Raw chocolate-covered marzipan

If You Forget Me // Pablo Neruda 

I want you to know
one thing. 

You know how this is: 
if I look 
at the crystal moon, at the red branch 
of the slow autumn at my window, 
if I touch 
near the fire 
the impalpable ash 
or the wrinkled body of the log, 
everything carries me to you, 
as if everything that exists, 
aromas, light, metals, 
were little boats 
that sail 
toward those isles of yours that wait for me. 

Well, now, 
if little by little you stop loving me 
I shall stop loving you little by little. 

If suddenly 
you forget me 
do not look for me, 
for I shall already have forgotten you. 

If you think it long and mad, 
the wind of banners 
that passes through my life, 
and you decide 
to leave me at the shore 
of the heart where I have roots, 
remember 
that on that day, 
at that hour, 
I shall lift my arms 
and my roots will set off 
to seek another land. 

But 
if each day, 
each hour, 
you feel that you are destined for me 
with implacable sweetness, 
if each day a flower 
climbs up to your lips to seek me, 
ah my love, ah my own, 
in me all that fire is repeated, 
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten, 
my love feeds on your love, beloved, 
and as long as you live it will be in your arms 
without leaving mine. 

I like to keep these treats fairly minimalist in flavour, apart from the vanilla and salt in the raw chocolate, I never add anything else but feel free to play with spices and extracts (cinnamon, chili, almond extract, coffee extract...) either in the marzipan or in the chocolate. Use spirulina powder for emerald green, matcha for apple green, turmeric for yellow, elderberry juice for red, black tahini for grey/black. Adjust liquid or almond meal accordingly.

Of course, if you don't mind them not being raw, you can dip them in you favourite chocolate. Or even use raw chocolate (make sure to melt it below 42°C).

You can replace the coconut nectar with any other liquid sweetener. 

Raw chocolate-covered marzipan
(vegan, grain-free, raw)
(for one, yep, just for you, ok a dozen very small chocolates)


For the marzipan :
70 g almond meal
40 g coconut nectar
5 g coconut oil, melted
beet juice, enough to colour the dough (or other food colouring)

In a bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well until it forms a dough. You should have a dough that is very slightly sticky but that you can easily handle. If it is too dry, add a little coconut nectar (or coconut oil), if you feel it sticks too much, up the almond meal. 

Press down the dough into a square mould (silicone is best, but you can use a pan covered with parchment paper or greased with coconut oil) with you hands. Let firm in the fridge for one hour. Remove from mould and cut into squares/rectangles. You can skip that part and form balls with the dough.

For the chocolate :
(makes a lot more than you need, I'm sure you'll find uses for it)
70 g cocoa butter
10 g cacao paste
10 g coconut nectar
35 g raw cacao
vanilla powder, to taste
a pinch of salt, optional

Place coconut butter and cacao paste in a small bowl, then place it inside a bigger bowl filled with hot water (Make sure you don't inadvertently put water in the first bowl). Let melt gently, stir in the coconut nectar, raw cacao, vanilla powder and salt (if you use it) and whisk until combined. Remove from bain-marie and let cool 5 minutes. Dip each marzipan square in chocolate with a dipping fork (or a regular fork). Make sure any excess chocolate drips off before placing them on a wire rack. Let set in the fridge. Keep in an airtight container for up to one week. 

 Inspiration :

A midsummer night's dream, Gustave Doré, c. 1870, oil on canvas   // Smilla, Nicola Samori

La salle de bain gothique, Jean-Baptiste Mallet, 1810, oil on canvas   // Ariel, Henry Fuseli, 1800-10, oil on canvas