Every morning, I wanted a quick cup of chocolate milk for breakfast for my kids. But the more I looked at commercially available chocolate spreads, the less excited I became. They were often loaded with sugar, artificially flavored, or made with ingredients I simply didn't want in my kids' bodies. Even many ready-to-drink organic chocolate milks weren't particularly inspiring. Organic sugar is still sugar, and I wasn't looking for a cleverer way for my kids to consume more sugar.
So I went back to the kitchen.
I wanted something simple: cacao, sweetness from dates, a little creaminess, and ingredients I could actually recognize.
And then came the experiment.
One tablespoon of Four Real cacao spread.
One cup of hot milk.
A quick whisk with a spoon.
That's it.
No blender. No complicated recipe. No negotiating with a reluctant lump of chocolate at the bottom of the glass.
Chocolate milk in seconds.
That was the beginning.
I thought I had solved one small breakfast problem.
Turns out, I had accidentally created a rather enthusiastic culinary accomplice.
This is probably the question I get asked most often.
My answer is: start with wherever you already use chocolate. Then become a little adventurous.
Over time, I began finding new ways to use Four Real in my own kitchen. Some were intentional. Others were the result of standing in front of the refrigerator thinking, I wonder what would happen if I put this on that.
Some experiments were brilliant.
A few were... educational.😉
But that's the fun of food.
Here are some of my favorites.
Let's start where Four Real began.
Add one tablespoon of Four Real cacao spread to a cup of hot milk and whisk with a spoon.
That's my original breakfast shortcut for my kids.
I did become a little adventurous and blended a carrot with my kids' chocolate milk in a commercial blender that totally dissolves the identity of a carrot. Kids enjoyed this for a few years, until my elder son saw me doing rhat one day. And that was the end of him drinking chocolate milk from my hand.
You can use dairy milk, oat milk, almond milk, or whatever milk makes you happy. The result is a rich, chocolatey drink without having to reach for a bottle of commercially prepared chocolate milk.
And yes, you can add more Four Real.
I have never understood why recipes insist on pretending that one tablespoon is a law.
There is a completely legitimate way to use Four Real that requires no recipe whatsoever.
Open jar.
Pick up spoon.
Eat.
Repeat as necessary.
But everytime use a fresh dry spoon. Any additon of moisture from your Saliva or water on the spoon will drive the carefully crafted preservative free spread to spoilage.
Eating directly with a spoon is disliked by culinary expert. Some people call this a lack of culinary sophistication.
I call it removing unnecessary delivery systems.
Bread? Optional.
Plate? Completely unnecessary.
Spoon? Strongly recommended.
A clean finger?
Let's just say " Four Real does not judge".
Take warm French toast or a crisp waffle.
Add Four Real.
Watch what happens.
The warmth softens the cacao spread and lets it settle into all those little nooks and crannies where breakfast calories like to hide.
Add strawberries or bananas if you're feeling particularly responsible. You may also add some unflavoured protein powder or psyllium Husk for easy evacuation.
This is where things start getting interesting.
Spread Four Real inside a warm, thin crepe and fold or roll it.
Or try it with a dosa.
Yes, a dosa.
There's something wonderfully satisfying about taking a familiar Indian breakfast and giving it a cacao twist. The crispness of the dosa with the smooth richness of Four Real makes for an unexpectedly good combination.
Food, after all, doesn't always respect national boundaries.
Nor should it.
Take strawberries, apples, bananas, pears—or whatever fruit is sitting around looking virtuous.
Spread it with Four Real.
Congratulations.
You're eating fruit.
Technically.
This is one of my favorite culinary loopholes.
The sweetness and acidity of fruit work beautifully with cacao, and the combination feels indulgent without becoming a full-blown dessert situation.
Although, between us, if you spread enough Four Real onto the fruit, eventually the fruit becomes the delivery system.
Take two cookies.
Add Four Real between them.
Press.
Eat.
This works particularly well with chocolate chip cookies, but I'm not here to police your cookie choices.
Warm brioche works beautifully too.
A thick layer of Four Real between two warm slices of brioche is the sort of thing that makes you briefly question every boring breakfast you've ever eaten.
Structural integrity may become questionable.
Your happiness probably won't.
Four Real also makes a rather excellent finishing touch.
Spread it over a warm brownie.
Swirl it onto a chocolate cake.
Put a spoonful on a muffin.
Use it as a simple frosting-like topping.
Or, if you have artistic ambitions, swirl it around with a knife and pretend you trained at a French pastry school.
Nobody needs to know.
The natural richness of cacao makes a simple dessert look-and taste-far more elaborate than the amount of effort involved.
Now we arrive at the dangerous territory.
Warm a little Four Real until it becomes more fluid and drizzle it over vanilla ice cream.
The cold ice cream meets the warm cacao spread and suddenly.... ice cream has become a decadent dessert.
At this point, labels are no longer useful.
Add roasted nuts, banana slices, strawberries, or whatever else you have nearby.
And if you eat the whole thing directly from the bowl while standing in the kitchen, I will neither confirm nor deny that I have done the same.
The truth is, I've probably discovered only a fraction of what Four Real can do.
That's what I like about it.
I created Four Real because I wanted a better, simpler way to make hot chocolate milk every morning.
Then it became something I could spread, dip, drizzle, fold, swirl and occasionally eat straight from the jar.
On toast?
In a smoothie?
With fruit?
Inside a crepe?
On your morning oatmeal?
Between two cookies?
In a dessert I haven't even imagined yet?
I'd love to know.
Because Four Real may have started in my kitchen, but I suspect its culinary journey is going to be much bigger than my kitchen.
And if you discover a new way to use it, please share it with your fellow cohabiting Earthly human beings via our space here.
We are all in this delicious experiment together.
There really aren't many rules when it comes to Four Real.
But here's one worth keeping:
Use a clean, dry spoon.
And after that?
Go forth.
Spread boldly.
Dip recklessly. enthusiastically.
Experiment shamelessly.
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