I have made an alternative to the sugary caramel slice that everyone loves. I never really cook with chocolate but this is a treat in my house. It’s made with dark chocolate. They say chocolate has loads of antioxidants and is a great anti-depressant, so a little every now and then for us is ok.
INGREDIENTS:
BASE:Â
- 1½ Cups pecans
- 1 Cup desicated coconut
- 50g butter or solid coconut oil, melted
- ¹/³ Cup coconut sugar
CARAMEL FILLING:
- 1½ Cups Medjool dates, finely chopped (firmly pack the chopped dates into the cup measurements)
- ¾ Cup raw cashews
- ¼ Cup coconut oil
- 2 Tbsp. water
TOP:
- 200g dark chocolate
- 1 Tbsp. liquid coconut oil
METHOD:
- Preheat oven to 170ºc. Grease and line a square slice tin.
- Finely chop pecans to a fine meal in a food processor.
- Add in the coconut and sugar and process.
- Pour in the melted butter or coconut oil and process until the nuts and coconut is moist.
- Spread the ingredients evenly over the base of the tin, pressing down firmly. Make sure the top is nice and smooth.
- Put in the oven for 8 minutes or until slightly golden.
- In the meantime, in a small saucepan on low heat add dates, water and oil.
- Stir and squash the dates to combine with the water and oil. It should be a fairly smooth consistency.
- Chops cashews in food processor until fine. Pour in the date mixture and process.
- Pour the dates over the base. Using damp hands, evenly spread the mixture across the base.
- Place it back in the oven for 6 minutes.
- Take it out of the oven and allow to cool slightly.
- Put chocolate and liquid and coconut oil in a glass bowl and place it on top of a small saucepan that has 3cm of water in it (double boiler).
- Heat the saucepan on low heat and allow the chocolate to start melting whilst stirring.
- When the chocolate is fully melted, pour it over the rest of the slice. Tilt and turn the tin to allow the chocolate to spread evenly across the base.
- Leave the tray to fully cool. Once cooled, place in the fridge to set the chocolate.
- Take the slice out of the fridge and let it sit for 10 minutes so you can cut it without all the chocolate cracking and breaking.
- Slice gently with a sharp knife.