We are fortunate to be able to grow cacao here in the tropics; however, our trees are not yet producing fruit. We were therefore excited to receive some local organic cacao to experiment with! We made some cacao nibs and powder and also gave chocolate making a go. If you can get hold of some cacao, you can also make chocolate from scratch at home.
To Make Chocolate, First Get Some Ripe Cacao Fruit
If you genuinely want to make chocolate from scratch, you will need some ripe cacao pods. Depending on their starting colour, the pods are ripe when they turn a dark yellow/orange or red/purple. You will need a minimum of 5-10 large pods to make a batch of homemade chocolate.
Once you have some ripe cacao pods, cut the skin carefully with a knife and crack them in half. Inside, you will find the cacao beans covered in a white pulp. The pulp has a lemon flavour and is needed to ferment the beans. Once the beans have fermented, you can drink the leftover pulp juice, which is delicious.
Ferment the Cacao Beans
To ferment the beans, remove them from the pod and put them in a container with the pulp. Any container with a lid will do, as long as you can stir the beans. We used a polystyrene box with a tap. The tap allowed us to pour off excess pulp juices during fermentation; however, a bucket will work just as well.
Put the container in a warm spot and stir the beans daily. The fermentation process will take at least a week. The fermentation is caused by a combination of heat and microbes, such as yeast and bacteria, in the pulp. The raw beans turn a reddish-brown colour once fermented and are then ready to dry.
Dry the Cacao Beans
The cacao beans must be dried after fermentation to reduce their moisture content. Drying the beans will intensify the chocolate flavour and will prevent them from going mouldy. Before drying the beans, you must drain any remaining liquid and rinse off the leftover pulp.
Dry the beans by spreading them out in a single layer on a mat or rack. Put the beans in a sunny or well ventilated, warm place. We used a mat on the ground when the sun was out and a fly-screen on our deck when it wasn’t. You can make a rack, but we improvised by using one of our fly-screen doors.
It will take one or two weeks to dry your beans, depending on how humid and hot it is where you live. You should turn the beans regularly to make sure they dry evenly. The cacao beans are dry when you can crack the shells. Be cautious, though, because if you dry the beans too quickly they can become acidic.
Roast the Cacao Beans to Make Chocolate
You can eat the ‘raw’ cacao beans after drying, and they are said to have more nutrients when eaten this way. However, to make chocolate, it is preferable to roast the beans. Roasting develops the chocolate flavour, kills bacteria and makes it easier to shell the cacao beans.
Preheat the oven to 120 degrees celsius and spread them out on a baking sheet to roast the beans. Bake for approximately 20-30 minutes. Watch them closely; if they start to ‘crackle’, then they are done. The beans should have darkened in colour and will now smell like chocolate.
Crack and Winnow the Cacao Nibs
Once roasted, crack the cacao beans into nibs. The shells are bitter, and you will need to separate them before making your chocolate. You can remove them by rolling the cacao nibs between your fingers. You can also try winnowing the shells.
Winnowing uses air to separate the lighter shells from the heavier nibs. You can use a fan to do this and pour the cacao nibs from one bowl into another in front of the fan, letting the lighter shells blow onto the ground. Repeat this process until there are no more shells left.
Grind the Cacao Nibs
Once you have removed the shells from the cacao nibs, they are ready to grind. Grind them in a coffee grinder, food processor, or with a mortar and pestle to make a paste. You can add sugar and other ingredients to your chocolate paste as desired (e.g. spices).
Continue blending the nibs until a ‘liquor’ is formed (the process is similar to making homemade nut butter). Unfortunately, the chocolate liquor will still have a grainy texture. If this bothers you, you can purchase a melangeur to refine further the chocolate (this is definitely on our shopping list!).
How to Make Your Chocolate
Once liquified, you can pour the chocolate straight into a mould and allow it to cool. Congratulations, you have now made chocolate from scratch! You can also add other ingredients, such as fruit and nuts.
Of course, chocolatiers take additional steps to improve the quality of their chocolate, such as conching and tempering. However, these are techniques that you can learn later if you want to take your chocolate making skills up a notch or two.
Conclusion
Chocolate making can be a complex process. However, as you can see, it is possible to make a simple version of chocolate at home just using whole cacao nibs. If you can get a hold of some cacao, why don’t you try to make some chocolate this weekend? Let us know in the comments below what your favourite flavours are!
