Trinity's Kitchen
I adore finding healthful ingredients, full of antioxidants, vitamins and all round nutritional goodness, weaving them together to create delicious, fun, healthy, indulgent treats. I created these for my own sweetheart – they certainly are the perfect thing to gift to a friend or lover and really show that you care on so many levels.
I adore finding healthful ingredients, full of antioxidants, vitamins and all round nutritional goodness, weaving them together to create delicious, fun, healthy, indulgent treats. I created these for my own sweetheart – they certainly are the perfect thing to gift to a friend or lover and really show that you care on so many levels.
Step One:
‘Shave’ the solid cocoa butter with a sharp knife or grater. Shaving is just really thin slicing that makes the cocoa butter crumble. The finer you can get it, the easier it will be to melt. You can leave it in big chunks if you like, but be prepared to wait a while for it to melt.
Step Two:
Melt the cocoa butter. You can do this by leaving it in a warm place in a heat proof glass bowl by a fire or directly above a hot radiator. It melts at 34˚C. The idea is to melt it, rather than cook it, maintaining its ‘un-cookedness’. If you don’t have a gentle heat source then use a hob or stove. Put the cocoa butter in a small, oven proof, glass bowl and then put that bowl in a pan containing an inch or so of really hot water. Keep the hob/stove burning on a low heat. The heat will then transfer through the bowl, enough to melt the cocoa butter. Give it frequent stirs to assist the melting process. Don’t keep it on the heat any longer than it takes to melt it.
The best time to use it is when it has just melted. If it is too hot, then it takes longer to cool down and the coconut sugar will sink to the bottom of the chocolate when added.
Step Three:
Add the coconut sugar to the melting cocoa butter during step two. The melting cocoa butter will help to soften and dissolve the sugar.
Step Four: When the cocoa butter has finally melted, mix in the cocoa powder and any other remaining ingredients.
Here’s the fun part!
Making chocolate hearts:
Place 1 teaspoon of your melted chocolate mixture into each heart shaped well. When you’ve put some in every heart, pop them into the freezer whilst you prepare and blend the filling ingredients.
Prepare the filling:
Blend all the filling ingredients together thoroughly and leave on the side whilst you make the chocolate.
Making chocolate hearts continued:
Take your hearts out of the freezer (after about 10 minutes worth of chilling) and place the blueberry filling into each one. This is slightly fiddly (I have a really good laugh doing it). Use a teaspoon and a knife to help the process… Take about ½ a teaspoon of filling and gently dollop it on top of the freshly chilled chocolate hearts. Aim right for the middle of the heart. You’ll find that some always hits the edges… simply tease it back with your knife to create a thin gap at the edges (you’ll see why next).
Take the rest of your melted chocolate (you should have some left – if not – make some more) and pour 2 or 3 teaspoons over each dollop. Place your tray of hearts straight into the freezer to help your chocolates set. This should be ready in about 15 minutes. You can also set them by leaving in the fridge or any cool place (but allow extra time for setting).
Enjoy!
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