Man, if they could make this with stevia I'd be all over it

(Stickin' with mammoth) #1

A chocolate bar made from coffee instead of chocolate?

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Sounds great if you can find it, but they seem to be perpetually sold out due to small batch problems. Still, I’m intrigued. Here’s the blurb from Huff Post:

"This candy bar made with coffee instead of chocolate began as one of the best-kept secrets in the Kansas City area, only recently moving to multi-city distribution and online sales. “I make the bars in small batches, using sugar, cocoa butter, fair or direct trade coffee and pink Himalayan salt,” founder Michael Golden told HuffPost. Each 3-ounce bar has about 150 mg of caffeine.

If you find a favorite bar (flavors are Straight Black, With Milk and With Cinnamon), you may want to order right away because they do sell out, and for a distinct reason. “Inventory stays low to ensure bars stay fresh,” Golden said. “It’s a low-tech process that takes a lot of time, but it’s worth it to get that intense coffee flavor.” Of his artisanal passion project, Golden said: “To say I’m very small is to overstate it.”"

(Bob M) #2

Very interesting. I wonder if you could make it yourself? I’ve made white and dark chocolate before, many times. Not sure how to get the coffee to integrate, though. What emulsifier would you use?

(Stickin' with mammoth) #3

I would use a little something I call Watching From the Sidelines While Someone With Patience Undertakes Exotic Cookery. Then I’d load the dishwasher for them while I chew.

(Joey) #4

@Aqua_chonk Well, this post inspired me to try a little kitchen experiment.

I melted coconut oil (solid @ room temp) along with leftover morning coffee, unsweetened cacao powder, almond slivers, and a squirt of pure stevia extract in a small sauce pan…

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… then poured the mixture into some silicone muffin holders and froze them up for a few hours. Here’s the result…

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Quite tasty, actually. Will likely adjust ratios to see what happens next time.

(Edith) #5

Maybe you could try it with actual cocoa butter instead of coconut oil?

(Bob M) #6

Yes, the fat structures are quite a bit different. Way more palmitic and stearic acids in cacao as compared to coconut oil, and also don’t really want to have to freeze the result.

But this, for me, is not something I’ll try. I already can get bad effects from high-percentage chocolate if eaten too close to bedtime. Adding caffeine to that probably wouldn’t be a good thing. Otherwise, I have cacao at home and could try this.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #7

I hear dat. It’s something my 20-year-old self never dreamed my 50-year-old self would be griping about down the road.

Good on you for whipping out the saucepan and the imagination. I’m on Team Coconut Butter, I think that would reap tastier results with a nicer mouthfeel. Also, in my own forays into the culinary arts, I’ve found that giving the solidifying goodies a little stir about halfway through the congealing process prevents them from separating into layers, unless you’re a layers kinda guy, in which case, tally ho!

(Joey) #8

Good thought. My suspicion is that the water-based coffee and fat-based coconut oil didn’t want to play well together, whereas the cacao powder was happy to get dissolved into whatever.

When I make similar stevia-based treats without the liquid coffee, it all stays mixed consistently throughout.

Perhaps I should explore a coffee-based flavor, like freeze-dried granules without the water base? :thinking:

(And if caffeine is a problem for anyone, there’s always Sanka).

(Stickin' with mammoth) #9

(Hisses, makes the sign of the cross, and scuttles backwards into the shadows)

This is all my parents drank in the 70s. I have flashbacks.

Back in the day, when I was running successful vegan cupcake experiments (translation: bribing male hiking cohorts with sugar-heavy confectionary rather than gas money) I discovered Medalgia d’Oro Instant Espresso which is nasty as a beverage but freakin’ delicious as an ingredient. I understand some think it works just fine in a cup but I’m beholden to my French Roast cold brew at this point. Anyway, I’ve found this at Kroger and other stores.

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PS: Yes, it’s a tiny little jar but what it does to cocoa is so good, it’s ex-rated.

(Rebecca ) #10

I have had a similar bar, called Nudge, I believe. We got a shipment once and then they have been out ever since. I think they use monkfruit in it. It is delicious!

(Joey) #11

Will check it out. Seems to ring a bell as something I had years ago in hot water; will keep an eye out for it as a flavoring ingredient.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #12

Nudge Coffee Bars does Coffee Butter. I think my life is ruined.

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(Rebecca ) #13

But what a delightful way to have it ruined!!

(Stickin' with mammoth) #14

(sips coffee, nods)