Almond & Goji Berry Chocolate Snaps

Sometimes the simplest sweet treats are really the best - not to mention being a lot less effort! I guarantee that if you spend ten minutes whipping these divine chocolate snaps up for guest they will be praising your ingenuity and calling for more.

This recipe post is for the eat the alphabet challenge, which I almost didn't end up entering, but got in a little late with these in the end. The theme letters are U, V and W. Quite a challenge. I decided to discount any ingredients which had "wild" or "white", because it felt a bit like cheating, but after discounting that the pickings were slim. My first thought was watermelon (coming into season), watercress and water chestnuts. All great options, but then I had an inspired thought.

Ever eaten Goji Berries? They're an ingredient we use in Chinese Herbal Medicine often (isn't it great when medicine tastes so delicious?). Well, their Chinese name is Gou Qi Zi, but their English name is Wolfberry - which starts with a W!

A quick note before we get to the nitty gritty of this recipe: I used a rather obscure ingredient in mine - pickled plum flavoured salt which a friend of mine brought back from Japan. I don't expect many other people have this ingredient lying around in their pantry, so I've written this recipe using coarse regular salt.

Ingredients

100g 70% cocoa dark chocolate

2 tbsp coarsely chopped almonds

2 tbsp wolfberries (goji berries)

Coarse salt flakes

To Make

1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (I just use a metallic bowl with it's bottom resting in some boiling water) until no lumps remain. 

2. Lay out a sheet of greaseproof paper over a tray or plate.

3. Divide the melted chocolate into 8 rounds on the baking paper and sprinkle the tops with almonds and goji berries (press them down gently to make sure they stick in the chocolate). Then sprinkle a pinch of salt over the top and place the plate in the fridge.

4. Leave in the fridge until the chocolate has completely hardened again, at least 20 minutes.

5. Serve. Too easy!

Makes 8 (serves 4).

Homemade Tangelo and Goji Berry Jam

Tangelos and other citrus fruits are abundant at the moment on backyard trees and on of the best ways to enjoy the fruit all year around is to make jam out of it. I've recently been given a box full of them from a friend so made this jam. Tangelos provide a fantastic sour and tart flavour to this jam which makes it tangy and not too sweet. This recipe can apply to any other citrus fruit if you don't have access to tangelos. Use this recipe for oranges, mandarins, tangerines, clementines, cumquats etc. (although I haven't made it with these fruits so let me know what it's like if you do!).

Tangelo and Goji Berry Jam

Ingredients

1.5kg tangelos, peeled (see note 1)

1.5kg sugar

1 packet of jam setta (see note 2)

1 cup goji berries

To Make:

1. Remove all seeds from the tangelo and chop into small pieces (your hands will smell nice and citrusy after this).

2. Put the tangelo and the sugar in a large saucepan and heat gently until all the sugar has dissolved. Add the goji berries and simmer for about 15 minutes.

3. Add the jam setta and boil for a further 15 minutes. 

4. To test whether the jam is ready do the set test. To do this: place a teaspoon full of the jam (preferably not a chunky fruity bit) on a saucer and put in the freezer for about 30-40 seconds. Take it out and run your finger through it. If the jam crinkles then it is ready. If it doesn't then boil the jam for a further 5 minutes and try the test again.

5. Once you have a successful set test remove the jam from the heat.

6. Wash your empty jars in warm soapy water and rinse well. Put the jam in them and screw the lids on tightly. 

7. Line a big saucepan with tea towels (so the glass jars don't touch the bottom or sides) and add the jars full of jam. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Boil for 20 minutes to sterilise. 

Makes about 7 jars (but this will vary depending in the size of your jam jars of course!). Tastes great with A-dizzle's Lime and Coconut Scones or Pumpkin, Maple and Walnut Scones!  

Note 1: If you don't quite have 1.5 kilos of tangelos you can make up the little bit extra using mandarins or oranges.

Note 2: I'm not really big on plugging brands in my recipes but Jam Setta is an exception because it makes jam making soooooo easy. It should be in the sugar section of your supermarket and the packet looks like this:

Vegan Mandarin and Goji Berry Mini Cake

When you live with only 2 people in a household you tend to need an event to make cake because a whole cake between 2 people is really just too much (especially if one of them isn't that into cake - it isn't me). But cake is great so you still want to be able to enjoy it for just 2 right? The solution is Minicake - my new favourite thing. It is perfect for 2 to 4 people so you won't feel too guilty for eating a whole cake between you. This quantity fits perfectly for a cake tin which is 19-20cm diameter and about 7cm high. So if you want to make a full sized cake just double the quantity (or if you have a huge mofo cake tin then triple it).

Ingredients:

2 mandarins

1 cup soy or rice milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups plain wholemeal flour

1 tbsp arrowroot powder

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

1/3 cup canola oil

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice

1 tsp orange extract

1/3 cup Goji Berries*

Icing:

1 cup margarine (ie Nuttelex because that stuff is awesome)

3 1/2 cups icing mixture

1 tsp vanilla extract

1- 2 tsp mandarin juice (optional)

1 mandarin, to garnish

To Make:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcuis (or a little less if your oven is a very hot one).

2. In a large mixing bowl combine the soy milk and apple cider and vinegar. Whisk to combine and set aside for a minute or two to let it curdle a bit.

3. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla and orange extract and whisk to combine.

4. Sift in the flour, bicarb, baking powder, arrowroot, and 5 spice and whisk to combine. Don't worry if the mix isn't completely smooth, a few lumps are fine. Divide the mandarin into segments and chop each segment in half (removing any seeds as you go), you should have about a cup of chopped mandarin. Add the mandarin pieces and Goji berries to the mix and stir through.

5. Grease your 20cm diameter mini cake tin well and line the bottom with greaseproof baking paper. Pour your mix into the cake tin and put in the oven for approximately 50 minutes. Don't open the door while cooking to check it though! Cook for 50 minutes and then check that it is cooked by inserting a sharp knife into the centre of the cake, if it comes out clean then your cake is done. If not put back in the oven for 5-10mins.

6. Turn the cake out onto a cooling rack and allow to cook while you make the icing.

7. Combine all the icing ingredients in a bowl and beat using an electric mixer (or good old elbow grease if that is your thing) until fluffy.

8. When the cake is cool top it with the icing and decorate it with mandarin segments. I decorated mine (as you can see in the picture) with a pomegranate that I had lying around that needed to be used up... but seriously who has a pomegranate just lying around?? So you can use any other kind of fruit for the contrasting colour - I recommend fresh or frozen raspberries or chopped fresh strawberries.

*Goji berries have become a bit of a fad lately and they are available in the health food section of most supermarkets. But unless you are a rich sucker you are much better shopping for Goji berries in a Chinese supermarket, China town or at a Chinese Herbal Medicine dispensary. They will be much more reasonably priced!