5 healthy recipes for chocolate lovers

Chocolate. The word alone oozes the promise of decadence and delight, so how could it possibly be paired with “model”, a word most of us associate with dietary denial? Model Abigail O’Neill dares to team up the two in her ode to unrefined chocolate, Model Chocolate. Each recipe revolves around nutrient-packed raw cacao and other superfoods, with nary a whiff of the processed sugars, hydrogenated fats and other unnatural extras abundant in most packaged chocolate bars. If you’ve only experienced the chocolates in the aisle of your supermarket, you’re in for a flavour-packed treat. 

Fearless Cupcake Puddings

No sugar, dairy, wheat, gluten, soy, eggs, honey, nuts or seeds!

Serves: 9
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins

3 medium–large bananas
1 cup dates soaked for 3 minutes in hot water, drained
â…“ cup cold-pressed ricebran oil
½ tsp vanilla powder
â…” cup organic cocoa powder
½ cup rice flour
2 tsp aluminium-free baking powder
Extra ricebran oil, for greasing 

Preheat oven to 170°C. Line muffin tins with unbleached cupcake liners.

Grease with ricebran oil. Whizz everything together in the food processor until smooth and creamy, adding rice flour and baking powder last.

Spoon chocolate mixture into lined muffin cups, filling each to two-thirds full. Bake for 20 minutes.

Delicious served warm with a splash of pure coconut cream and maple syrup.

 

Ginger Goji Healer

This big spicy, antioxidant-rich block is perfect with a cup of green tea for those days when you don’t feel 100 per cent.

Serves: 10–20
Prep time: 10 mins

150g creamed coconut
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp jellybush honey
½ cup dehydrated ginger pieces, halved
½ cup goji berries or more
Pinch Celtic salt
â…“ cup cacao powder

Melt creamed coconut and oil over a bowl of boiled water. Add all other ingredients in order and mix gently until combined.

Pour into a lined dish and allow it to set in the fridge until needed. I like this recipe set quite thickly. Cut pieces off, as desired.

 

Honey Lavender Top Deck Screams

Musk-like in flavour, these superfood-packed chocolates are a girls-only affair.

Serves: 8
Prep time: 15 mins plus setting time

Lavender Maqui Top Deck

100g raw organic creamed coconut
1 tbsp raw organic coconut oil
4 drops lavender essential oil
1 tbsp raw honey
Pinch of salt
½–1 tsp maqui berry powder

Mesquite Honey Chocolate

60g cacao butter, finely chopped
2 tbsp raw organic coconut oil
1 tbsp raw honey
¼ tsp vanilla powder
2 tbsp mesquite powder
â…“ cup raw cacao powder

To make the lavender maqui top deck. melt the creamed coconut and coconut oil in a glass bowl over boiled water. Remove from heat and add lavender oil, honey and salt. Swirl through maqui powder. Pour spoonfuls into moulds and chill 10 minutes to set.

To prepare the mesquite honey chocolate, use a clean bowl and melt the cacao butter and coconut oil over boiling water. Remove from heat and mix in honey, vanilla, mesquite and cacao. When smooth, pour over lavender layer. Set another 10 minutes.

Notes: For a superfine white chocolate mouth feel, use quality creamed coconut. When creating raw chocolate with creamed coconut, be careful not to over-mix as the oil will begin to separate from the coconut mass instead of combining beautifully. Also, ensure your mesquite powder has no gritty particles by sifting it through a fine sieve as you add it.

 

Nissa’s Turkish Delight Tapioca

This is a healthier Turkish delight option my surfer friend came up with. Simply delightful topped with dark chocolate!

Serves: 6–8
Prep time: 30 mins (excluding soaking and cooling)

1 cup sago grains
1L pomegranate juice
â…“ cup rosewater
½ cup coconut sugar

Soak sago in pomegranate juice for 4 hours or overnight.

Bring sago and juice to a simmer on high heat, stirring constantly. Add rosewater and coconut sugar. Keep cooking until grains are just turning transparent.

Pour into a beautiful bowl to set.

Serve warm with generous shavings of 70–85 per cent organic, Fairtrade chocolate or pour into individual ramekins, drizzled with dark chocolate and set in the fridge to serve as individual portions. The raw chocolate will form a hard casing on top.

 

Not Naughty Dates

Don’t you think these decadent delights worthy of the highest elegance? Take them to the most fashionable events. Only, be warned, they do tend to misbehave.

Serves: 12
Prep time: 5 mins

12 organic Medjool dates
1-2 tbsp raw cashew butter
1-2 tbsp roasted hazelnut butter
1 tbsp maqui berry powder
1 tbsp raw cacao powder 

Slit open dates neatly down one side and remove pits. Fill six dates with raw cashew butter and the other six with hazelnut butter.

Roll the cashew-filled dates into a little maqui berry powder and the hazelnut-centred dates in raw cacao powder. 

 

Recipes from Model Chocolate by Abigail O’Neill, self-published, RRP AU$49.95. Available at abigailoneill.net.