you’re probably asking yourself how it can be both raw and hot at the same time. without actually cooking, if blended on high for a few minutes anything will warm up. it’s a tip often used by raw foodists to make raw soups more appetizing.
after a few minutes of blending the combination of fresh homemade buckwheat milk, raw chocolate powder and agave syrup gather a froth just like the real thing. but this treat is much lighter, raw and free of most allergens, like dairy, gluten, soy, nuts and refined sugar.
raw hot chocolate
1/2 c dry buckwheat
3 c water
1/4 c cacao powder
about 1/2 c agave syrup
i usually get hulled buckwheat, because it’s easy to use, you don’t have to do anything to it. you can eat it in it’s dry, raw form and it’s surprisingly soft. when it’s not husked the outer shell is hard and not palatable. but for making milk it doesn’t matter which you use.
soak the buckwheat ahead of time in enough filtered water to cover by one inch. it only takes about 30 minutes for hulled buckwehat to get soft, unhulled buckwheat may take about an hour or two.
strain the soaked buckwheat, it usually forms a kind of gel around it, so i like to rinse that away a bit. put in the blender with the 3 cups water and blend well for at least a minute.
pour the blended mixture through a fine sieve or straining bag and dispose of the pulp that separates out. the result is raw buckwheat milk, which you can use in recipes that call for non-dairy milk. but it’s pretty thin and slightly bitter on it’s own. it pairs well with chocolate, because it has bitter undertones itself. and keep in mind that it is raw, so it will not keep in the fridge very long – one day if you have to, two days max.
rinse out the blender before adding together the strained buckwheat milk, cacao powder and agave. blend for several minutes until warm. in a vitamix it only takes about 2-3 minutes, but less powerful blenders will take longer and if you don’t have a fast enough blender, then there is a chance it might not warm up much. either way you still have a delicious chocolate milk.
try flavoring it with cinnamon, vanilla or mint! enjoy this winter season.
yields about 3 cups
4 Comments
Wow! This sounds fabulous, I love how creamy it looks. Thanks for sharing this great recipe….I’m off to the kitchen to give it a try…..even though it is 80 degrees outside.
Why does it matter if you heat it up by blending or by putting it on the stove? Heat is heat.
great question! for food to be considered “raw” it must not go above a certain temperature, the maximum is around 115F, so using a stove would be out of the question. that’s why the blender is used, to keep the temp low.
this is done to maintain the integrity of the active enzymes, vitamins and antioxidants. while heating doesn’t render food completely void of nutritients, it is more potent before cooking.
if you’ve never tried it before, chocolate in it’s unrefined form gives you a boost of energy similar to caffeine and is very high in antioxidants. agave is a low glycemic sweetener so it doesn’t give you a blood sugar rush like more refined sweeteners. and the buckwheat milk is light while its active enzymes help you digest it, so it is much easier on your system than dairy.
if you don’t prescribe to a raw food diet then you can definitely heat this recipe on the stove, it will still taste great!
Buckwheat milk! Genius. I heart buckwheat and this is such an amazing touch for the hot chocolate. I have been all over this as the bevvy of choice lately. Nothing better than raw hot chocolate!