Chocolate 'bark' with coconut oil

[Tilly]

Originally Posted by metqa

Well, I dunno about the oil being "hot". My oil is liquid now too, the only time I heat is is in the winter. But I've heard of cocoa being more pronounced flavor with hot water, but I don't know if the chemistry is the same for coconut oil.

Another think I discovered, as far a sweeteners go, is that most are not oil soluble, so if it is a crystal going in, it will stay crystallized, so powdering your sweetener would get a better taste and less grittiness.

Since the liquid sweeters are water based using too much will cause it to separate, but I have been experimenting with putting them over heat (power and liquid) and melting it and driving some water off, I haven't tried using heated syrup for cocoa bark yet, but it makes for great brittle type sugar end product. I don't know how I'd incorporate it.

maybe stir the oil and cocoa together first, then heat the sugar in a pan till it's syrupy, then add the cocoa oil to the sugar syrup in the pan,and let cool. Ah Man, now I gotta go try this to see if it works or comes out garbage.

Would you let us know how all this turns out please? I am going to attempt it once again this evening.

[Karma4u]

My recipe adds Splenda Flavors for coffee
French Vanilla
I sprinkled cayenne pepper on the lid
before I added chocolate
gives it a KICK!

[ShesSuperCool]

Originally Posted by Karma4u

My recipe adds Splenda Flavors for coffee
French Vanilla
I sprinkled cayenne pepper on the lid
before I added chocolate
gives it a KICK!

oOOh I'm gonna have to try that one.
This coconut bark is saving me. Any time I have a little sugar craving I have a piece. I'm going through a 6 T recipe a week, just here and there. I've lost 21 inches all around, with almost eight now from my waist alone!

Today I used macadamia nuts and the simple 1 T cocoa, 1 tsp vanilla and EZ-Sweetz to taste. Next time though I want to try that vanilla cayenne spice! I wonder how a little cinnamon would go over, maybe a mexican chocolate flavor!

[ShesSuperCool]

Oh forgot I use a tsp of erythritol too. I haven't had any crystallizing problems but I do heat it up in the oil before I add anything else.

[metqa]

Well, that was weird.

I tried to make a "syrup" for the bark , and had three different results. I just added a wee bit of water and a splash of vanilla, and let it heat till it bubbled and reduced.
With powder splenda, it kept reducing so I added the cocoa+oil to the syrup , stirred it and chilled it. It came out smooth but then thats to be expected.

The Erythritol on the other had, it seemed smooth at first but as it chilled with the cooler oil, the sugars bubbled up and started crystalizing in the oil, so some spots are super sweet and others are bland.

The Xylitol, started to do the same and the E , but I poured it back into the cup from the pan and whipped it with a fork before chilling it on the pan but,...instead of becoming crystal, it has pooled in areas beneath the oil and is sludged up and keeping it from becoming snap hard.

weird. Nothing to see hear folks, Just move along. Just keep doing what you've been doing. this was a weird experiment. Maybe I'll melt all three down into one super batch and refreeze it, to salvage it.

[MemoryKeeper]

Subscribing....

[jandjsmom]

Tried my first attempt last night, didn't work out so well! Guess I will read through this thread and see what I did wrong!

[Tilly]

Originally Posted by metqa

Well, that was weird.

I tried to make a "syrup" for the bark , and had three different results. I just added a wee bit of water and a splash of vanilla, and let it heat till it bubbled and reduced.
With powder splenda, it kept reducing so I added the cocoa+oil to the syrup , stirred it and chilled it. It came out smooth but then thats to be expected.

The Erythritol on the other had, it seemed smooth at first but as it chilled with the cooler oil, the sugars bubbled up and started crystalizing in the oil, so some spots are super sweet and others are bland.

The Xylitol, started to do the same and the E , but I poured it back into the cup from the pan and whipped it with a fork before chilling it on the pan but,...instead of becoming crystal, it has pooled in areas beneath the oil and is sludged up and keeping it from becoming snap hard.

weird. Nothing to see hear folks, Just move along. Just keep doing what you've been doing. this was a weird experiment. Maybe I'll melt all three down into one super batch and refreeze it, to salvage it.

Oh you can throw it my way, like a dog, I will lap it up, None of mine have turned out very well or at least what I am expecting them to taste like. Forever marching onward to that perfect chocolate LC experience!!!

[metqa]

I've been "experimenting" with unsweetened cocoa squares for a more real chocolate type thing, but I'm not ready to share my failures online!

I don't think of the bark as chocolate, so much as a chocolate type coating for stuff, or as a coconut oil supplement. So I've tried combining cocoa bark with unsweetened cocoa squares and it comes out more like chocolate. Sweetening in a smooth manner ( non crystalized) is the hardest part.

[rice paddie]

these recipe ideas are awesome!

[elainesmith]

does anyone know if you can add parrafin wax to these to make them harden at room temp? If so how much would you add?

[metqa]

Bah! I was gonna try that some time ago and forgot to try it! I have tried mixing it half and half with bakers chocolate and it it "harder" but still melts easily.

I'm not gonna be experimenting for a while so if you try the paraffin then let us know.

[soon]

just curious what kind of container do you pour your stuff into??

[drjlocarb]

I use silicone mini muffin pans, freeze, and pop them out into a ziplock bag.

[Soobee]

Elainesmith, Kevinpa used parafin in this choclate recipe.
Simple LC Chocolate Candy

[metqa]

I've used the bottom of my bento, candy molds, silicone mini muffin shapes, baking pans. Whatever is within reach when I get the mood! Thanks for the candy link, I forgot Kevin did things other than awesome breads.

[metqa]

Want a buttery cocoa bark?

Add a wee bit of ghee to the oil when making the cocoa bark syrup.

It makes the bark taste buttery and caramel flavored.


Make your own ghee:
Put a pound of butter in a thick bottom pot ( doesn't matter if salted or unsalted, but you won't be able to eat the carmalized solids if you use salted)

heat on medium low till it's all melted.

let it heat until the solids start to form and the foam starts to float.

either a) scoop off the foam as it forms
or b) let it all fizz, sizzle, pop and evaporate away till it fries and sinks and stops sizzling

when the clear liquid turns from bright yellow to slightly golden orange remove from heat,

either a) carefully pour off the clear liquid, stopping before the solids on the bottom flow out.
b) pour the hot liquid through a slightly damp tightly woven cloth or coffee filter and let the liquid drip through
c) let oil chill then scrape off any floating solid bits, and scoop out the clean oil and put into a separate clean and dry container.

The solid bits can be sweetened and eaten like delicious (oily) caramel candy ( ONLY IF YOU USE UNSALTED BUTTER. if you used salted it's tastes terrible throw it away).

[Tilly]

Originally Posted by metqa

Want a buttery cocoa bark?

Add a wee bit of ghee to the oil when making the cocoa bark syrup.

It makes the bark taste buttery and caramel flavored.


Make your own ghee:
Put a pound of butter in a thick bottom pot ( doesn't matter if salted or unsalted, but you won't be able to eat the carmalized solids if you use salted)

heat on medium low till it's all melted.

let it heat until the solids start to form and the foam starts to float.

either a) scoop off the foam as it forms
or b) let it all fizz, sizzle, pop and evaporate away till it fries and sinks and stops sizzling

when the clear liquid turns from bright yellow to slightly golden orange remove from heat,

either a) carefully pour off the clear liquid, stopping before the solids on the bottom flow out.
b) pour the hot liquid through a slightly damp tightly woven cloth or coffee filter and let the liquid drip through
c) let oil chill then scrape off any floating solid bits, and scoop out the clean oil and put into a separate clean and dry container.

The solid bits can be sweetened and eaten like delicious (oily) caramel candy ( ONLY IF YOU USE UNSALTED BUTTER. if you used salted it's tastes terrible throw it away).

Since there are 15 or 16 pages of this recipe, what version are you using? I would love to make the ghee and use it in your version of the bark. Thanks!

[metqa]

1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 Tablespoon cocoa powder
Few drops of vanillin
2 tiny scoops of stevia ]
2 drops Ez-SweetZ ] Equivalent to about 8 teaspoons of sugar

I replaced about half an ounce of the oil with the ghee. It make a huge flavor difference. it smelled and tasted like chocolate butter caramel sauce. You could use more ghee. It gets solid too, but I don't know if it gets as solid as coconut oil. When I use it as magic shell it gets really hard still.

[Tilly]

Originally Posted by metqa

1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 Tablespoon cocoa powder
Few drops of vanillin
2 tiny scoops of stevia ]
2 drops Ez-SweetZ ] Equivalent to about 8 teaspoons of sugar

I replaced about half an ounce of the oil with the ghee. It make a huge flavor difference. it smelled and tasted like chocolate butter caramel sauce. You could use more ghee. It gets solid too, but I don't know if it gets as solid as coconut oil. When I use it as magic shell it gets really hard still.

Thanks for sharing!

[muffles]

Subscribing.