I made this chocolate bark as a Christmas gift for my neighbours, but now I’m thinking about it, it is actually perfect for a post-Christmas healthy treat. I used a very dark chocolate for this, 85%. This type of chocolate doesn’t have much sugar and is full of antioxidants. You can of course use any topping you like for this bark. I went for the warming flavour of ginger. I also added dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds. The edible gold stars were just to give it a bit of Christmas sparkle. I think next time I’ll use goji berries, pumpkin seeds and chia seeds and feel very virtuous!

Ingredients

300g 85% dark chocolate (100g is approximately 1 bar of chocolate, so you can adjust the quantities accordingly).

A handful of crystallised ginger, finely chopped

A handful of pumpkin seeds, toasted

A handful of cranberries

Edible gold stars

Directions

• Put the pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan and gently heat until you hear them starting to pop. Set aside and leave to cool.
• Line a baking tray with a silicon mat, greaseproof paper or cling film.
• Melt the chocolate very gently in a bain marie by breaking the chocolate into small pieces and putting them in a heatproof bowl. Put about 1 inch of hot water in a saucepan and sit the bowl over the pan, but so it is not touching the water. Allow the chocolate to melt. Be patient, if you rush the process, the chocolate won’t like it and will seize up.
• Pour the melted chocolate into your baking tray. You can make the layer as thin as you like. Using a spatula, make sure the chocolate has spread evenly. Sprinkle over your toppings and leave to cool in the fridge for a couple of hours.
• When the chocolate has set, turn it out of the tin and either snap into pieces or cut into squares. If you want to cut the chocolate into squares, the chocolate shouldn’t be set completely hard.