No matter when I smell, think of, or taste it, white chocolate makes me think of Easter. My Nanny (grandmom) always gave us chocolates from local Philly-area chocolatiers for Easter, and this included a large, solid white chocolate cross.
I gave up cocoa-based chocolate several years ago after noticing a link to migraines. Knowing that I was affected when consuming things like smoothies, peanut butter balls, or other homemade snacks with cocoa powder or cocoa nibs, I was pretty confident that it was the cocoa itself and not the cocoa butter that was the issue. Cocoa butter and vanilla are what make up the flavour for white chocolate so I figured that I’d be fine with it. Honey found me some dairy free white chocolate last Easter and I tested it out without issue.
This year, I wanted to make my own. I made and tempered a honey sweetened dark chocolate for Honey a few years ago, using a recipe from Living Healthy with Chocolate. For some reason, I didn’t think to return to the post when I failed to find a dairy free, honey sweetened white chocolate recipe, although I modified this dark chocolate one that I came across in my search.
Instead of cocoa powder, I subbed in powdered coconut milk, which is what I saw used in dairy free/vegan recipes with sugar. I used an additional 40g of the coconut milk because it felt too loose when I worked with the mixture. It also seemed to cool down too quickly compared with my first time making chocolate.
In the end, it has a slightly softer consistency compared with the dairy white chocolate from my childhood but the same as the dairy free stuff I’ve had in recent years. I can also taste the coconut milk and the texture is smooth and melts great in the mouth. I’m not sure whether changing cocoa powder to another powder just doesn’t work in terms of getting a nice snap or whether I shouldn’t have added extra. I have the feeling it may be the latter and have to do with how I tempered it. I don’t think it actually got hot enough before cooling down.
For a few days I considered making another batch before Easter to try to perfect it. Then, I thought about how I keep wanting to eat them, and how I’ve already eaten two of the five, and decided that the challenge isn’t to rush into making more but to save them for Sunday!
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