Fruit & nut chocolate chequers
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Fruit & nut chocolate chequers

By Sara Buenfeld

Kids can learn to melt chocolate with this simple recipe – a perfect homemade gift

  • Prep:40 mins
    Plus setting
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 259
  • fat 15g
  • saturates 7g
  • carbs 29g
  • sugars 27g
  • fibre 1g
  • protein 4g
  • salt 0.07g

Ingredients

  • 150g white chocolate
  • 1 tbsp dried raspberry flakes
  • 8 toasted almonds, halved
  • 8 pecan halves
  • 8 pinches cocoa, for dusting
  • 150g dark chocolate
  • 1 tbsp candied peel
  • 1 tbsp dried cranberries or raisins
  • 8 sugared cashews

Tip

Other flavours to try
Chopped crystalised ginger; hazelnut & raisin; crushed extra strong mints; chopped fudge; broken peanut brittle; chocolate-covered nuts; colourful sweets like Smarties; dried strawberry & blackcurrant flakes.A few golden rules
Be strict with food hygiene. Get children to wash their hands before cooking and during preparation. Discourage children from eating the chocolate from the bowls or licking their fingers until the chocolates are made – however tempting! Never leave children unsupervised, particularly during preparations with sharp knives, graters, boiling water and hot pans.

Method

  1. Roughly chop the chocolate on chopping boards with a large sharp knife – chopping rather than breaking it into squares will help it to melt nice and quickly. Get someone to help if necessary. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

  2. Put 2 heatproof mixing bowls over pans half-filled with water – make sure that the base of the bowls doesn’t touch the water. Add the chocolate, then leave to melt over a gentle heat. Once it starts to melt round the edges of the bowl, stir gently just once or twice, then leave to melt again. Remove from the heat.

  3. Take care, as the bowls will be hot. Using a teaspoon, spoon the melted chocolates onto the paper in round shapes as evenly sized as possible – you need 16 of each type of chocolate. Leave a teaspoon of the white chocolate in the basin for later.

  4. To decorate the white chocolates, chop the raspberry flakes, then scatter on half the rounds and top with 2 almond halves. Put a pecan on the rest, then swirl over a little of the chocolate left in the bowl. Sprinkle with cocoa.

  5. To make the dark chocolates, scatter half the rounds with the candied peel and the other half with the chopped cranberries and sugared cashews. Or try a combination of them all.

  6. Leave the chocolates to set and harden for about 3 hours (the dark chocolate will set before the white), then pack carefully into a box. They will keep for a week.

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