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Cacao :: Herb of the Month
October 4, 2009
Theobroma cacao
Raw unprocessed cacao is pure bliss and chocolate perfection. It’s a super food, it’s delicious, and you don’t have to feel guilty about eating it, not one bit, because it is good for you.
When I mention cacao to those who aren’t familiar with it, I often hear “What is Cacao?” or “You mean Cocoa?”. Did you know that the word cocoa is a British term? It is said that the British found it difficult to pronounce the word cacao, so they turned it around phonetically to suit their language. So what is cacao?
What Is Cacao?
Plain and simple, it’s pure natural raw chocolate. It is the fruit that grows from an evergreen herb tree native to Mexico and was so valuable the Aztecs used it as their currency.
The fruit of the cacao tree, referred to as the fruit of the Gods, is also known as the cacao pod. Within the pod is where you will find the seeds which are referred to as cacao beans, and from this bean comes cacao nibs [which are crushed whole beans with the husks removed]. Cacao powder is the ground nibs, and cacao butter is the fat extracted from the seeds [which contains up to 40 percent fat] of the cacao pod.
From bitter to sweet
Cacao is dark chocolate that is naturally bitter in taste. The whole bean or nibs can be eaten as is, if you like bitter chocolate. For those of us who prefer our chocolate less bitter adding agave or xylitol, for example, makes it a whole lot sweeter.
Nutritional Profile + Benefits of a Superfood
Cacao is a very potent little bean full of nutritional compounds to keep you healthy and happy. It is one of the richest sources of anti-oxidants, jam packed with minerals, like iron, magnesium, and zinc. Cacao butter is wonderful. It provides essential fatty acids and is a good fat that won’t raise cholesterol levels like other fats.
On the happiness scale, cacao contains mood-elevating serotonin, which helps put our brain in an active state of happy bliss. If you haven’t tried raw chocolate, you are in for a real treat.
Purchase + Storing
As with all other food purchases, look for the highest in quality cacao you can find, like certified organic, wild-crafted and fair trade certified, that is unroasted and unsweetened.
Store cacao nibs, powder, and butter in a cool, dry place, out of direct sunlight. It also stores well refrigerated.
Suggested Uses
Use cacao to make truffles, tortes, chocolate dipped fruits, cookies, cakes, brownies, drizzle on to of raw ice cream, and desserts of all kinds. Add it to your favorite smoothies, make chocolate drinks of all sorts, and sprinkle it on drinks or your favorite recipe.
The Giveaway
At the end of this month, one of your names will be drawn from the comment section of this post, and our wonderful sponsor Mountain Rose Herbs will send a gift of cacao products to the winning participant. Thank you, good luck, and have fun experimenting with the flavor of cacao!
This recipe is a simple way to make a yummy silky smooth chocolate sauce, perfect as chocolate fondue, or drizzles over raw ice cream or fresh fruit.
Chocolate Sauce
Make this sauce ahead; keep refrigerated up to two weeks.
1/2 cup agave, or sweetener of choice [adjust amount as needed]
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoons organic vanilla extract
Blend all ingredients together in a food processor until smooth.
Makes 3/4 cups
Related posts:
- Chocolate Pears
- Dill :: Herb of the Month
- Peppercorn :: Herb of the Month
- Allspice :: Herb of the Month
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Herb of the Month
Rose is the featured herb for February. We'll highlight its benefits, showcase it in raw vegan recipes, and at the end of the month a reader's name will be drawn from the comments, and our sponsor
will send that person products featuring rose. Thank you for participating!
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[…] Cacao :: Herb of the Month […]
Mmmmm… Raw chocolate, a great healthy addition on our family to energi bars, smoothies,breakfasts, desserts already. Thanks for the post.
Mmmmm… Raw chocolate, a great healthy addition on our family to energi bars, smoothies,breakfasts, desserts already. Thanks for the post.
BTW I love your blog!
I’ve just begun experiencing with cacao nibs. I made raw chocolate chip cookies using cacao nibs and they were delicious! Here’s my recipe:
1 1/2 cups walnuts
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup cashews
1 cup dates
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 TBS cacao nibs
1. Process dates
2. Add all other ingredients except nibs and process
3. Add cacao nibs, process
They’re better than the real thing!
Emily from Healthy Eating, Naturally
Yum! I’m slowly stocking my kitchen with raw goods and cacao is on my list!
Good Choice! I never thought of Cacao as an herb! I feel much better now. :)
Yum! We just made a batch of cacao cookies last night. I love having the chocolatey flavor without too much sweetener. Definitely going to try your chocolate sauce too!
I love cacao, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! I didn’t know a lot of this stuff though :)
I’ve never tried cacao nibs, but I love the powder.
Hi! I’d love a cacao package from Mountain Rose Herbs! I was just reading the book How Monkeys Make Chocolate with my kids and learning about how the monkeys spit out the cacao seeds (”beans”) on the rainforest floor which helps grow new plants. There’d be no spitting-out happening at our house if we got some raw cacao beans! :)
Angelique@rawshopper.com
Ok, I’m definitely going to try the chocolate sauce (love the recipes at this site)! I have some home-made vanilla extract that will be perfect for this.
That sounds delicious. I’ve always wanted to try raw cacao but have been partially deterred by the cost. Perhaps I will win some?
I LOVE cacao! I use it in my raw chocolate banana shake… I love the fact that you can enjoy food that tastes good and is good for you. another wonderful herb of the month. I am looking forward to making some incredible Cacoa recipe’s this month. Guess I will be posting some of my recipe ideas here for Cacao. RAWESOME!
Thank you so much for this post! It’s funny because I’ve only had cacao a few times (offered to me by my foodie friends) but I’ve been researching it a lot lately. I just moved to Costa Rica and cannot find it here, but I’m hoping to ship some to my mother-in-law who’ll bring it down when she visits. I really want to bake with the nibs. Yum!
Love to use these in making a “Chocolate” Parfait Sundae. Yum!
raw cacao! yes please yes please yes please!!
Hellooooooo? Did someone say chocolate?
You know me. Chocolate’s my middle name!
I am experimenting making raw chocolates at the moment. So much FUN.
After I got my feet on the ground with eating raw, the only “dessert” I’ve made is a raw chocolate pie - date/walnut “crust”, with the avocado/cocao “filling” - wowzers, what a delight! I want to try the nibs, just haven’t worked it into my little budge yet…thanks so much for the education and good eatin’!
I love chocolate!
I love, love, loooooooove cacao!
My grandmother actually caught on to the fact that I love it so much and now occasionally send me care packages to college with all kinds of raw chocolate goodies. :)
mmmm, looks yummy!!!
Chocolate in its richest form…
Who could resist?
<3
I’m 2 weeks raw this past weekend! I’ve never been in love with chocolate before, but I LOVE raw chocolate. I’ve been having trouble finding chocolate butter where I live, but I’m heading out to the big city next weekend, so you know I’m goin’ shoppin’!
Hi and YAY Patricia! Congrats going raw! I hope you find lots of inspiration and recipe you like here. Let me know if there is any thing I can help you with. All the best. :-)
Raw Cacao Giveaway! Cooool… what can I say?
So here’s something I have been experimenting with - raw hot chocolate. Made from cacao liquor/paste, nut milk, sweetner and spices.
So I melt, in the D, some cacao liquor/paste. Depends how strong you like it as to how much, then once it is melted and ‘hot’, I add blended nut milk, honey or agave (I used raw honey)and some spices: cayenne, cinnamon etc, whatever takes my fancy. This can be blended in the vitamix as it will keep it warm or warm it up, for those cold mornings.
What d’ya think?
Sarah
[…] Click here to view the entire article. […]
Yum! Looks great!
xo
Eco Mama
A friend came back from Mexico with 3 lbs of cacao beans..UNPEELED…for me. So as I watched the Mexican novellas on TV, my fingertips became blackened from peeling the beans. I felt as if I was back in Mexico.
Cacao powder and roasted maca powder mixed into almond milk! It’s my favorite right now!
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh YUMMERS!!! :)
Free Cacao…what else could a girl ask for?!?!
Thank you for another “sweet” offer…yummy, yummy, yummy!
Stacy
Hi Ingrid :) I have never had cacao before nor would I know what to do with it. I am not sure I can even have cacao as I am sensitive to caffeine :( But I have no problem enjoying other people’s enjoyment, ya know. I am glad so many people here love it and also know how to prepare it. So, I dont mind being excluded from the drawing (this time, giggle giggle) because I dont think I can have it. Warmly, andra
I just recently discovered cacao nibs and I’m definitely a big fan. They are so much fun to munch on and are the perfect accompaniment to my fig, goji, and hemp cereal with almond milk.
Thanks for all the fabulous info. Who knew that the word “cocoa” was just a British invention?
Oh I love cacao!
I eat it every often, it’s a perfect ra wway to get energy, something rich and tasty, and antioxidants + minerals!
I especially love making raw truffles with cacao pwder.
Yum!
A couple of months back, I stumbled across controversial claims on cacao. Yes it does contain a lot of caffeine + bad exhibit A + B. But! I’m all about balance. Like anything else, everything should be consumed in moderation. I need to get a fresh bag of those now..
Okay, I’m definetly ready to try raw chocolate - I’m obsessed by ANY chocolate. Apparently, by the number of comments, I’m not the only one!
I love cacao nibs! they are a must if you are a dark chocolate lover and they make you feel good all over after eating them.I like to dip bananas in agave and nibs for a treat.
The problem I have is… how am I to make this recipe if i don’t have cacao nibs/powder from Mountain Rose Herbs? ;)
(going 2 try this chocolate sauce tonight over sliced frozen bananas - ya, sounds about right)
I was just settling a cacao vs. cocoa debate between 2 friends the other day. Thanks for this post and please enter me in the giveaway!
I really need to try raw cocoa! It sounds awesome.
[…] Cacao :: Herb of the Month […]
Yum, I feel like I can smell the cacao through my computer screen. I made raw cacao macaroons the other day, very delicious.
Yum! Raw chocolate is amazing…I can’t wait to see all the interesting recipes for its use!
Yum, we love raw cacao at our house. It is such a great alternative to conventional chocolate. Thanks for the post!!!
Thank you so much for sending me this post. I love chocolate, but I have never tried it this fresh. I love to bake, so this would be great to use fresh raw ingrediants in my baking.
I love cacao for all my chocolate recipes and shakes. It give me that extra energy boost.
Yummy…
My favorite! Thanks for the great information!
I used to eat regular chocolate, and recently I turned to raw chocolate. This just turned my world upside down. My health has gotten better. Just stick to the real thing, God’s given food.
Thx for the explanation of what cacao is. And thx for your magnificent Web site. Love the photos in particular.
I am a *HUGE* fan of raw cacao! I add to just about anything I can think of, even savory things! Hey- mole is a savory Mexican dish, so why not! Thanks for this great info.
I love cacao! It’s is great for making treats and it’s healthy!
Yum! I have cacao almost every day!
My favorite dessert smoothie is banana, raw cacao powder, macadamia nuts, a bit of agave and water to blend. Extremely filling/fulfilling!
cacao also has more antioxidants than regular dutch-processed cocoa. Many traditional recipes calls for dutch processed cocoa, but you can substitute cacao in any of these - with even more delicious results, and of course you’ll be consuming many many more antioxidants too!
I love cacao and use it alot in desserts. My favorite!
How wonderful!!
I LOVE cacao! Thanks for the sauce recipe, I’ll have to make some Raw ice cream to go along with it : ) Love Mountain Rose Herbs too!
I have multiple chemical sensitivities. I’m wondering if cacao contains the Theobromine that store purchased chocolate contains. I seem to have a sensitivity to it.
Of all the raw deserts I make for guests, the raw cacao ones get the most “ahhhs” - from raw cacao turtles to raw cacao cheesecake - there is nothing like it:)
[…] Cacao :: Herb of the Month […]
Love love love raw chocolate! <3
[…] Cacao :: Herb of the Month […]
I might start trying cacao again. I used to eat the nibs raw (yum!) until I read an article saying that cacao was actually harmful. But that chocolate sauce looks good. Would be curious what others think about cacao. thanks!
Okay…You had me at Raw Cacao! I am having so much fun learning the different things I can make with Cacao. Keep doing what you do! Love it!
LOVE the pear dipped in chocolate recipe, i sliced the pear,fanned it out on a dish & served it w/a small individual ramekin of the sauce in the middle of the plate for personal fondue-like dipping; fun, fast & fairly simple!
and a 10+ for tasty! thanks! :) db
Oh my goodness….chocolate, coconut oil, vanilla with a pinch of cayenne….hmmm.
This chocolate recipe sounds dee-lish. And I love Mt. Rose Herbs…going straight to their site now!
Keep up the great posts!
I love Raw Cacao! I use it with mint to make Chocolate Mint Green Smoothies! Yum!
ANNOUNCEMENT
Congratulations Emily of Healthy Eating, Naturally!
You are the winner of the cacao herb of the month giveaway!!! Soon you will receive a goodie package from Mountain Rose Herbs of products featuring cacao. We hope you enjoy your gift.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the drawing. :-)