Salted Caramel Chocolate 30g by Loving Earth

Our Salted Caramel Chocolate is made by blending Certified Organic Raw Cacao (35%) from Peru with Raw Cashews, Organic Evaporated Coconut Nectar and a pinch of Pink Lake salt, sourced locally from Western Victoria.

• Cane Sugar Free
• Gluten Free
• Dairy Free
• Low GI
• Vegan
• Fair Trade

Growing

Cacao

Satipo is a region that sits at the edge of the Amazon basin at the base of the Andes mountain range. In this area we work with four small producer groups that are grouped under the umbrella association of cacao producers of Satipo that consists of 164 families in total. This Criollo cacao is shade grown under multi-story canopies that include fruit trees such as avocado, mango, coconut and papaya which all lend their distinctive nuances to the fine multi-floral flavor of this exquisite cacao.

There are three main varieties of the cacao plant; the Forastero, Criollo and Trinitario. The cacao beans that we have sourced from Satipo are of the Criollo variety, which are the rarest of the three types of beans and are highly regarded for their delicate and complex flavours.

Pink Lake Salt

The Pink Lake salt that we have used in our recipe is locally sourced from a pink salt lake that is fed by natural salt aquifers located in Western Victoria. During the summer months, when the lake dries up, a bed of pink salt remains. This salt is mineral-rich with a complex and well-rounded flavour.

Each year, Mount Zero and the lake’s traditional owners, the Barengi Gadjin Land Council in Victoria’s West work together to hand harvest this salt which is then naturally sun dried.

Processing

Cacao pods are harvested from the trees and cracked open. The beans are then taken out and fermented. The level of fermentation affects the flavour; we do a low fermentation at approximately 45 °C. At this lower temperature, the structure of the nutrients is preserved.

The main thing that Loving Earth does differently to other chocolate makers is that we don't roast the raw cacao beans before we process them. The standard procedure in the chocolate industry is to roast raw cacao to create cocoa, which has a lower nutritional content. This method also removes some of the antioxidants contained within. At Loving Earth, we wash our raw cacao beans with a citric-based organic disinfectant to remove the microbiological matter, whilst preserving the nutrient and antioxidant properties.

Afterwards, the beans are dried in large commercial dehydrators at controlled temperatures, before being winnowed into nibs, whereby the skin is removed. The nibs are ground and pressed to create the Raw Cacao Powder and Raw Cacao Butter.

This process also yields three other by-products - Raw Cacao Nibs, Raw Cacao Beans and Raw Cacao Liquor.
This highly efficient process allows us to extract the five basic materials we need to create our Loving Earth chocolate, all from a single origin in Peru. By sourcing our cacao products from this one community, we are supporting Satipo’s agricultural industry as well as the development of their indigenous community.

Our Raw Cacao Butter is then combined with Creamy Raw Cashews, Coconut, Evaporated Coconut Nectar and a pinch of pink lake salt to create our delicious Salted Caramel Chocolate.

Ingredients:

Fair Trade Organic Raw Virgin Cacao Butter, Fair Trade Organic Evaporated Coconut Nectar, Organic Raw Cashews, Organic Coconut, Pink Lake salt (<1%)