Homemade Chocolate Syrup: Delicious & Plastic-Free
Hershey's. Nestle. Santa Cruz Organic. Ah!Laska. Dagoba. What do these syrups have in common? (Besides some form of chocolate?) Some are conventional. Some are organic. Fair trade. But all of them are packaged in plastic squeeze bottles. Michael and I have begun wondering how products can be labeled organic when they are packaged in plastic. What do you think? Should chemicals from plastic packaging be considered in organic certification?
Well anyway, Michael and I need our chocolate syrup in order to be happy. So I found a very simple recipe on cookingcache.com and have been making it regularly. Homemade Chocolate Syrup Recipe
- 1 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened) (Organic, purchased from Rainbow Grocery bulk bin)
- 2 cups sugar (Whole Foods bulk bin -- I use 1/2 dark brown sugar and 1/2 granulated sugar. Note: Rainbow Grocery carries organic, fair trade sugar in the bulk bin.)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (Still using cardboard carton. Will switch to bulk.)
- 1 cup cold water (Tap, of course!)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla (Glass bottle with small plastic cap.)
Note: This is NOT fudge sauce. It is fat-free syrup and will not be as thick as fudge, which necessarily contains fat, and lots of it!
Enjoy!
Labels: Issues - Plastic Packaging, recipes, sweet treats
posted by Fake Plastic Fish @ 9:00 PM
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31 Comments:
It looks so yummy! Better yet, I am trying to make a homemade condiment/dessert for a vegan friend. This will be great.
We gave up chocolate syrup when I cut high fructose corn syrup out of our diet, so it's good to hear there's a good recipe out there! Thanks for sharing!
Kel
I wonder if I can make this sugar free??? GUess I will rustle my fat butt out to the laboratory err I mean kitchen and find out. Looks good- Thanks Beth
Maybe it's because I live in Alaska, and it's local...but I can get the AH!laska cocoa and syrups in glass! Although, they do still have that little plastic piece around the lid...
This recipe sounds quite tasty, I'll have to try it!
If I went plastic free round here we'd starve! We just don't have any access to bulk anything much except sweets and a few dried fruits.
I agree with you on the organic plastic thing - cheating I think!
viv in nz
I agree that it does not make sense to package an organic product in plastic. It shows how plastic has crept into every aspect of our lives and consumers take it as normal. Even at "natural" grocery stores like Trader Joe's, you can see stacks of products packaged in plastic - with Trader Joe's brand on them.
I'm a regular reader but never comment. But not I just can't help myself. OMG I love you!!! We go through SOOOOOO much chocolate syrup (4 kids who love chocolate milk and hot chocolate) and I can't wait to try this!
I absolutely regularly wonder this about organics, stores like whole foods -- -what's with ALL the packaging? A peanut butter I recommend that uses sun dried peanuts ( no mold ) switched part of their line to plastic jars... fortunately they still do some in glass...we used glass before plastic - couldn't we go back to that ??
Not sure if stevia would be an alternative sweetener, in powdered form it tends to be a tad bitter
I like the evaporated cane or turbinado as a choice too
I am still stumped as to how to avoid the plastics foods come in
I am totally with you on this one Beth. Organic food in plastic is one of my biggest pet peeves. Kind of defeats the purpose, no?
I am currently searching for organic sugar NOT in plastic. Know of any? All conventional sugar comes in paper bags, so why doesn't the organic? What's up with that?
@greeen sheeep. Not only is so much organic sugar in plastic, but often comes from far away. Together, I have opted for plain white sugar in a bag. Blogged about it here: http://lowplastic.com/2008/12/15/plastic-free-sugar/
Yum Yum! Sounds delicious. I think I'd make a lower sugar version, I like my stuff chocolatey and not so sweet.
Looks delicious!
If you want REALLY healthy fudge (and it comes in glass, although I'm pretty sure with the ring around the top...silly), try Wax Orchards:
http://www.waxorchards.com/
All of their fudge is fruit-sweetened, and so delicious!
Beth, I love when you post stuff like this. I was at the supermarket yesterday and needed some sour cream and I thought to myself, "All the sour cream comes in plastic tubs. What would Beth do?" I am sorry to say, I bought the sour cream. But I'd love to know what I can do instead. Do people make sour cream at home?
How long do you think that chocolate syrup would keep in the fridge?
You can make your own vanilla extract pretty easily: cut open a few beans lengthwise, put them in vodka for 3 months or so, and it's done when a drop tastes more like extract than like vanilla-flavored alcohol. One major plus: the kind you buy at the store is often made with extra sugar, and you can avoid it when you make it yourself. Finding vanilla beans NOT packaged in plastic might be tough, though.
Agave syrup might be worth a try for a low-glycemic version. The organic kind I had came in plastic, though!
Megan
Hi Angie. You can make your own sour cream. I did it last year with cream and buttermilk. But I have to admit that unless you own your own cow, there will be some plastic involved -- either the plastic coating on the cardboard cartons or the plastic cap on the glass bottle. I do think it's worth it though -- tastes better and uses less plastic overall. Here's a recipe:
http://www.mex-recipes.com/sour-cream-recipe.html
Anonymous, I think I'll try making my own vanilla. I believe I can buy vanilla beans in bulk from Whole Foods. They have a whole spice section. I guess I should get started now, if it's going to take 3 months.
Hi Beth,
Home-made wins every time. Think of all the foodstuffs in plastic bottles. You could do a massive recipe book.
The chocolate syrup would be a summer favourite.
Now you're talking!!
Sounds yummy! I love that alternatives like this are probably economically better too...not only are you saving the plastic, you're probably saving some money too!
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Beth, fantastic, thanks for the sour cream recipe! I'll try it. I love the idea of a previous poster about a plastic-free recipe book.
FPF, here are directions with more detail than you ever wanted!
www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Vanilla-Extraction/
http://tipnut.com/homemade-vanilla-extract/
Since I had to buy beans by number and not by weight, I guessed and have 4 beans in slightly less than 500 ml of vodka.
Chai tea is my favorite,especially on soggy wet days. I found organic chai tea at Meijer no less(!) My husband beat me to the first tea bag, which he pulled out of the box and said,"what's wrong with this picture?" Our organic tea bag was wrapped in plastic. All of the other nonorganic tea bags in the house - have paper wrappers.
Situations like this make me believe that greener eating is coin toss. Often it's a desision between organic/local food packaged in plastic vs. non organic/local food packaged loose (veg, etc.), or in compostable/at least recyclable packaging. *sigh*
Ahh, late comment, but I did just have to comment.
I didn't even realize syrups all come in plastic bottles! Why? Well, my mom has lots of lots of time on her hands (just kidding...kinda), and likes ot whip up her own batches of chocolate and caramel syrup whenever the oppurtunity arises. So if anyone needs a recipe for either, I can make her type it up and send it in!
Beth, Beth, Beth. Have I taught you nothing? You forgot the liqueur elements of your chocolate syrup.
Try replacing 1/8 cup of the water with Kahlua, Franjelico or Bailey's. Hell, try all three.
If you want the alcohol to remain in the solution, add it after cooling (with the vanilla). If you just want the flavor but no alcohol, boil it with the rest.
You'll probably need to reduce the amount of sugar a tad. Or not. I usually just wing it.
You know, I have been wondering this about ketchup lately. Not only are most of them in plastic, a couple are in #7 plastic which is even more patently bad news. The only glass one I can find is not organic. I *love* your idea to include potential packaging toxins in organic certification. Would get a lot of companies right back to glass and wax paper, I bet. Why, btw, did yogurt switch from wax-coated cardboard, and why did cereal switch from wax paper bags inside a cardboard box? Cause plastic's so cheap?
Karen -- I could be wrong but I believe you can grind your own peanut butter at Whole Foods. Bring your own container. And I think you can set the grinder for smooth or crunchy. Maybe not all the stores have the capability, but I think ours does.
Greeen Sheeep -- the next time I buy bulk sugar, I need to check and see if it's organic. I thought it was, but I could be wrong. I'm pretty sure the cocoa was organic, but I bought it a long time ago. That's one of the drawbacks of bulk bins -- no labels to check later.
Hayley -- be thankful your mom is doing something green, and she might not even realize it!
Crunch -- Are you kidding? I pour kahlua directly on my ice cream from the bottle. (Oh, except I don't really buy it anymore because of the plastic cap. I do have some principles.)
JessTrev -- I've been meaning to try making homemade ketchup, except we eat so little of it, we still have a partial plastic bottle in the frig from over 18 months ago. Mustard too. Is it time to ditch them???
Hi Scott and Greeen Sheeep. I went to Rainbow Grocery here in SF over the weekend and found organic, fair trade sugar in the bulk bin. I just updated my blog post. So it does exist. I guess it's a matter of asking your bulk foods store to carry it.
And Anonymous, while I was at Rainbow, I checked out the bulk vanilla beans. Unfortunately, each one was individually wrapped in plastic. Will check at Whole Foods and see if it's the same story. Maybe the plastic is to keep them from drying out? And don't know. Ended up buying a large glass bottle of Frontier fairtrade, organic vanilla extract instead. Hopefully it will last a while.
I tried to make this recipe, but found that the chocolate sauce solidified once it hit something cold. It turned into fudgy muck! My sugar didn't completely dissolve, so I'm pretty sure I need to use less next time. Anyone else with a similar experience?
Hi Savvychristine. I've made this recipe several times now and never had this problem. And we do store it in the refrigerator. Did you bring it to a complete boil on the stove? The recipe says to cook it until it's thick, but I just bring it to a boil (stirring the whole time) and then turn off the burner and let it sit and cool down before putting in the vanilla.
Are you stirring the whole time?
I really don't know why the sugar wouldn't be completely dissolving for you. Mine does. But also, I use 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar. I wonder if that's part of it.
Hi Beth --
Strange! I used 1 C. light brown sugar, and 1 C. granulated sugar, and I boiled it until it was thick, stirring the whole time, because it didn't seem like the sugar was dissolving.
I wonder if organic vs. non-organic sugar is the problem. This calls for some experimentation!
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