Recipe – Fruit n’ Macadamia Nut Chocolate Bark (Dairy Free)

By  Trinity Bourne

Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

Macadamia nut & cocoa are a marriage made in chocolate heaven. Add in fruit (in this case – raisins), coconut sugar (a  much healthier alternative to refined sugar) and vanilla and you’ll quickly find a divine medley of exciting textures, flavours and melt in the mouth deliciousness.

Macadamias are my favourite nut ever. They vary in quality and taste although I recently stocked up on some super tasty ones during my latest trip to Hawaii… and couldn’t resist making a batch or two of this delectable recipe. ‘Fruit n’ Mac Nut Chocolate Bark’ makes a perfect gift for a friend or loved one. Ideal for a special occasion or a ‘just because I love you’ moment. It’s also a great way to treat yourself to a little healthy indulgence too… because as far as chocolate goes you aren’t going to a find a much healthier recipe than this one.

This serves best right out of the fridge (or even the freezer). If you are in a warm environment, then as with all healthy chocolates, it will start to soften after a while if sitting out in the warmth.

Enjoy, savour and use my recipe as inspiration for your own culinary creations… and remember if you don’t have any macadamia nuts then hazelnuts, almonds, brazils or another favourite nut would work well too. Scroll down below recipe for my video guide to making homemade chocolates where I talk you through the basics step-by-step, sharing tips and hints along the way.

Fruit n’ Macadamia Nut Chocolate Recipe

Prep time –  10 mins

Total time – 10 mins

Serves – 1 large bar

A delicious recipe for home made ‘fruit n’ macadamia nut chocolate’. I love to use macadamia nuts, although hazelnuts, almonds, brazils or another favourite nut would work well too. Raisins and coconut are used to sweeten this dairy free treat. A real healthy, luxurious chocolate delight.

Ingredients

• 3 heaped tablespoons cocoa butter (shaved or grated)
• 4 tablespoons (or roasted) cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons raw coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon water (to use if your coconut sugar is especially gritty)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 heaped tablespoon macadamia nuts (or alternative)
• 1 heaped tablespoon raisins

Instructions

1. 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.
2. Step Two: Melt the cocoa butter. You can do this by leaving it in a hot place in a heat proof glass bowl by a fire or directly above a hot radiator. It melts at 34ËšC. The idea is to melt it, rather than cook it to death. 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. Try not to keep it on the heat any longer than it takes to melt it.
3. 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.
4. Step Three: Add the coconut sugar and if required, 1 teaspoon of water (the water helps the coconut sugar to dissolve if your coconut sugar is especially gritty, but only use if you feel that you need it) to the to the melting cocoa butter during step two. The melting cocoa butter (and teaspoon of water if used) will help to soften and dissolve the sugar.
5. Step Four: When the cocoa butter has finally melted, mix in the cocoa powder.
6. Step Five: Mix in the raisins.
7. Step Six: Line a loaf tin with a base area of approximately 21cm x 11cm (4 ½ x 8 inches)… (or any container with similar sized base area) with unbleached parchment paper and pour in your chocolate.
8. Step Seven: Place chocolate into the fridge for a minute or two (not longer) to start chilling whilst you chop the mac nuts. Roughly chop your nuts (or leave whole if preferred).
9. Step Eight: Take chocolate back out of the fridge (should not be solid yet!) and give a quick stir up in the parchment paper using a teaspoon, to make sure that the coconut sugar isn’t all sinking to the bottom.
10. Step Nine: Sprinkle or push in your chopped nuts as desired and place the chocolate into a freezer immediately to help it set quickly.
11. Step Ten: After about half an hour take out of the freezer and break off into rustic chunks.  Wrap up as a present and share with loved ones or enjoy straight away. The chocolate is best served chilled.

If you prefer a visual guide then you might enjoy my step by step chocolate making video guide for the basics…

Trinity

More  articles by Trinity Bourne:

• 10 Reasons Why We all Should be Eating Ginger – Recipes Included
• Top Tips for Making Deliciously Healthy Salads
• The Health Benefits of Beetroot – Recipes Included
• The Importance of Eating Seeds for a Healthy Diet – Tips, Benefits & Recipes
• Global Animal Industries – the Ghosts in Our Machine
• Foraging Guide – with 12 Nutritious Wild Plants That Anyone Can Find
• Keeping Slugs & Snails Off Your Veggies – Compassionately
• Chocolate Paradise Coconut Bar Recipe – Vegan, Raw, Absolutely Delicious!
• The Superfood Health Benefits of Celery (with Recipes!)

About the author:

Trinity is an experienced, empathic energy worker and the author of ‘Trinity’s Conscious Kitchen’, a recipe book designed to inspire the soul through conscious vegan, wheat-free cuisine.

Around 18 years ago, during a profound spiritual awakening, the world around her shattered. She became engulfed in a white, universal, timeless, formless light until nothing else existed – other than the nameless truth at the core of all sentient beings. During this life-changing experience Trinity experienced the soul of all other sentient beings, trees, creatures, people as one pulsating energy. Transcending her into a higher realm of unity and oneness, this experience imparted a divine energy that she has been sharing through spiritual work ever since.

Understanding that the energy of our food directly impacts sentient life on all levels, Trinity founded  Trinity’s Conscious Kitchen, a website devoted to inspiring the soul through conscious vegan cuisine.  She is the co-founder of the  Openhand Foundation, an organisation dedicated to the evolution of humankind. She works as the divine complement to her soul mate  Open  to help facilitate the global ascension process and feels incredibly blessed to be of divine service.