Chocolate Making!

My friend Leda makes chocolate.  Not bean-to-bar, and mostly raw, but nonetheless, the results are delicious.  I was lucky enough to be able to join in on one the sessions.

First step is to melt cocoa butter:

Then, add whatever you want.  Principally cocoa powder, but also sugar or agave or honey or whatever sweetener you want.  Then, if you are Leda, you add spices like maybe cinnamon.

Next, the mixture is poured into a mold:

And frozen:

We made four different types.  One using just cocoa powder and sugar, one using honey and spices, and one using agave and sesame.  The sugar ones (above) kept some granularity, and the honey ones (below) were a bit sticky.  Leda likes agave, because it gives the right consistency.

I personally liked the sesame seeds, so we made a fourth batch with sugar that went overboard on the sesame.  Still delicious:

Bottom Line: We are chocolate scientists.