Chocolate Lollipops using XAUXA Chocolate

DISCLAIMER:This post was developed in partnership with XAUXA, however, as always, all opinions are genuine.

There's no question about it that I *may have a bit of an obsession when it comes to chocolate - keyword *may because I definitely have an obsession, aha. I put it in almost anything if I can, obvious choice being baked goods - and the list for that is endless (think of all the cookies, cakes, tarts...fudge?!). Other not-so-obvious places I would put it in are smoothies, and I've been known to add a bit to chili! Yes, you've heard me, chili... adding just a little bit adds richness and rounds out the flavours of the dish making for a delicious and hearty meal.

Well, I'm getting ahead of myself. I've had the pleasure of working with a unique kind of chocolate. One that I have not yet seen before - XAUXA Chocolate.

When you think of chocolate, you tend to have ones that are melty in your hands, quite sweet, and usually have additions of dairy, lots of cocoa butter, and most of the time, additives and preservatives. Though I may be guilty and on occasion do enjoy those kinds of chocolates, looking back, they're not always the best choice. Enter XAUXA Chocolate.

What I find quite great about them is how their chocolate is made. While lots of other chocolate brands out there have 6 or more ingredients, including added preservatives, XAUXA only has 3 ingredients! Yes! 2 of them being organic cocoa mass, and organic cane sugar, and the third ingredient for taste (eg. whole nuts) one may call that as pure as it can get, not to mention, quite healthy!

Their process itself is quite unique - with the use of AI Clustering (I know, what? See more information about that here) they've gathered as much information possible with the use of Artificial Intelligence in order to figure out a way to process the cacao in its purest form. That research led to the cacao being cold-crafted, preserving the chocolate's antioxidants, and eliminated the use of cocoa butter and other additives, which then leads to an organic, vegan, gluten-free, and clean-label chocolate bar. Now how cool is that?!

These in itself make for a purely delicious and aromatic chocolate bar - but what about the texture? By cold-crafting the chocolate, this allows for the chocolate to keep its natural aromatic notes and natural gritty texture and crystallization in the chocolate - quite a different mouthfeel than other chocolates that for me, is still quite delicious and very unique. I must say I enjoy the chocolate just naturally melting in my mouth and enjoying the little crystals.

I highly recommend a good reading here on how their chocolates are made, because on top of the how different their process is, their core values as a company are something that I support as well. They use single-origin raw ingredients from fair trade, that is fair to the environment. Yay!

They have 4 flavours, all made in Italy:

Sicilian Pistachio

Sicilian Sea Salt

Sicilian Almond

and Sicilian Orange - my personal favourite! You can see and taste the orange zest and its just absolutely delicious!

Now that we've discovered how good this chocolate is by itself, they're even more special made into something else. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, you can use this chocolate in pretty much anything you want! I seriously recommend you try the Sicilian Sea Salt in chili, like seriously, it will change your life! And imagine how good your chocolate chip cookies will be if you use the Sicilian Almond flavour?! Yum!

For now, I've kept things simple and made something special with it. It's times like these that we need a little uplifting and a small note or treat to show one another that we care. A little something that can make someone smile - here I've made chocolate lollipops using XAUXA Chocolate for an edible feel-good message made for your loved ones.

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XAUXA Feel-Good Chocolate Lollipops

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: up to 5 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Makes: 12 small, or 6 large lollipops

What you'll need:

2 bars XAUXA Chocolate, any flavour you like

Edible gold dust or coloured dust

Vodka or lemon extract

Lollipop molds

Lollipop sticks

Small, food-safe, fine-tip painting brush

Double-boiler or microwave

DIRECTIONS:

Chop the chocolate into smaller pieces. Place in a medium-sized bow.

Melt the chocolate in one of two ways:

1) Double boiler: Fill a small pot with 1-inch of water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and place the bowl with chocolate over the simmering water. *make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water, or the chocolate will burn and seize. Stir the the chocolate until melted.

2) Microwave: Put the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 1 to 2 minutes, at 15-second intervals (this is very important so as not to burn the chocolate and have it seize) occasionally stirring until melted.

3) Use a spoon transfer the chocolate into each mold, then gently insert the lollipop stick. Gently tap the mold on the counter top to shake out any air bubbles. Once the chocolate settles, see if the molds are not full. If not, add more chocolate.

4) Place the molds in the freezer on a level rack for about 5 minutes or until lollipops are set. Remove and let them sit on counter a couple minutes, then, gently pop them out of the mold.

To decorate:

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 tsp vodka and 1/4 tsp of the edible dust. On the smooth side of the lollipop, using the paint brush, paint on some feel-good notes like 'love', 'stay safe', 'together' or even the names of your loved ones. Enjoy!

To store:

Store in an air-tight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.

Notes:

Chocolate will still have crystallization and its gritty texture even after melting.

Vodka or Lemon extract is used to apply the dust as it evaporates quickly and intensifies the shimmer in the dust.