Thick, rich, dark and spicy hot cacao recipe (in time for Autumn/Winter)

I know it´s not cold yet but enjoying the autumn/winter research process (!)

Feel it my duty to share the results of my experiments with thick, rich, dark and spicy raw hot chocolate recipe combinations.

Usually i´m a Masala chai kind of woman, but this is for those days when you could use a little extra “oomph”.

The best thing about this recipe is that the ingredients are all natural – including the sweeteners – plus raw cacao is the bees knees – it´s packed with antioxidants and minerals such as magnesium (funfact: cacao contains one of the highest whole food sources of magnesium!) which equals feel good feelings – hooray!

My first flirtations with the magical powers of cacao was thanks to an old housemate from way back when, who would lace her cupcakes and smoothies with it. Then i met a raw chocolatier (i KNOW, imagine that for a job title!) on my way to a festival back in 2009 who shared some secret magical recipes and if i´m honest i spent every weekend of the summer at festivals munching on delicious raw chocolatey treats and skipping delightedly around fields. But cacao is not just an alternative ingredient to festival debauchery – it can be for every day and of course, (like most things) it is best consumed as part of a balanced diet. And in moderation.

I´ve always been curious about flavour combinations, and being in Brighton where the raw and foodie community are abundant and long established, i feel really lucky to have a wide range of wise souls to learn from. This particular recipe is an amalgamation of some of these local folks, plus the Hemsley and Hemsley Mexican Hot Chocolate version (who are great at what they do and so happy they are sharing their skills with the masses).

With that, a word of caution: be mindful when you consume raw cacao – it still contains caffeine in so if you´re drinking this late at night and need to be up early it might not be the best combination…don´t say i didn´t warn you!

Ingredients

This makes around 2 generous cups. 1 giant one if you´re feeling selfish. x

Note: i tend to be a bit “wadæ” with measurements and instead like to “plonk” and taste as i go, so use these as a guide:

400ml Unsweetened almond milk
OR grab a handful of almonds/brazil nuts/cashews, soak them overnight in water and blend them up in the morning to make your own nut milk
OR 1 tin of coconut milk. If you only have coconut cream, you might need to add a little water.
3 tablespoons of cacao powder (i use The Raw Chocolate Company)
1.5 teaspoons of maple syrup or raw honey (to sweeten so i like to be cautious then add more if i´m not feeling sweet enough)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
A grating of fresh ginger to taste
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (i use Taylor & Colledge)
a pinch of sea/Himalayan salt
a pinch of cayenne pepper/ chilli powder (depending on your spice level, less if it´s low or more if it´s high!)
Option: crush some cardamom pods in there, why not! Other ingredients that are also fun for the game include black pepper (especially if that cayenne pepper aint your thing).