It’s fast becoming ‘curl up with a cup of tea in the evening time and watch your favourite programme’ season. At the moment, I’m binging on Masterchef Australia; it’s so good and I love plonking myself down on the sofa with a cuppa to watch it. Sometimes tea on its own just doesn’t do the trick and a little bit of chocolate is also needed. I made these pistachio and goji berry chocolate squares yesterday and the best thing about it, besides the fact that it tastes pretty good, is that it is so satisfying; you need only a small amount to satisfy even the craziest of chocolate cravings.
Buying all the ingredients in one go will make this chocolate quite expensive to make so it’s better if you have some of the ingredients in your kitchen cupboard already. Also when you bear in mind that this amount should easily last you a full week, the cost doesn’t seem so bad after all.
Enjoy x
Ingredients
½ cup cashew nut butter
½ cup cacao butter
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp sea salt
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp raw cacao powder
½ cup pistachio nuts, deshelled
½ cup goji berries
Method
Place the deshelled pistachio nuts on a baking tray in the oven at 180C/gas mark 4 for 6 – 8 minutes to toast. Once done, remove from the oven, roughly chop and set to one side.
Melt the cacao butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Once melted place in a blender or food processor and add the cashew nut butter, 2 tablespoons of the maple syrup, the vanilla extract and the sea salt. Blend or blitz into a smooth, creamy consistency. If you don’t have a blender or food processor, use a whisk to mix the ingredients together.
Add the goji berries and chopped pistachio nuts to the white chocolate mixture and mix to fold them into the mixture (don’t blend them in). Spoon the mixture into a small baking dish, lined with parchment paper.
Add the remaining tablespoon of maple syrup, the coconut oil and the raw cacao powder to a small saucepan and heat gently, stirring until the ingredients have melted and combined. Pour over the white chocolate, goji berry and pistachio mixture. Place in the freezer to set for two hours.
Once set, remove from the freezer and break into smaller square shaped pieces. Store in an airtight container in the fridge, for a softer chocolate or the freezer, for a harder chocolate.
