Step 1

Place the coconut sugar, cocoa powder, lucuma powder if using, vanilla seeds, and salt in a blender. Blend on high speed for 30-50 seconds, or until the coconut sugar looks like powdered sugar. Scrape down the sides if needed and blend again. This step is important to get a smooth chocolate texture.

Step 2

Fill a medium-size saucepan with about 1 cup of water. Place a glass bowl on top of the saucepan, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Add the cocoa butter and cacao paste to the bowl.

Step 3

Heat over low-medium heat and stir regularly until melted. Make sure the water doesn’t come to a boil, you just want to melt the cocoa butter, it should reach a temperature of 107°F (42°C) but not higher.

Step 4

Once melted, remove the bowl from the saucepan, but keep the saucepan on the heat (we will need it to reheat the chocolate later). Transfer the melted cocoa butter and cacao paste to the blender. Add the almond butter, and blend on high speed for 20-30 seconds.

Step 5

Transfer to a large mixing bowl and keep stirring using a spatula until the chocolate comes to a temperature of 82°F (28°C). This step will take 15-20 minutes.

Step 6

Once it has cooled down to that temperature, place the mixing bowl on top of the saucepan with the warm water. Keep stirring until the chocolate reaches 87°F (31°C). As soon as it has reached this temperature, remove from heat and pour into molds. Your chocolate is now tempered.

Step 7

Let cool at least 3 hours at room temperature before removing from the molds. I don’t recommend cooling in the refrigerator as it may cause the chocolate to get white streaks.

Step 8

Chocolate will keep at room temperature for several weeks.