Ginger, Passionfruit & Cashew Dark Chocolates
This is actually a reasonably healthy chocolate, I think? I was aiming for something that might be almost as healthy as trail mix, in terms of nutty protein and dried fruit, but indulgent-tasting. It came out really well! I’ve never made filled chocolates before, but it turns out that making the chocolate shells is surprisingly easy, and even fun. 🙂
I used passionfruit and ginger, because I love that combo, but you could sub in any dried fruit you liked.
NOTE: Even though there’s a photo here that shows big pieces of dried fruit in the food processor, I don’t recommend trying that, as you’ll likely just jam up your food processor and have to stop it and take everything out and reset it, the way I had to. Chop (or use scissors to cut) some first — big pieces of dried fruit are very gummy!
Ingredients:
2 c. dark chocolate chips, melted (ideally tempered in a double boiler, but microwaving at 1/2 power and stirring every 30 seconds ’til melted also works)
Filling:
• 1 c. dried passionfruit, chopped fine • 1/2 c. crystallized ginger, chopped • 1 c. roasted salted cashews, chopped • 2 T honey • 1/2 c. cocoa powder, sifted • 1/2 tsp coarse salt • zest of 1 orange • zest of 1 lime • 3 T mango juice
1. Fill mold with melted chocolate to the top, then turn it over the pan and let the chocolate drip out again. It should pour out quickly, and then you can flip it over and let what remains in the mold dry, creating a chocolate shell.
2. Combine chopped passionfruit, ginger, and cashews in food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped and mixed. Add remaining filling ingredients and pulse until well blended; it should resemble a thick paste.
3. Once the shells are dry and set, add a little bit of filling to the center of each chocolate. Pour in enough melted chocolate (re-melting or re-tempering as needed) to fill them again.
4. Let dry and set, then pop them out. Enjoy!
NOTE: You’ll have extra filling left over, quite possibly. You could make more chocolates. 🙂 But I think this would also be very nice to spoon into a brownie batter, and I might try that if we have any left over.