Chilled Mocha

This is a great afternoon pick-me-up.  The coffee really wakes you up, and the chocolate flavor is similar to an Oreo cookie.  It's also a great chocolate fix for those days you just gotta have some chocolate.

Chilled Mocha

• 2 Tall Chilled Glasses
• 2 Tbs. Instant coffee - Use an espresso or really dark, rich coffee.
• 4 Tbs. Real Whipping Cream
• Half and half
• 1/4 Cup boiling water
• Cold Water
• 6 mini scoops Trader Joe's 100% Organic Stevia Powder
• 1 Tbs. Trader Joe's Cocoa powder
• 5 drops Real Vanilla
• 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate Bar

Add cocoa powder, 4 scoops of Stevia, 5 drops vanilla and coffee to the boiling water and stir until completely dissolved. Set aside in freezer to chill.
Whip the cream with 2 scoops of Stevia until light and fluffy. Set aside in freezer to chill.
Using a large knife, shave pieces of chocolate off of your chocolate bar.
When everything is chilled pour equal amounts of coffee mixture into glasses. Add equal amounts of half and half and cold water.  Top with a dollop of whipped cream and shaved chocolate.
Get ready to enjoy richness like you have never had before!  It's really almost sinful...

Dark Chocolate Dipped Green Bananas

The green bananas give a perfect taste and texture to these Dark Chocolate Dipped Green Bananas.  I know that we all have probably bitten into an unripe banana and became educated immediately to what real pucker power was.  They say a lemon puckers you up, but not true when compared to a green banana.  The taste of a green banana is similar to the red stuff in a freshly cracked pecan.  It is so bitter that it immediately dries out your mouth and makes you pucker like no lemon ever has.  So, the sweetness and slight bitterness of a good Cacao matches perfectly with the green banana.  I made these for some very picky people and they loved them.  They disappeared very quickly.

Dark Chocolate Dipped Green Bananas

I used:

• 2 - Bars of Trader Joe's 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate Bars
• 2 - Squares of Ghirardelli's 100% Cacao Baker's Chocolate
• 10-Heaping mini-scoops of Trader Joe's 100% Organic Stevia Powder
• 2 - Green Bananas - Washed, peeled and cut into 1/2 slices
• Toothpicks

I put the chocolates into a microwave safe container.  Use one that is more deep than flat so you have a nice deep pool of melted chocolate to dip the bananas in.  Mmmmm...that sounds good "Nice deep pool of melted chocolate".  Anyway, I microwaved it on high for 30 seconds and then stirred it and put it in again for a little bit more.  Take it nice and slow whenever melting chocolate because even the microwave can burn chocolate horribly. 

I quickly stirred the Stevia into the melted chocolate and began dipping the bananas by picking each one up with a toothpick inserted into the center and swirling it around into the chocolate and spinning them on the toothpick to drip off the excess chocolate.  What a fun job!  If you accidentally get chocolate on your fingers, it's okay to lick the chocolate off.  It is so good.

Everyone really loved them, and they were all very surprised that I had used green bananas!