Saturday, February 6, 2010

Raw Cashew Hot Chocolate


With the three feet of snow at our house my hubby came in from shoveling wanting hot chocolate. Oops, I didn’t have any soy milk or almond milk in the refrigerator. I decided to try an experiment and make raw cashew hot chocolate. This hot chocolate is fantastic, rich, thick and very tasty. Now I don’t recommend this for every day, but it does make a great treat. Here is what we had.

Raw Cashew Hot Chocolate
Makes 4 servings (or three for Dan and one for me)

Ingredients:

1 cup raw cashews
2 cups water
5 dates, pits removed
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 pinch salt
1 ½ tablespoons cocoa powder

Directions:

Combine in blender and process until smooth and hot. I used my Vitamix and we had a rich, thick and hot cocoa drink in less than 5 minutes. Both the hubby and I thought this was maybe a little too rich. Although he had 3 servings so it couldn’t have been too bad. Next time we will add a little cayenne to the mix for a background heat.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 166.18
Calories From Fat (54%) - 89.91

Total Fat - 10.74g
Saturated Fat - 2.02g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 79.81mg
Potassium - 265.54mg
Total Carbohydrates - 16.28g
Fiber - 2.37g
Sugar - 8.02g
Protein - 5.01g

Comments:

This cocoa was very rich and yummy. We liked the hint of espresso since we gave up coffee about 6 months ago. Now when we have coffee it is quite the treat. You will notice that I used dates to sweeten this cocoa. I decided to try using them since they also add vitamins and minerals. The cocoa was slightly sweet, but had a bit of a molasses undertone which we enjoyed.

Unrelated note:

Now it is time to clear the snow off the roofs of our two small additions. While this isn’t something that I like the sound of there was a roof collapse today in the news so it seems like it is necessary. Three feet of snow doesn’t belong on any roof.

Talk to you again later today. I think tonight is going to be split pea soup. Since Sarah posted her version at Ordinary Vegetarian I have had split pea soup on the brain ever since. With all this snow and shoveling split pea soup and salad will make a great dinner.

9 comments:

  1. This just seems like a stroke of genius to me...all the ingredients sound wonderful. I love the idea of the cayenne.

    Does it really get hot just from blending?

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  2. Rose,

    Ahhhh, you are too kind. But it made my afternoon. Thanks! :) I do need to add a little cayenne next time. Hopefully I don't forget

    The Vitamix is a great machine, it not only creamed the ingredients but heated the entire batch. I also use it to make raw veggies into hot soup. It is a great machine. You would love it.

    Alicia

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  3. Shenandoah,

    It was very good. The hubby liked it a little too much. ;)

    Heather,

    It was very rich. Like if you made hot chocolate with full fat milk or half and half. Dan really liked it. I only hope he doesn't want cashew "milk" all the time now.

    Alicia

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  4. yum alicia! i will save this recipe to try soon:) sounds delicious:)

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  5. Leslie,

    I hope you like it as much as we did. It is very rich, and a little addictive. Dan couldn't get enough of it.

    Alicia

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  6. Oh, your hot chocolate sounds so delicious! It's so perfect for this weather, it's been raining all day 2 days in a row here, I really need this yummy treat. Thanks for such a brilliant idea, Alicia:)

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  7. Oraphan,

    Thanks! I am glad you like the sound of it. It is very rich. You don't need much to be satisfied.

    Alicia

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