this week i got a (heavy) package full with organic Chocolate from vivani you can imagine how deligthed i, as an absolute chocoholic, i was :) it contained several bars of milk, dark and white cooking chocolate as well as “normal” bars in white vanilla, dark 75 % cocoa (with coconut blossom nectar) and dark nougat.

i’ve known vivani for ages. i remember that this chocolate was already available in the organic store back in upper austria, when organic products weren’t really widespread. also the organic brands of the supermarkets were either in their infancy or didn’t exist yet. nowadays it is way easier to get high quality, organic chocolate, all the more i am happy that vivani keeps producing high quality chocolate and also gaining more and more popularity. and rightly so. as you know i am usually not a big fan of dark chocolate, but when i let the fine dark melt on my tongue i taste these fruity aromas with only a hint of bitterness. if you’ve never tried vivani before, you definitely should do so soon. by the way a lot of the products are vegan.

generally i try to only buy organic grocieres, which of course extends to chocolate. for me organic farming goes hand in hand with sustainability, fairness and high quality (i know that’s not always the case). vivani meets all these criteria. they focus on high quality ingredients, fair and ecological farming and social responsibility.

besides that the chocolate taste wonderful, the cooking chocolate is really easy to work with. i made some pralines in the past like passion fruit pralines or winterly pralines, but with this cooking chocolate it just works this bit better and easier. i brought you a recipe for pineapple coconut pralines today (more to come). if you like pina colada, you’re gonna love these pralines! the coconut ganache tastes like raffaelo and the pineapple ganache is amazingly fruity. thanks to vivani for providing the chocolate!

ingredients (60 pieces)

• 100 g + 50 g coconut milk (use one with a high coconut percentage)
• 3 + 2 tbsp heavy cream
• optional: 1-2 tbsp coconut flour (eg from dr goerg)
• 2-3 tbsp very fine desiccated coconut
• 80 g + 150 g + 250 g + some white cooking chocolate
• 100 g fresh, ripe pineapple
• 60 white hollow spheres
• optional: coconut chips

for the coconut ganache bring 100 g coconut milk, 3 tbsp cream and the coconut flour to boil. fold in the desiccated coconut and remove pot from stove, let sit for 5 min. in the meantime finely chop 80 g white cooking chocolate. stir chocolate into the coconut mixture and let melt. fill the ganache into a piping bag. maybe let cool down a bit more, so the hollow spheres won’t melt from the residual heat. when the mixture is cool enough, fill the hollow spheres halfway with the ganache.

for the pineapple ganache chop 150 g white cooking chocolate and place in a bowl. cut pineapple into pieces and finely purée. strain through a sieve to remove unwanted fibers.

heat 50 g coconut milk and 2 tbsp cream, pour over chocolate, let sit shortly and then stir until chocolate is completely molten. stir in pineapple purée, fill into a piping bag and let cool down at least 15-20 min (again check that the ganache isn’t too warm). fill the hollow spheres until just under the edge with the pineapple ganache and let set (at least 30 min).

melt some chocolate, fill into a small piping bag (eg use a freezer bag) and seal the hollow spheres with one dab. let it firm up. temper 250 g white cooking chocolate. cover the pralines with the chocolate using a praline fork, set on a sheet of baking paper and let them dry. maybe decorate with dry roasted coconut chips – gently press into pralines when chocolate is still molten.

Filed under: chocolate, sweets Tagged: chocolate, coconut, pineapple, pralines, sweets, vivani