Dark Chocolate Bark with Pumpkin Seeds and Ginger

 

Crunchy, chewy, and chocolaty this dark chocolate bark recipe satisfies every craving! Bring it as a hostess gift or serve it up at your next get-together. 

Serves: 16

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: NA

Ingredients

1	lb	good quality dark chocolate, such as Callebaut or Scharffenberger, chopped
1⁄4	c	candied ginger, chopped
1⁄2	c	raw pumpkin seeds
1⁄2	c	dried cranberries
1⁄2	t	cinnamon
1⁄8	t	freshly grated nutmeg
	pn	sea salt

Instructions

Place a sheet of parchment or wax paper on a baking sheet, set aside. Fill a small saucepan with three inches of water and bring to a simmer. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium metal or glass bowl and place over the simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water) and melt. Pour melted chocolate on the parchment or wax paper, then sprinkle ginger, pumpkin seeds, and cranberries evenly over the top. Finish with the cinnamon, nutmeg and sprinkle of sea salt. Place in the refrigerator to set for 15 minutes. Remove and allow to fully cool on the counter about one or two hours. Break into bite size pieces.
Store in a covered container in a cool area for up to five days (if it lasts that long!) or place in refrigerator to keep longer.
Recipe courtesy of Kendra Peterson, Chef and owner of Drizzle Kitchen in Chicago.

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Azon Affiliate Crusher

Simple Genius: Chocolates You Customize From Modular Parts

Modular systems are just plain smart, allowing you to tailor a design, change it around, and swap out individual components easily. So why not apply the principle to chocolate? Yes, chocolate. For her graduation project at ECAL, Elsa Lambinet collaborated with Swiss chocolatier Blondel to create customizable confections from interchangeable components--thereby realizing the fantasy of design-sensitive chocoholics everywhere.

Called “Sweet Play,” the project uses three types of chocolate and a range of toppings and fillings: dark chocolate has place for fruit, milk chocolate features indentations for nuts, and the white chocolate can hold liquids. All three have slots for receiving fillings such as waters, nougat, and caramel. “Participants get to mix and match ingredients for hours and hours as they gorge themselves on custom confectionery goodness,” writes Lambinet, whose concept fittingly earned her a master’s degree in luxury.

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Healthy Dark Chocolate Brands Revealed

By Nicole German (Reg. Dietitian)

9Share

One ounce of dark chocolate can boast plenty of health benefits and antioxidants.

However, you have to be careful about which brand of chocolate you buy.
All dark chocolate is not created equal.

Healthy Dark Chocolate Brands

• Godiva 72% or 85% Cacao Chocolate Bars: Are not processed with alkali. This means the bitter taste along with those fantastic health benefits are still in tact.
• Lindt 70%, 85%, or 90% Cacao Bars: Also not processed with alkali.
• Brookside Dark Chocolate with Pomegranate or Blueberries: Even though this is processed with alkali, it contains a hefty serving of antioxidants from the fruits.
• Endangered Species Dark Chocolate Bars: Created ethically and sustainably so you can feel good about eating your sweet treat.
• Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Squares: Uses no cocoa powder as to intensify the chocolate flavor; Uses cocoa butter and liquor instead.
• Chocolove Bars
• Green & Black's Organic Bars
• Organic Taza Chocolate Bars

Less Nutrient Rich Chocolate

• Dove Dark Chocolate: Processed with alkali or, also called "Dutch processed", means that the acids in the chocolate are neutralized, and many of the antioxidants are lost.
• CocoaVia Supplement Packs: These are similar to Crystal Light, except they have flavanoids (the main chocolate antioxidant) added in. You will get some health benefits from this, but it is more important to eat the whole food that contains the fiber.
• Hershey's Special Dark
• Dark Chocolate M&M's
• Milky Way Midnight
• Nestle Dark Hot Chocolate: Still contains trans fat!

Key Takeaway Points

You want to try to choose dark chocolate that is greater than 70% cacao and check the ingredient list to make sure it contains no alkali, but once you get to 90% or 99% cacao, the chocolate has very little sugar and will taste extremely bitter. Proceed with caution. Overall, if we're going to indulge in chocolate, why not make sure you are getting all those antioxidants as well?
What is your favorite dark chocolate?

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Brainwave Entrainment

Give the gift of good health

Give the gift of good health

This week marks the last dash of the holiday season, when the final presents are plucked off store shelves for safe keeping under the tree. (A gentle nudge to holiday procrastinators -- if you haven't started your shopping, now might be a good time to get moving.)
If Santa's elves have already done the heavy lifting on your Christmas list, maybe it's time to think about stocking stuffers -- those pint-size, portable presents that are something of an exclamation point to your declaration of holiday sentiment. The great thing about these gifts is that they don't have to cost much to leave a big impact.
Here are 20 ideas for stocking stuffers to encourage a year of physical activity, good eating and less stress. After all, there's no better gift than good health.

1. Dark chocolate

Here's the skinny on dark chocolate -- it's been touted for boosting mood, lowering blood pressure and improving cardiovascular health. Credit the main ingredient, cocoa, which is the source of good-for-you flavonoids that provide the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect.
But quality and quantity are two important considerations. Milk chocolate, in addition to having more sugar and less fiber than dark chocolate, is made with less cocoa so it doesn't convey the same benefits. Instead, look for dark chocolate that's made with at least 70 percent cocoa. Also, keep in mind that dark chocolate is still high in saturated fat -- although it doesn't appear to raise bad LDL cholesterol levels -- and calories.

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ab workout machines


Blue Velvet, Chocolate shrimps star at Taiwan expo

Recipe: Tempered dark chocolate

Servings: Makes enough tempered chocolate for the candied hazelnuts and honeycomb.
Note: Tempered chocolate is chocolate that has been treated in such a way that it is smooth, shiny and has a nice snap to it when you bite into it. It's a technique of candy making that is all about combining the proper ratio of melted chocolate with unmelted chocolate in order to achieve just the right temperature and consistency. It's not difficult to do. It just takes some attention — and the results are definitely worth it.

 

Nancy Silverton's dark tempered chocolate. (Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times)

1 pound bittersweet chocolate (minimum 66% cacao), roughly chopped, divided

Set a metal bowl over a pot of water or fill the bottom of a double boiler with water and bring the water to a simmer (not a boil) over medium-high heat. Add 11 ounces of the chocolate to the bowl set over the water and warm the chocolate without stirring until it melts and becomes thin and liquid. Take the bowl off the heat and add the remaining chocolate, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until all of the chocolate is melted. Use immediately.

Each ounce: 159 calories; 1 gram protein; 9 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams fiber; 13 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 cholesterol; 0 sugar; 1 mg sodium.

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Weight Loss with Antioxidant Rich Dark Chocolate Keeps Dieters From Falling Off Their Diets
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