What to Eat and When on Hvar - Wild Harvest Series - Carob Bonbons (Photo Recipe)
By Ivana 4 September 2015
There is always something to harvest on the island. Year round. Often even growing wild without any direct input from people other than letting it be and not destroying it manually or by chemicals. Mother earth caring for us at its finest.
And so, as we had to escape Jelsa for the Festa Vina last weekend - it is too loud and takes too long and makes it impossible to sleep in our home, we headed to a small bay near Jelsa called Prapatna. Apart from a beautiful night sky and a full moon (wich apparently was a super moon this time) and a complete silence during the night, there is a big carob tree growing in front of the cottage we slept in, full of delicious ripe carobs.
You can eat them as they are and they are delicious, but as we managed to pick enough, I started to think about using them for making a desert. Not eating gluten and sugar I am always curious to try out new ideas for making something yummy and healthy.
Especially if it is out of ingredients that are local and organic and I can pick them myself. So, carob, naturally sweet and of an interesting texture is a perfect basic for a desert.
(all photos: Ivana Župan)
First, I had to break it down to get out the pits. They are small, but very firm and they would not get processed, which would make them very dangerous for our teeth.
I used approximately 6 or 7 carobs for this recipe. After de-pitting them I threw them in to a food processor. Processed the best I could, but not too fine, it will stay rather rough, because they are not completely dry and stick together.
I added a bowl of fresh figs - you could use dried fruit as well, but I had some fresh figs on hand, so I used those.
After some more processing I added 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and a juice from a half of a lemon - mixed everything together.
I poured the mixture out on a baking sheet, pressed with a spatula to form a rectangular shape and covered it with the sides of the sheet and put it into a freezer overnight.
The next morning I cut out small cubes (after letting the whole thing warm up for 5 minutes) and dipped them into a mixture of coconut oil and cocoa powder. As the cubes are frozen, the coconut mixture hardens immediately and makes a crispy "chocolate" frosting.
To be served and eaten right away - and right away there were gone as they were so delicious.
