Original recipe of the week: Caramelised Coco Nibs

Easter, unfortunately is all about chocolate nowadays – it shouldn’t really be, but we might as well embrace it. The supermarkets are littered with hundred of Easter eggs, packed high with added sugar and all sorts of additives (unless your buy a dark chocolate version of course). Instead of an egg this year why not try coco nibs for your chocolate hit? Raw coco nibs are really quite bitter and don’t exactly taste the best but are amazingly high in antioxidants and extremely pure. Caramelizing them brings out a delicious sugary toffee note and the honey and salt add just the right amount of extra zing. Use in baking, sprinkled over some ice cream or even as a tasty mid-day snack. It might not be very easy for you to find coco nibs as they don’t sell them in the local supermarkets but you can easily find them online, we use Barry Callebaut.

Caramelised Coco Nibs

Serves: 1 greedy person, but however many you wish to share with!
Cook time: 15 minutes

What you will need:

200g coco nibs
10 tbps honey
2 tsp rock salt
250ml water
100g caster sugar

What you need to do:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 170°C and in a saucepan heat together the water and granulated sugar until the sugar has melted and formed a light syrup – be careful not to burn this.
2. Remove from the heat and add in the honey and salt and then stir.
3. Pour the nibs into a large bowl and add in the syrup mix.
4. Stir to cover all of the nibs and place on a large baking sheet covered in greaseproof paper. Make sure you spread the nibs out into a thin even layer.
5. Place the nibs in the oven for 30 minutes, then remove and leave to cool.
6. Once cool, break up into chunks or use a pestle and mortar to grind into a coarse powder.

Bethany Stone