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Chocolates came into this world for the sole purpose of brushing aside workday blues and you can agree to disagree as you share them with friends and family to bond on various occasions. Since weekend is just around the corner, nothing dispels stress and gloom like making your own sweet treats in no time with a few simple and easily available ingredients from the pantry.
In our quest for something similarly easy and chocolatey, we stumbled upon 3 tempting chocolate dessert recipes and we can’t wait to whip them up and indulge in the sweet nutty delights. Choose your mouthwatering dessert recipe for today between Mexican Chocolate California Walnut Butter, Walnuts and Cocoa Biscotti or Sweet and Salty Chocolate Walnut Bark, which will win your heart straight away for being crunchy and nutrition powerhouses.
Mexican Chocolate California Walnut Butter
Ingredients:
500g walnuts
50g melted dark chocolate
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
Method:
Using microwave or a bowl over boiling water to melt chocolate. Blend walnuts using blender or food processor for 3-4 mins.
When the walnuts turn into paste, add the melted chocolate and mix well until softened. Refrigerate walnut butter in container
(Recipe: Chef Neha Deepak Shah)
Walnuts and Cocoa Biscotti
Ingredients:
70g walnuts
1 egg
1 tablespoon white sesame oil or other preferred oil
30g orange peel
40g raisin
100g cake flour
20g cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
Method:
Put eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat them until fully whipped. Add white oil and whip well. Sift the ingredients of into a bowl. Add them in the bowl with egg and mix well with a spatula.
Add walnuts, orange peel, and raisin and blend well until smooth. Put the dough on a 2 parchment-lined baking sheet; shape the dough into 10 x 15cm rectangle.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 15 minutes. Let them cool. After cooling, cut into 1cm size. Put them back on parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for another 15 minutes. Turn them back and bake additional 5 minutes.
(Recipe: Chef Sabyasachi Gorai)
Sweet and Salty Chocolate Walnut Bark
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups walnuts
1/2 cup pomegranate, fresh
340g dark or milk chocolate chips, divided
340g bag white chocolate chips, divided
2 tablespoons shortening, divided
Method:
Coarsely break walnuts into a bowl. Carefully lift out the nuts leaving behind any skins that have broken off. Place 2/3 of the dark or milk chocolate chips in a medium glass bowl with 1 tablespoon shortening, and microwave for 30 seconds.
When the chips are mostly melted, slowly add the remaining dark chocolate chips, stirring vigorously. If chips aren’t fully melting, place back in the microwave for 5 seconds intervals. Stir again to help cool chocolate quickly. Repeat melting steps with white chocolate chips and remaining shortening.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper use a spatula to make 1/4-inch thick layer, option to make marbled bark by dropping spoonfuls of dark and white chocolate alternately onto baking sheet. Sprinkle with walnuts, pomegranate arils and sea salt and lightly press into the surface.
Refrigerate until firm. Carefully break into pieces and store between pieces of waxed paper in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks, store in the refrigerator.
(Recipe: Chef Neha Deepak Shah)
Benefits:
Apart from lifting up your mood in a jiffy or being a mood enhancer, chocolates’ reputation is rising for having antioxidant effects and reducing risk factors for heart disease courtesy its cocoa content. It has several other health benefits like being aphrodisiac and helping protect your skin against the sun by acting as a sunscreen.
Cocoa has the capacity to stimulate the brain to release endorphins that helps elevate one’s mood. The unsweetened cacao powder is a source of magnesium and other minerals and lacks the high-calorie cocoa butter or sugars found in garden-variety chocolate.
