What?
Cacao is the dried bean originating at the foot of the Andes and in the Amazon (South America), from which cacao solids and cacao butter are extracted. It is the basis of raw chocolate and the raw form of cocoa (which has been fermented)..
The cacao beans are hand peeled and unroasted unlike conventional cocoa. The powder is extracted by grinding the bean, butter is extracted by cold-pressing the bean and nibs are shattered pieces of the bean.
Where?
Your local health food store or stall at market. Or I love loving earth‘s raw cacao powder and other cacao products which you can also buy on line.
Why?
Jam packed with antioxidants (Antioxidants protect the body from ageing and disease caused by free radicals), magnesium and bliss nutrients. These keep you energized and happy for long periods.
Raw cocoa is also an aphrodisiac as it contains anandamide (a substance that induces euphoria). Phenylethylamine (PEA) is also found in raw cacao, which is a mood enhancer.
Drinking a cup of hot cacao before meals can diminish your appetite by helping the body tune in to its natural appetite.
How?
Having such a rich chocolaty taste raw cacao is versatile and ideal in many foods here are just some suggestions of what you can add it to…
Powder:
-Smoothies
-Raw cakes
-Raw slices
-Mousse
-In porridge
-As a hot drink
-Used in bliss balls
Butter
-Raw chocolate
-Raw deserts
Nibs
-Smoothies
-Add crunch to raw deserts
-In Bliss balls
When?
As with conventional chocolate using processed “cocoa” I don’t suggest having cacao in high amounts just before you go to sleep as it gives you so much energy it may keep you awake!
Here is a recipe I have experimented with and it is A-Mazing!
Here is a recipe I have experimented with and it is A-Mazing!
Do you use raw cacao? What are some of your favorite ways to use it?