Happy Valentines Day!! Hope you have plans to spend some time with the ones you love today.
Today I made a special treat for my sweetheart. It's a variation on the dark chocolate nut clusters that I make all the time. They are delicious and easy, and my husband loves them.
Today I decided to make my him a variation of these as a Valentines treat. I saw a recipe for pistachio bark in Whole Living magazine and I adapted mine from that. These are very low sugar since you are using a low sugar chocolate.
Here's what you need:
9 x 13 baking dish - lined with parchment and
sprayed with cooking spray
4 bars of dark chocolate - 85% ( I love Green & Black Organics)
1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped pistachios and almonds
coarse sea salt such as fleur-de-sel ( I used a lavender sea salt)
Melt chocolate slowly in microwave. It's very important to melt and stir. If you cook too long the chocolate will seize up, and once that happens, it's done. Start with about 1 1/2 minutes and then stir and most of the chunks will melt. Microwave a few seconds more if necessary.
Pour into prepared pan.
Sprinkle the nuts on top. Gentle press into chocolate. Sprinkle the sea salt over top.
Put the pan in the fridge and chill for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, lift sides of parchment and remove chocolate from dish. Break into pieces.
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Presentation is important, so box it up pretty and tie with a bow!
Give it to someone you love!
Thought for the day:
Now that looks good and so easy. Have a great day :-)
ReplyDeleteThose chocolates look tastie and pretty! I hope you have a nice Valentine's Day!
ReplyDeleteCarey
I'll bet you had some very happy recipients! Yum! Happy Valentine's Day to you!
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day! That looks yummy, pretty and full of love! Do you think if you added a little heavy cream to make it more milk chocolatey that they would work? After almost 2 years I still haven't acquired the taste for dark chocolate!
ReplyDeleteKay - In my experience, adding cream or 1/2 & 1/2 will make the chocolate seize and you'll end up with a ganache. Great for truffles, not so much for a bark. :)
DeleteLadies, this came out really good, and my husband loved it. I think because the chocolate depth in the pan was alittle thicker it was extra creamy and but still held it's "bark" shape. I agree with Kim about adding cream or 1/2 and 1/2. I think it will never harden. I was wondering if you could add some stevia drops or a couple packets of truvia if you want that sweeter taste. I really think the chocolate makes a difference too. Try the green and blacks. They sell it at whole foods and some supermarkets. It is really creamy and it's my favorite. Some dark chocolate bars can be grainy and dry. Also the sea salt just gives it that extra little something...sweet and salty together, plus crunchy nuts and creamy chocolate! So good!!!
DeleteOoh... yummy... Presented very well, too!
ReplyDelete