I am trying to eat dark chocolate as I know it is healthier than my normal choice. However, it is so expensive, and tastes a bit bitter to me and so I don’t enjoy it. I guess that is a good a good thing. I am therefore experimenting to make the chocolate more palatable, and to stretch a bar so that it last longer. This will save me money. I could quite easily eat the bar in a day with out trying as I am a chocoholic.
Last week I made my chocolate go further by stuffing some dates with almonds and rolling them in chocolate. They were lovely. I have also made chocolate discs in the past with chopped nuts, dried fruit, and crystalised ginger on the top. This have gone down well in hampers. I have had some chocolate moulds for a while as I found a recipe to make chocolate, but never got round to it. I therefore decided to turn my bar of chocolate into 2 bars by using ingredients already in my cupboard. We are doing the January pantry challenge and living on what we already have.
I found cranberries, nuts, and some crystalised ginger and chopped them all a bit smaller. I then melted the chocolate in the microwave, checking and stirring it every 20 seconds so that it did not burn. Alternatively it could be melted in a heat resistant bowl over a pan of boiling water.
I half filled the chocolate mould and then placed the fruit, nuts, and ginger on the top. I then covered it with some more chocolate and banged the mould on the counter so that there would be no air bubbles.
These were then left in a cool place to set. I had a bit of chocolate left and so rolled some chocolate brazil nuts in it.
Both of these items turned out better than expected and so might be additions to my hampers next year. I so love the ginger in the chocolate and the bars are reasonably healthy. Saving money and eating out of the cupboards does not have to feel like deprivation if you use a bit of creativity.
I used a chocolate that was 85% cocoa. Next time I might mix it with a cheaper 45% chocolate. I will still get a good grade of chocolate, but it will make more bars a lot cheaper than buying a higher grade of chocolate as anything over 55% cocoa costs the same as an 85% cocoa. Next time I might make some hot chocolate cubes for a hot chocolate station that I am planning. What would you make with a bar of chocolate to stretch it?
Some interesting ideas!
Thanks