February 25: Sacred Cacao Ceremony RECIPE

This evening our house is sponsoring a Sacred Cacao Ceremony and Community Gathering. If you are in Ubud, Bali, or simply interested, check out the website.

Imagine the scene: a lovely three story Balinese home looking out over the jungle, with a small pool.  The house will be decorated with art from local and international Visionary Artists and there will be an ambient music DJ as well as healing singing bowls present.  There is a Cacao Goddess Team (which I was asked to join, smile) who will be anointing the guests with warm cacao butter, and feeding the guests several raw food delights.

The feast will include several chocolate treats and other jungle yummies such as fruit, kombucha, and tonic.

The community of Ubud is a temporary home for many spiritual leaders and community leaders in areas such as raw food and visionary art.  There will be eight short inspirational talks on topics ranging from the Mayan Calendar and Yoga to Visionary Art and Raw Food.

There is talk of a cacao mandala, full of flower pedals, chocolate, and local fruit. I’m regularly astounded by the variety of fruit species available on the streets of Ubud.

If you would like to join the celebration, I am including a recipe for Raw Chocolate inspired by my new friend David Richenbauch.  You can find him on Facebook.

RECIPE FOR RAW CHOCOLATE:

1 Cup Cacao Beans or Nibs (ground to a powder)*.  Note: this is different than cacao powder because store-bought cacao powder has had the fat removed.  Don’t fret, the powder will still work in a pinch. (Find Cacao Beans here. Find Cacao Nibs here.

1 Cup Raw Cashews* Note: If you can’t find good organic cashews, try using sesame, pumpkin or sunflower seeds instead

1 Whole Nutmeg (ground to a powder, or a heaping teaspoon of Nutmeg)

1 Heaping teaspoon of Cinnamon

1 Vanilla Bean (ground to a powder in a coffee grinder/ mortar and pestal, or 1 thimble of Vanilla Extract) (Find whole Vanilla Beans here. Find ground Whole Vanilla Beans here.)

Sea Salt to Taste (at least one teaspoon)

Local Organic Honey to taste

DIRECTIONS: Mix all the powdered ingredients and the whole cashews together in a food processor. You can put the finished product in molds, roll them in to balls, or shape as desired.  Serve.

In Bali we will be using both Cacao and Raw Cashews from a company called Big Tree Farms.  They make a great product and are one of the few places that carry truly raw cashews.  Most cashews aren’t raw and are boiled out of their shell.  This can cause them to attract mold and it makes them more difficult to digest.  Raw cashews are better because they taste far better.  Additionally, they are easier on the belly and retain more nutrients.   The company itself maintains a high level of integrity as well.

Additionally, you can find many of these products for sale on Bright Earth Foods website. (Put your cursor over Bright Earth Foods for hyperlink)

Asana Practice: Tonight I will be enjoying my kula (or spiritual community). Please join us in spirit.