Today I am sharing a superfood sweet treat made with some of my favourite ingredients. We will be essentially making a sort of ‘chocolate’ where we are completely omitting the cacao powder and substituting it with ‘lucuma’.

Lucuma often makes a guest appearance in my sweet treats. It imparts a caramel-like flavour, with hints of maple syrup, custard and mango (heaven or what!). That unique combination of tantalising flavours lends itself nicely as an addition to naturally sweetened, superfood delights.

Lucuma is a subtropical fruit that is apparently native to countries like Ecuador, Chillie and Peru. These days you’ll also find it growing successfully in other subtropical regions. I’ve also heard that in Peru, lucuma is one of the most popular flavours for ice cream – wowzers – I’d love to spend time there and experiment with the abundance of fresh lucuma that can be found there.

Unless you are fortunate enough to live in a region where this fruit grows on the trees, you’ll probably be more familiar with lucuma in its powdered superfood form. This is how I’ve always used it so far. Enjoying it in powdered form allows for a concentration of its nutrients (having the moisture removed). It also means that it works very well where powders are called for (for example in chocolate type recipes).

Lucuma is loaded with antioxidants that help to fight off nasties that might invade your body. It is also full of lots of other wonderfully healthy minerals and vitamins.

It is an excellent low glycemic alternative to regular sugar. I am using it in this recipe in conjunction with coconut sugar (another sweetener that is said to be considerably lower on the glycemic index than regular refined sugar).

As you can see in my photos I’ve produced lovely heart-shaped ‘chocolates’. You can easily find chocolate moulds online (and they aren’t very expensive, especially if you are going to make a habit of making chocolate).

If you do not have moulds then worry not (I didn’t have moulds for years!).

A great alternative to using moulds is to find a container, line it with parchment paper and then pour the melted mixture into that before setting in the fridge or freezer. Once it has set you can just chop or snap it into pieces and enjoy ‘rustic style’ salted caramel chocolate pieces.

I often use a mould to get nice ‘fancy’ shapes if I am sharing with friends or making chocolates to give as gifts.

For this recipe you will need 50g of cacao butter drops for this (or 50g of cacao butter, finely chopped with a sharp knife). You will also need two teaspoons of vanilla extract; three tablespoons of coconut sugar (finely ground if you have a grinder or nut mill); four tablespoons of lucuma powder and a quarter teaspoon of sea salt.

Here’s how you make it…

If possible grind your coconut sugar down to a finer consistency in a nut mill or grinder. Chop your cacao butter into fine pieces (this makes the process of melting much easier). You might also have cacao butter drops (in which case, no chopping is required, just measure the required amount). Get a saucepan and add about an inch of water. Place a heatproof glass bowl into the pan and then heat the water on a low to medium heat. Melt the cacao butter in the glass bowl, adding the coconut sugar and vanilla. Mix in regularly over the next few minutes. When the cacao butter has melted add the lucuma powder and mix in thoroughly. Pour the melted mixture into a chocolate mould or a parchment paper lined container. Set in the freezer (quickest) or in the fridge. Pop out of your moulds when set and enjoy!

I’ve created a video with a more information. It offers an excellent visual guide to keep you on the right track when you first start to make this. Please watch this short video first…

