Chai Chocolate Double-Layer Fudge
Chai Chocolate Double-Layer Fudge
About this Recipe
As a kid, chocolate was my first love, my everything. Cacao helped me bridge the path on my journey from having a serious sugar addiction to attaining a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Most commercial chocolate has a lot of sugar and dairy. It is high in calories and has little additional nutritive value. But cacao is a breakthrough ingredient, with immense potential to divert people, particularly kids, from choosing highly refined, unhealthy treats to more complex, nutritious, homemade ones. Incorporating cacao butter and powder, this vegan chocolate recipe is a delicious, grown-up dessert.
The Benefits
Heart-healthy and antioxidant cacao is also a powerful mood-lifter. So are the spices in the chai masala that flavors this fudge. This recipe also using yacon syrup, which is made from a tuber and is lower in calories than many other sweeteners.
Equipment: Blender/mixer/grinder, 6x9 metal or glass tray lined with parchment paper, or silicone mold
Ingredients
20 servings
- 3 Tbsp (45 g) cashew butter, plus more to drizzle
- ¼ cup (50 g) raw cacao powder
- 5 Tbsp coconut sugar or jaggery
- 3 tsp chai masala (preferably homemade, see “Level Up” below)
- 6 Tbsp (90 ml) cacao butter, melted
- 2 Tbsp (30 ml) coconut milk
- Himayalan pink salt
- 3/4 cup hot water (as required)
- ½ cup of desiccated coconut
- 1 cup cashews, soaked in water for two hours, then drained
- 4 Tbsp yacon syrup
- 1 tsp high-quality vanilla extract
Directions
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Step 1
To make the nut butter chocolate ganache: To your blender jar, add the cashew butter, raw cacao, coconut sugar, 1 tsp of the chai masala, 2 tbsp of the melted cacao butter, coconut milk, and a pinch of salt. Blend until it reaches a smooth, ganache-like texture. Add up to 1/4 cup hot water to get it to the right consistency if needed. Pour the mixture into a parchment-lined tray or glass dish, and keep it in the freezer. Rinse out your blender jar. -
Step 2
To make the second layer: Add the desiccated coconut to your blender along with ¼ cup of water. Let it soak for 5 minutes, then blend until the coconut achieves a smooth consistency. Add the soaked cashews, vanilla, yacon syrup, 2 tsp of the chai masala, ¼ tsp or a pinch of pink salt, the remaining 4 tbsp (60 ml) of melted cacao butter, and ¼ cup of hot water to the blender. Process until you have a smooth consistency. -
Step 3
Remove the tray or mold from the freezer. Your first layer should be somewhat firm by now. Pour the second cashew-coconut layer on top. Freeze for 5 minutes. Remove and drizzle a little bit of cashew nut butter on top to embellish. You can use a toothpick to create some swirls through the top. -
Step 4
Freeze the fudge for at least 8 hours. You can cut it into small pieces and serve it frozen, or let it warm up for ten minutes on the counter before serving. To store for longer than a day, keep the fudge in an air-tight container in the freezer. This can also be served as a mousse if stored in the refrigerator after the initial freezing to set.
Substitutions: Use liquid jaggery, date syrup, or another natural sweetener of choice if you can’t find yacon syrup.
Level up: Make your own chai masala at home for optimum freshness and flavor. Blend cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, cloves, peppercorns and ginger powder in a grinder until you have a coarse powder. Feel free to adjust the amounts of each spice to your liking. Store in an air-tight container in a cool, dry place for up to a month.
About the author
Mariam Begg
Mariam Begg is a certified health and nutrition coach who focuses on integrative nutrition. She views good health as the coming together of food, interpersonal relationships, spirituality, and the mental and emotional spheres. An advocate of plant-based diets and raw foods, she hosts workshops on nutrition and health.
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