Dark Chocolate Mini-Bars with Raspberries & Nuts

• Home-made chocolate recipe.
• Uses raw cacao butter for a melty texture.
• Raspberry, cranberry and nut filling!
• Makes 12 – 14 little bars of chocolate (depending on the size of the mould).

Raw Cacao Butter, Organic 1kg (Sussex Wholefoods)

100g raw cacao butter. Chocolate gets its melty texture from cacao butter.

Organic Cacao Powder (1kg) - Sussex WholeFoods

6 tablespoons of cacao powder. This, of course, provides the flavour and colour.

Light Agave Syrup, Organic 250ml (Biona)

4 tablespoons of agave nectar. This is a versatile sweetener that can be used as a substitute for sugar (but also see below).

Organic Coconut Sugar (1kg) - Sussex Wholefoods

Some people prefer to use coconut sugar to agave nectar. If this is the case, then use 4 tablespoons of coconut sugar instead (though we used agave nectar for this recipe).

Profusion Himalayan Rose Pink Salt - fine 500g

A pinch of fine rock salt.

Freeze Dried Raspberries 100g (Healthy Supplies)

8-10 freeze-dried raspberries, crushed.

Mixed Chopped Nuts 500g (Sussex Wholefoods)

2 tablespoons of mixed chopped nuts: this particular mix consists of peanuts, almonds and walnuts.

Organic Cranberries (500g) - Sussex WholeFoods

2 tablespoons of cranberries. These dried cranberries are preserved with apple juice rather than refined sugar.

Other Ingredients

Method

1. Make sure your chocolate mould is clean and dry. Lay it on a large chopping board, tray or other moveable flat surface.
2. Melt the Cocoa Butter in a bain marie. We do this off the heat, ie. with a saucepan one third full of boiling water, with a stainless steel bowl on top.
3. Chop the Cacao Butter into small pieces and allow to melt, stirring occasionally.
4. While you are waiting for the Cacao Butter to melt, finely chop the cranberries and break the raspberries into little ‘grits’ or bits. Put these in a bowl with the mixed chopped nuts and mix with your fingertips so that the ingredients are all evenly distributed.
5. Once the Cacao Butter has melted sieve the Cacao Powder straight into the same bowl. Then add the Agave Nectar and a pinch of salt. Stir well until you have a smooth, glossy and runny mixture.
6. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and wipe the base of the bowl dry. It is important that no water is allowed to touch the liquid chocolate mix as this will spoil the chocolate.
7. Using a dessert spoon, transfer a little of the chocolate into the base of the first well so that it reaches half way up. Sprinkle a little of the fruit and nut mix into the mould, then top up with more melt chocolate until the mould is full. Do this one at a time for each mould until you run out of melted chocolate.
8. Tap the chopping board/tray to allow the mixture to spread evenly and eliminate air bubbles.
9. Transfer the chocolates into the fridge and allow to harden for around 2 hours or until you can easily remove one of the chocolates from its mould.
10. The chocolates are now ready to eat!