Oops... We Broke the Rules of Dark Chocolate!

Story time: A few years back, we decided to cut out refined sugar. (If you've ever spent an afternoon reading about what refined sugar actually does to your body, you know exactly where this is going.)

Not a big dramatic thing. We just wanted to see how we felt. Turns out, pretty good. Better digestion, less inflammation, that afternoon crash that used to show up like clockwork basically stopped happening.

There was just one problem.

do we have to give up dark chocolatE??

We really love dark chocolate. (Like, really.) And almost all of it is loaded with refined sugar. So we had a decision to make. Give it up entirely, or figure something out.

We figured something out.

Honey was the obvious choice for us. We were already using it at home for baking and treats. It's natural, it tastes amazing, and ours comes from an apiary about fifteen minutes down the road in Corman Park, Saskatchewan. (Seriously, fifteen minutes. It doesn't get more local than that.)

So we started experimenting in the kitchen. Making small batches, adjusting as we went, seeing what worked. And eventually we had something that tasted really good. We were making it for ourselves, for family, for anyone willing to try it.

We were pretty happy with how it was going.

Then a few months in, we learned something that should have stopped us before we even started.

Apparently honey and chocolate aren't supposed to work together. Like, at all. The moisture content in honey is supposed to ruin the texture, seize up the chocolate, make it impossible to get that smooth consistency you'd get with sugar. The craft chocolate world had basically agreed on this. It just wasn't done.

“We had already been doing it for months.”

Honestly, if we'd known that going in, we probably would have talked ourselves right out of trying. (Which would have been a shame.)

So why does honey actually work?

Here's the thing. Honey doesn't just replace sugar. It does something different to the chocolate.

Refined sugar at higher cacao percentages tends to amplify bitterness. Honey softens it. Rounds out the edges. The sweetness of honey is subtle and it works with the cacao rather than just sitting on top of it.

That's a big part of why people who say they don't like dark chocolate try ours and feel a little differently about it. It's not sweeter exactly. It's just more balanced. Smoother. Easier to keep eating. (Dangerously easy, some people tell us.)

And unlike refined sugar, honey actually brings something else to the table. Antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, vitamins and minerals. We're not saying it's medicine. Just that it's a better ingredient.

The honey is local.

Our honey supply comes from a small family apiary in Corman Park, Saskatchewan. Fifteen minutes from where we make the chocolate.

That part matters to us. Simple ingredients, local where we can, and nothing unnecessary. That's just how we like to do things.

So yes. We accidentally ignored one of the core rules of craft chocolate making. And it turned out to be the best thing we ever did.

You can find our chocolate at local retailers across Saskatchewan, or order online.

Three ingredients. One of them wasn't supposed to be there. We think you'll be glad it is.