually indicates that the roasting is complete.
Let the beans cool for a little bit. Once cooled, start shelling the beans by removing the husk from the nib. This can get a bit tricky, so proper roasting some patience doing this by hand is the most efficient way of shelling.
Once you’re done shelling the beans, start grinding them. Some certain types of juicers can be quite handy for this. If you don’t have one, you can do this by hand, but be warned that this can be quite messy.
Once ground, put the cacao beans in a bowl and add cocoa butter, milk and sugar. Add each ingredients by small increments at a time. Each person making their own chocolate varies in the amounts they put in. Decide on your preferences, and you can perfect the chocolate recipe in subsequent tries.
Add your other recipes such as raisins and nuts to add a little twist in your chocolate.
Use a spatula to gently fold over the chocolate with its added ingredients. Continue folding the chocolate upon itself. This step is called conching, and the more you fold, the oilier and smoother the chocolate will be. The less it’s done, the grittier the chocolate will be.
Once you’re satisfied with the texture, cool them to around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour the chocolate into chocolate molds. Let the chocolate harden, and you now have your own handmade chocolate.