Walnut Chocolate Butter

中文菜谱： 核桃巧克力酱

I stock up nuts and chocolate lately.  Someday it just occurred to me why not make a batch of chocolate nut butter?  It would be awesome for breakfast or a quick nutritious afternoon snack. 

Ingredients：

2 cups of raw walnuts
1/3 to 1/2 cup dark chocolate
1/4 to 1/3 cup honey / syrup

*****Tips:  

·         The darker chocolate is, the more smoothly it will melt.  I use 85% cacao chocolate.  They are available at Whole foods, Sprouts and Texas local Central Market.  The one I am using here is bought from Sprouts. 

·         If you don’t want to roast raw walnut at home, buy the dry roasted walnuts.  And make sure they are not salted or seasoned.  *****

Directions：

Preheat a toaster oven to 375F/ 191C

Bake the raw walnuts for 8 to 10 minutes, or just until they turn slightly golden brown. 

Add roasted walnut, honey and dark chocolate in a vitamix blender.

  I use a dry container instead of regular container because it is more convenient this way.

Turn on the machine and grind at medium low speed.  

In a few minutes, walnuts are crushed and chocolate melts. 

You would need to pause several times in between to stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. 

Keep grinding at low medium speed. 

It is getting silkier and smoother.

It is kind of shiny now.

Continue grinding for another couple minutes.

Wo-la, it is done!

Transfer the walnut chocolate butter to a glass jar.  Seal and store at room temperature. 

It goes great with a lot of things: bread, cookies, crackers, fruits, crepes, and even salad! O(∩_∩)O~

Chocolate Covered Figs with Chocolate Ganache

中文菜谱：

香醇甜糯的巧克力无花果

I was inspired by an episode of Unique Sweets on Cooking Channel to make these chocolate covered figs.  I had never thought about pairing figs and chocolate together before until I saw that episode about chocolate.  Figs and chocolate make such a great couple in flavors and texture!

Figs are very sweet and a tiny bit chewy and gooey while dark chocolate is fruity, earthy, bitter and nutty.  They complete each other in such a perfect way that makes each bit like an explosion of flavors in your mouth. 

Ingredients：

1/4 cup chopped 100% cacao chocolate (for chocolate ganache filling)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon coffee rum liqueur
8 to 10 dried but soft figs
1/2 cup chopped 100% cacao chocolate (for dipping)
3 to 4 tablespoons honey (use more if you like sweeter taste)

Directions：

Try to pick soft and large dried figs for this dessert.  Otherwise, it would be very difficult to fill figs with chocolate ganache.  

I bought mine from Central Market in Houston.  

Besides the golden soft figs, I also bought my 100% cacao chocolate there too.  They have Valrhona chocolate from 40% cacao all the way up to 100%.

Heat the heavy cream in a double boiler or in microwave oven until it gets very hot but not yet boiling.  Add to chopped chocolate.  Whisk until chocolate melts.  Add coffee liqueur and 1 to 2 tablespoons honey. 

Whisk until chocolate ganache is silky and smooth.  Cover with lid and refrigerate for a couple hours.

Spoon the chilled chocolate ganache to a piping bag.  Fill the figs with as much chocolate ganache as possible.

Melt the remaining chocolate along with 1 to 2 tablespoons honey together in a double boiler. 

Quickly dip each fig in melted chocolate.  Shake off excessive chocolate and set them on a board lined with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for an hour until the chocolate inside and out are all set.

Bon Appetite！ O(∩_∩)O~

You don’t have to use 100% cacao dark chocolate here.  Any dark chocolate with more than 60% cacao would be perfect for figs.