This stunning, moreish chocolate with pistachios, pecans, almonds and cranberries is quick to make; a fun activity to do with kids; makes a great present and is so much better than anything you buy in a shop.
This chocolate is amazingly easy to make. You pour melted chocolate onto baking paper, throw delicious things onto the chocolate, wait for it to harden and chop it up. Roasting the nuts is worth doing. Roasting intensifies their flavour and so does the salt.
Dave and I have a square or two of dark chocolate with a cup of mint tea at the end of most evenings. When we have guests I offer them this same dark chocolate. With this chocolate with pistachios, pecans, almonds and cranberries I struggle to offer it particularly when they is only a little left. I have to speak to myself very strongly and go and get it out of the cupboard. That is how good it is!
The possible toppings are endless. Here are some other ideas
- Salted caramel heaven: Salted pretzels, salted peanuts and blobs of salted caramel sauce
- Trail mix: banana chips, dried cranberries, peanuts, coconut flakes, raisins
- Chocolate all out: chocolate chunks – different types of chocolate to the base chocolate
- Multi coloured fun: M&Ms, smarties and skittles
If you can bear to part with it the next trick is to wrap it up beautifully in cellophane and tie with a ribbon. Then it becomes the ideal little gift.
Chocolate with pistachios, pecans, almonds and cranberries
I have lost count of all the nuts I have burnt while toasting them in the oven. So now I always set a timer.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 14 minutes
Ingredients
- 500g eating (not cooking) chocolate, dark, milk or white, broken up into squares
- 50g whole almonds, roughly chopped
- 50g pecans, roughly chopped
- 25g pistachios
- 25g dried cranberries
- A handful of broken up dehydrated raspberries
- â…› tsp salt
- A large pinch of sea salt flakes
To wrap if desired
- Cellophane
- Ribbon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170C/150C/340F/Gas mark 3.
- Put the nuts in a bowl and mix with the ÂĽ teaspoon of salt. Put the nuts on to a baking sheet and put in the preheated oven and toast for 5-7 minutes.
- Put a large piece of baking paper on the work surface and measure out an area of 20cm x 30 cm with a pencil.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. (Make sure the glass doesn’t touch the water.) Â Pour the chocolate onto the baking paper. With a spatula spread the chocolate out so that it covers the marked areas.
- Scatter the nuts and cranberries onto the chocolate and then add dehydrated raspberries and flakes of sea salt. Â Leave to cool and chop up into pieces. Â Wrap in cellophane and ribbon if giving as gifts.
My wife made these as Christmas presents. They were dead easy (her words) but looked great as gifts and tasted good too.
★★★★★
I find these far too moreish, have to get them out of the house very quickly when I make them! I’m glad you and your wife enjoyed them.