Bean to bar - How to make your own chocolate

cocoa butter

🥗Healthier: coconut oil

💰Cheaper: vegetable oil

Coconut oil provides a similar texture with less saturated fat.

sugar

🥗Healthier: honey

💰Cheaper: corn syrup

Honey is natural and adds flavor, while corn syrup is often less expensive.

milk

🥗Healthier: almond milk

💰Cheaper: water

Almond milk offers a dairy-free option, while water can reduce costs.

cream

🥗Healthier: Greek yogurt

💰Cheaper: milk

Greek yogurt adds creaminess with lower calories, while milk is a cost-effective substitute.

Cut the cocoa beans all around the edges in half and take the inside out of the peel.

Combine all the cocoa beans in a bowl and pour them into a bucket that can be closed.

Add a bottle of hot water to the bucket and close it.

Let the beans ferment for 7 days, mixing the beans and changing the hot water twice a day.

Drain any liquid from the bottom of the bucket daily.

On the seventh day, transfer the fermented beans onto a tray and let them dry in the sun for at least 2 days.

Toast the dried beans in an oven at 170 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.

Remove the membrane from the cocoa nibs.

Crush the beans all at once or use a fan to blow away the shells while the nibs fall down.

Mix 65% cocoa nibs, 10% cocoa butter, and 25% sugar for around one hour until it becomes a thick paste.

Add the sugar and mix for another 47 hours until silky smooth.

Pour the chocolate out of the grinder and prepare to make the chocolate ganache filling.

In a saucepan, bring 400 grams of water and 400 grams of double cream to a boil and mix it with 1200 grams of the chocolate.

Heat the remaining chocolate on a double boiler until it reaches 45 degrees Celsius.

Pour 4/5 of the chocolate on your worktop and cool it down to 28 degrees Celsius while moving it with a palette knife.

Transfer the cooled chocolate back into a bowl and mix it.

Fill the mold with the chocolate and tap it to remove air bubbles.

Turn the mold upside down to let the excess chocolate drip out and scrape the sides clean with a palette knife.

Let the chocolate set for 50 minutes.

Fill the molds with ganache and let it set for one hour.

Cover the ganache with tempered chocolate and level it with a palette knife.

Let the bar set for another hour out of the fridge.

Tap the bars out of the mold.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens