Kokova Magazine

Last month I popped along to the BBC Eat Well Show, and aside from eating insects, I also got to discover a brand new company making bean-to-bar chocolate! Asma, creator of Maza Chocolate explains how she started this new company and what she hopes to achieve with her bean-to-bar selections.

"The idea and inspiration behind MAZA Chocolate came about after Christmas 2015 (yes as recently as that). I have been passionate about fuelling my body with the most nutritious foods, and creating the most delicious flavours that I am able to.

Healthy or nutritious should never have to be associated with boring or unadventurous! I love to cook and therefore cooking fresh food for my family was never a chore. Just after Christmas my elder daughter was turning 14 and I wanted to buy her some luxurious chocolates with a high cacao content and no sugar. I didn't really know what I was looking for in terms of ingredients but I was surprised when the chocolate I selected was laden with sugar, even though the packaging suggested that it was a 'healthy” choice'.

So I set about making my own. I didn't know anything about making chocolate. Bean to bar meant nothing to me until I began researching, night after night, and learnt that there was a very niche market out there for real, small batch artisan chocolate. I wanted to take this to the next level and create a luxury chocolate suitable for gifting as I personally hadn't yet found anything available without regular sugar.

I had used Palmyra nectar for a while at home and thought it would be a good sugar substitute to sweeten the chocolate bars I wanted to create, especially adding the additional nutritious benefits Palmyra offers. There was a lot of trial and error and my chocolate making process is still being perfected. MAZA is an ongoing venture to achieve the perfect chocolate, which balances health with luxury.

The inspiration behind the flavours comes from my wellness passions. The 'Dark' is just that, real dark chocolate with no added ingredients. All three varieties that I create so far contain 70% cacao yet their flavour profiles are so distinctly different.

The Almond Butter is also 70%, and is made using ground almonds, with cacao sourced from Columbia and the Dominican Republic. A final sprinkling of almonds and sea salt create the perfect contrast against the intense richness of the cacao.

All the cacao I use is single origin and is made in the traditional method of stone grinding the cacao beans for up to three days. The Coconut variety contains real coconut, as opposed to extracts and has a more fruity flavour and deep red appearance. This bar is made with Madagascan cacao, full of natural berry flavours and colour."

Asma - Founder of Maza Chocolate

I tasted tested the MAZA Chocolate Almond Butter after the show and as you unwrap this chocolate it feels like it's truly home-made, having been wrapped by hand rather than a machine.

It has a shiny appearance and crisp snap, with the almonds and sea salt topped on one side of the chocolate bar. The dark chocolate melted smoothly in my mouth, with the right amount of almond taste. The sea salt followed swiftly behind the almond, and I was left with a sharp and intense chocolate flavour in the mouth.

To discover more and watch this new company unfold, bookmark Asma'a website for details of what is to come. www.mazachocolate.co.uk