B's Bakes: Cacao Coconut fudge with sour cherries

Chocolate, for many, is one of the hardest things to give up when trying to get your diet clean. Whether your opting to ditch the dairy or the sugar, not even the high quality brands can really hold their hands up to being guilt-free. As I began to wean myself off processed sweet treats, I found that I could no longer really justify my love of chocolate in the way that I was eating it, and I really needed to find something that gave me the cacao hit, without the guilt crash.

This fudge recipe is absolutely phenomenal. It was gifted to me from a dear friend for my birthday, and has been tweaked profusely in my many happy flavour experiments ever since. The raw cacao ticks the chocolate box and is a nutritional powerhouse of antioxidants and feel-good antioxidants. It's packed full of good fats from the nut butter and the coconut cream. And it's just about rich enough to kerb the cravings for more.

Feel free to change things up by experimenting with nut butters (think tahini, peanut butter, cashew butter) and add ins. 
Here I chose sour cherries and dried apple, but it's wonderful with orange rind and dried apricots, or even cacao nibs for a really chocolatey hit. 

To make you will need:

200g creamed coconut

4 Tbsp almond butter

3Tbsp liquid sweetener

pinch of salt

3Tbsp raw cacao powder

Good handful of add ins

1. Melt coconut cream in the bag in a bowl of hot water. Trust me do it this way. The first time I tried to melt it in a pan and trying to get it out of the packet was killer!

2. Stir the nut butter, liquid sweetener, coconut cream and salt together until thoroughly combined.

3. Add in the cacao powder and mix to ensure fully stirred through.

4. Lastly fold in the add-ins. 

5. Pop in a silicone bake tray and refrigerate for about an hour.

Enjoy with a mug of peppermint tea to cut through all that delicious richness.

By Becky Symes.