Cacao Tree Inspires Chocolate Desserts

Christopher and I recently traveled to Kauai, the western-most Hawaiian island. We enjoyed some good food on our trip, including Kalua pork nachos, fresh pineapple, and a pie made with macadamia nut ice cream. However, my best foodie discovery turned out to be something I saw rather than something I ate.

One of our outings was a visit to the McBryde Garden, a tropical botanical garden. They have a variety of culinary plants including allspice and pepper trees, vanilla bean vines, ginger and turmeric roots, and – best of all – Theobroma cacao, the tree that produces chocolate.

Chocolate starts its life in a purple oblong pod. The pods produce seeds that are dried, roasted, and broken open to reveal the cocoa nibs, the real source of chocolate. The nibs are ground to produce cocoa butter and a dark brown liquid called chocolate liquor. The liquor can be left as-is and sold as unsweetened baking chocolate. Manufacturers add sugar and cocoa butter to produce bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate. The addition of milk (either powdered or condensed) produces milk chocolate. Cocoa butter without the liquor makes white chocolate. Liquor with most of the fat and liquid removed is ground into baking cocoa.

Winter comes even in Kauai, so most of the culinary plants weren’t producing anything. The cacao tree, on the other hand, had dozens of purple pods hanging from it. That beautiful tree was the inspiration for this column, and I’m delighted to share a couple of my favorite chocolate recipes with you.

The first is Chocolate-Glazed Chocolate Tart. This recipe from Gourmet Magazine is the best chocolate dessert I've had in a long time. Thanks to my friend Shannon for bringing it to a party and passing on the recipe. The tart is super rich, so plan to cut it into very small slices.

You won’t believe something as amazing as Honey-Almond Truffles can have only three ingredients. A friend in Portland brought these to a Christmas party one year and I immediately asked for the recipe.

Another of my favorite chocolate desserts is Turtle Brownie Sundaes. It’s hard to beat chewy brownies topped with vanilla ice cream, caramel ice cream topping and pecans. After eating a macadamia nut turtle on Kauai I’m convinced you could substitute macadamia nuts for the pecans in this recipe with delicious – and tropical – results.

Honey-Almond Truffles
1 c. roasted unsalted almonds
¼ c. honey
1 c. bittersweet chocolate

Finely grind almonds. Pour into a bowl; mix in honey to make a paste (if honey is too thick, warm slightly to liquefy). Cover bowl and chill for one hour.

Shape mixture into balls no more than 1” in diameter. Set on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and chill in freezer for 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate in double boiler or microwave. Dip balls in chocolate until completely coated. Drizzle any remaining chocolate decoratively over the top. Chill one hour before serving. Store in refrigerator.

Turtle Brownie Sundaes
Makes 18 servings
1¼ c. flour
1¼ c. sugar
½ c. baking cocoa
1 t. baking powder
½ t. salt
4 eggs
¾ c. butter
2 c. toasted pecans, divided
Caramel ice cream topping
Vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9” x 13” pan and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking cocoa, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl combine eggs and butter. Stir into flour mixture. Fold in pecans. Pour batter into prepared pan. Drizzle about 1/3 c. caramel ice cream topping over top of batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack and let cool completely.

Cut brownies into 2” x 3” rectangles. Place each on a plate and top with a scoop of ice cream, some caramel ice cream topping and about 1 T. pecans.