Sparkly Orange Chocolate

First off…it’s not Terry’s – it’s mine! I’m sure there’s a few of you out there who get that reference – a total nineties nostalgia buzz featuring the effervescent Dawn French.

Anyhow, this recipe was actually inspired by a friend of mine from Donegal who is equally witty in nature…it’s none other than Chef Martin Anderson. In his cookbook Fat Chef Slim, Martin has a recipe for Chili and Chocolate Bark…so I loosely based my own recipe on his. Martin features tips and articles regularly on Highland radio and Donegal Daily, so be sure to check him out via his Facebook @Chef Martin Anderson.

As it’s sparkle season, I added some harmless edible glitter on top of the chocolate pieces – but it’s entirely up to yourself if you want to decorate. These chocolate pieces make a great gift for Christmas, you can pop them into a little cello or plastic wrap and put some ribbon around it – a really simple yet impressive touch. The little silver balls featured are also edible – so why not add them into the bottom of the bag for added sparkle appeal!

This recipe yields about 10 squares

Ingredients:

• 100g of quality dark chocolate (I used 75% for this recipe)
• 1/4 cup of roughly crushed almonds and hazelnuts
•  1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of orange extract
• Edible glitter (optional)

Method:

1. Prepare a flat tray with a sheet of grease proof paper.
2. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of hot water.
3. Add the crushed nuts, cinnamon and orange extract and stir everything together.
4. Spread the chocolate mix onto the paper and sprinkle with glitter.
5. Chill the chocolate until it’s solid (about 30 minutes) and then roughly chop/break into squares.