Many of you are familiar with the darling dessert diva that is Heather Pace of SweetlyRaw.com. Heather is truly one of the nicest, sweetest, most down-to-earth girls you could ever meet or talk to. She’s also seriously talented! Being that we both have a penchant for raw desserts, she’s also been an inspiration of mine for quite a long time.
Today, I am happy to share with you some of the tastiest fruits of her labors, and yes, you DO have the opportunity to order and enjoy these masterpieces for yourself.
Get ready for some serious chocolate porn!
All the way from snowy northwestern Ontario, Canada, Heather shipped me this package full of Valentine’s Day chocolate goodies.
All of Heather’s treats are raw, vegan, and gluten-free.
Jackpot!
Let’s go through them one by one, shall we?
Heather’s Raw Macaroon was tender and chewy, like a macaroon should be, and was enrobed in a thin gown of chocolate and stuffed with a silken chocolate center.
YOU can get a free macaroon, by the way: just mention you’re a Chef Amber Shea reader when you make your order.
Her Jumbo Peanut Butter Cup was like a Reese’s on [healthy] steroids, with a dark chocolate coating, not-too-sweet center, and loads of whole peanuts on top. Did I mention it was HUGE? Like, muffin-sized! To die for!
The Jumbo Almond Butter Cup was just like the PB version but, of course, was filled with creamy almond butter and topped with crunchy chopped raw almonds instead. Dreamy.
Next up…turtles!
The Caramel Cinnamon Nut Cluster contained caramel-hugged pecans coated in dark chocolate and kissed with aromatic ground cinnamon.
The Caramel Pecan Choccie Cluster was my personal favorite of the two—it was packed with crunchy pecans and just-sweet-enough caramel filling! Matt and I loved these chocolate clusters chilled, straight out of the fridge.
And now, my friends, the possible pièce de résistance of this whole collection—THE RAW VEGAN CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES, which were packed inside an adorable ribbon-wrapped box to boot.
I opened the box and peered inside…
…and angels wept.
These were THE BEST truffles of ANY kind that I have ever had—raw vegan or not. Each one in this assortment of six was better than the last: orange, mint, dark chocolate, coconut, cinnamon spice, banana, oh my! The silky chocolate centers are masterfully draped in rich dark chocolate and dusted with little clues as to the flavors inside. Heather, how do you do it?! We could easily have polished off a 24-pack of these babies, so I’d recommend ordering one for yourself AND your sweetheart.
In sum, Heather’s choccies are so good that I would officially and publicly like to ask HER to be my Valentine. Right here, right now. Heathy? ;)
The fact that all of these treats made the long journey from her home to mine without the slightest evidence of blooming or cracking also says great things about Heather’s mastery of tempering and general chocolate-making prowess. Obviously, I can’t say enough good things about Heather’s chocolates, and it is with 110% confidence that I recommend you consider ordering them for your loved one(s) – and/or yourself – this Valentine’s Day.
Click here to visit Heather’s site and order her incredible raw vegan chocolates.
Remember to mention you’re a Chef Amber Shea reader to get that free macaroon!
All orders must be placed by February 6th in order to ship in time for Valentine’s Day.
On top of all that, Heather was kind enough to share a recipe with us today! This Easy Chocolate Fudge is from Heather’s Raw Chocolate Dream ebook (which, as you may recall, I reviewed in December). As Heather says, “This fudge recipe is so easy to throw together. It only requires a bowl and a spoon. It’s a perfect afternoon treat.”
Ingredients
- Generous 1 cup almond butter
- 6 tablespoons agave or coconut nectar
- 10 drops liquid stevia
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons lucuma powder
Instructions
- Add the almond butter, sweetener, stevia, vanilla, and a pinch of himalayan salt to a bowl. Stir it all together.
- Add the powders and stir again (sift into the bowl if they're lumpy), or toss it all into a food processor.
- Press into a small container lined with plastic wrap. Press chopped nuts into the top (optional).
- Chill and slice!
holy moly! everything looks insanely freakin amazing. you know who wants a muffin sized pb choccie cup? this lady right here!
Hell yeah! I could eat 3 in a row, I swear.
Wowwowwow! This all looks AMAZING! I wish I was lucky enough to have a friend who made things like that… I’d kill for one of those peanut butter cups!
Love,
Emy
xxx
Luckily for us, Heather will ship these treats anywhere!
Click here to order some!
So my jaw is dropping at how delicious everything looks AND I have totally run out chocolate in my chocolate stash AND I get paid on Friday… so I am totally going to be buying some of those almond butter cups. The free macaroon is what totally swayed me… I can’t pass up anything free!
Oh! And Tom mentioned your & Matt’s Groundhog Day Party this weekend! I’m not sure if he RSVP’d yet on Facebook, but we totally plan on going! So see you Saturday, I suppose!
Haha, I am the same way with free shit. Gets me every time! But if there were ever a time to give in to the lure of it, this would be it – these almond butter cups are the definition of delicious. You will LOVE them!
Oh yay, I’m so happy you guys will be there! Tom didn’t RSVP or even tell me he saw the invite (which is typical, so I thought nothing of it, ha), but I’ll officially expect you. And if you want, friend me on FB and I’ll invite you and YOU can RSVP!
Isn’t she just incredible? Even though I did my review for Heathy’s chocolates in Toronto, I will always think of her nut butter cups in association with cozy magical nights by the fireplace in her wilderness home. So much delicious, so much happy. And it gives me great joy to think of you getting to try them too
She is she is she IS. As are you. I want you and Heather and these chocolates all in the same room at the same time. Can we do that?
Yes. But I think it’s only fair that you come to Canada. Two to one!
Hmmmm. Not when the temps here are still spiking into the 70′s in January.
It’s a balmy 25C here! Gorgeous
Jeezus freaking chocolate heaven in a box.
EXACTLY. You would loooove.
Wow. I have been eyeing the decadent sweets on Heathy’s blog for years and drooling all over my keyboard each time. I may actually need to order some of these for Valentine’s Day since reading over this post has made me drool up all over again.
You should! I think you’ll find they were worth your wait. And worth their weight in gold.
Wow, those look decadent! Do you know what Heather sweetens her chocolates with?
Also, for the recipe posted, how much does it make? Do you have the nutritional information for it? What size pan should I use?
Thanks so much!!!
Blessings!
I believe Heather uses organic raw agave to sweeten her choccies.
She doesn’t specify any of that information in her recipe, so I’d say just play around with it! As you know, I like calculating nutritional info for all my recipes, but I didn’t want to do that for Heather’s without her permission. It’s all healthful ingredients, so I say cut it into small squares, stick it in the freezer, and enjoy a little at a time.
Muffin-sized PB cups? Banana truffles? Hell, yes! Thank you for sharing!
YES! Can’t go wrong there, right? Heather’s stuff is AMAZING!
I guess if Amber and Heather are valentines, then I’ll just have to drown my sorrows in wine and chocolate fudge all by my lonesome…
More fudge for me! Woot!
Aww, sorry honey. Maybe we can all be Valentines! You and me and Heather. And Heather’s bf, J, too- why not. Yeah? PLUS wine and chocolate for all. Sounds like a recipe for fun.
LOL you guys are hilarious! Would be fun if we could all share wine and choccies!!!
Thanks again for such a lovely review Amber!
THOSE LOOK AMAZING!!! I need to get some of those! : )
Oh man, “amazing” doesn’t even begin to describe them!
They’re pure heaven!