Make Mistakes

I have only made chocolate from actual cacao pods once before, but it was so fun I have been dreaming of making it again one day but it is hard to come by actual fresh cacao pods. Last time I actually special ordered them directly from south america. It was part of my grad school thesis so the splurge was worthwhile.

The skin on the cacao pods was much darker than cacao pods I have seen in the past. They are typically bright reds, oranges and yellows. Because the skin was so old looking on these I was worried that potentially the beans were no longer good, thankfully they were just fine, if a little under ripened. The inside of a cacao pod should have more juices and less membrane than these ones. The juice tastes like straight up a fist full of starburst candy, so I was a little sad not to have some juice to sip.

The beans have been fermenting for a few days, soon they’ll be ready to roast and process. I actually went to the grocery store again yesterday and there was still one cacao pod left that was getting a little soft so I rescued it and got it fermenting, too. I don’t know why my grocery store bought these, evidently no one but me recognized what they were, and I certainly would have had no idea if I hadn’t made chocolate before.

I’ll only be able to make drinking chocolate because it takes a special machine to grind the beans fine enough for tempered eating chocolates, but luckily we’re at the start of hot chocolate season! Also takes care of some holiday gifts for some friends.