Posted by Moksha Chocolate on Dec 21st 2020
Dreaming Up a White Chocolate
Vegan white chocolate, and Michael's secret to layering BARK!
It’s time I wrote about our white chocolate because it is turning up in the gourmet, health food, and mass markets and truly deserves its own post. We also want to make sure you hear about our peppermint bark-style white chocolate before it's gone! : )
What IS white chocolate? It is not necessarily “vanilla chocolate.” It's a concoction created mainly with the butter pressed from the cacao bean after it separates from the nibs (those nibs that naturally infuse it with unique chocolate essences). It is such a luscious medium for our add-ins, and a fantastically flavored nutrient powerhouse in its own right. The creamy, frothy mouthfeel of Moksha vegan white chocolate is not a ghostly sibling of our fine dark chocolate. It is rich, complex, and ultra-smooth. It is highly loaded with keto ingredients. But what is it, exactly, and what makes ours better?
What makes Moksha white chocolate different
Moksha cacao butter combines with “milk” solids, sugar, and natural vanilla for a gentle, sensuous product that —although it does not have chocolate solids, theobromine, caffeine, or the color — is from the same bean. Other companies may add palm oil as well, but our fresh hand-pressed cacao butter is a perfect healthy fat. Unlike palm oil, it is also regeneratively farmed and always ethically harvested. Also, we do not “deodorize” the cacao butter, preferring to retain the chocolate aromas that occur in the natural state. Additionally, we use coconut milk solids instead of dairy milk for a silky texture that is 100% plant-based. It holds up so well with vegan ingredients. We love working with it!
Blocks of our white chocolate, with all of the delicate deliciousness retained.
A little background about white chocolate
Long before vegetable-derived fats were appreciated for their cardiovascular benefits and metabolic properties, and before the mainstream consumer had even heard of coconut milk, “big chocolate” was taking what it considered a by-product (cacao butter) and manufacturing sweet ivory–colored bars that sold well to a sector of the candy consumers that preferred a stronger vanilla flavor over chocolate. White chocolate was popularized, and according to chocolate lore we have Nestlé to thank, around the year 1930. Thank you, Nestlé. It’s almost 2021 and we’ll take it from here.
Adding the enhancements in Moksha Chocolate
You can see in the video how pure and luscious the golden liquid cacao butter is. It firms up well at room temperature and is a veritable artist’s canvas for adding in natural flavors that would get lost in the darker artisanal chocolate bars that we make. In our classic flavors, we stir in blueberries, or the gentle tang of Japanese matcha (green tea), or raspberries. Try closing your eyes while the buttery light flavor introduces its incredibly delicate dimensions and then a little whisper of fruit or green tea tang.
Michaels' peppermint BARK project
Are you craving it yet? Now for the trickiest treat we've EVER produced. Michael tinkered and toyed until he perfected the day-long process for crafting the white chocolate peppermint bark. So good, but honestly such a pain in the neck we won't be making more. So. It starts with the tempering of the white chocolate, blending it to perfection as mentioned above with a note of natural peppermint. Then it must be chilled to the perfect glaze, the perfect sheen, that moment where it is ready for the thinner top layer of dark. The timing has to be spot on so that the dark neither melts the white too much nor fails to adhere to the base. And this dark chocolate layer of course has to be the ideal temperature as well. Because NEXT comes the sparkle of peppermint crush, which needs to nestle into the still-melty dark top layer and not flake off or sink. Whew. The timing is ridiculous. But don't worry, you will taste all the love, and not the fuss. It's nostalgic, it's new, and it's nearly history. Update: SOLD OUT of the peppermint bark!
Some simply like it pure. But don’t call it plain. Moksha white chocolate!
What flavor would YOU add?
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Love, Moksha!