Guess what?! I’ve given up sugar. For now at least! Since January 1 when I had an unexpected flash of inspiration, I have been incredible run of what I will call ‘hardly any sugar’. And much, much less than my usual sneaky shared brownie after the kids have gone to bed. But what to do when Valentines Day feels so naturally chocolatey? Well, I tried out this amazing dark and sultry raw chocolate recipe. Very low in sugar and nearly as much fun to style the photo as to eat! So satisfying a tiny piece satiated me, so it lasted weeks in the fridge and got me through any PMT with flying colours! – Christina
Ingredients
1/3 cup raw hazelnuts (or your choice of nut) chopped
2/3 cup coconut oil
1 cup raw cacao powder
½ cup rice malt syrup
¼ cup blitzed, dehydrated orange slices.
Method
Prepare your orange slices. Place them on baking paper and use your oven’s lowest setting. To crisp up this took about three hours – see the before and after photos. I inadvertently used only the peel and it was sooo bitter but the recipe still worked – I did say dark and sultry!) Then, once crisp, I blitzed it in my food chopper to make powder plus crunchy pieces.
Line a slice tin with baking paper and scatter the chopped nuts. I used a square tin for thin slices. Gently melt the coconut oil on a low heat. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocao powder and rice malt syrup. Poor the melted chocolate over the hazelnuts. Put in the fridge for an hour to firm up. In our Summer heat, keep and serve directly from the fridge. Enjoy!