Sunday 30 October 2011

Nigel Slater's chocolate snaps

Am I too influenced by what I see on the telly? Perhaps. These chocolate snaps appear to be the second chocolate recipe that I've cooked in the past few months after seeing them made on TV. Oh well, could be worse.

Anyway, this is another super-simple recipe from Nigel Slater. It basically involves making chocolate by buying some chocolate and melting it. Here's Nigel's recipe, which I followed with a few minor amendments. I left out the pistachios as my confidence that there was a small bag in the cupboard turned out to misplaced. I also used some vanilla flavoured salt from Waitrose rather than regular sea salt- which I have to say turned out to be a bit of a genius move. The combination of salt and chocolate seems quite popular these days, and having started off as something of a sceptic I am now a big fan. The addition of a touch of vanilla adds another flavour but without extra sweetness, and of course it's hard to go wrong with any chocolate/nut combo.

My only advice would be to watch the almonds like a hawk while they're toasting, as some of mine were a bit over-done despite my hovering around them. I also had a few issues with a few of the melted chocolate snaps running into each other to create an uber-snap. But once they they had set in the fridge it was easy to peel them from the baking parchment and snap them into individual pieces.

I will definitely be making these again, and probably extending the range of flavours that I add to the chocolate- I'm thinking stem ginger, chopped hazelnuts or honeycomb. It just remains for me to say, thank you Nigel and feel free to invite me round for tea anytime.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Vanilla flavoured salt sounds intriguing, Waitrose sell everything!
These might become my choice of handmade christmas gift this year.

TheFastestIndian said...

Hi Deepa, The vanilla salt is quite odd, but in a good way! These would make excellent pressies!

Chloe said...

Oo vanilla salt, tres fancy. Waitrose are tops, I love them. These look amazing, if Nige invites you for tea take some with you

TheFastestIndian said...

I love Waitrose too- I need to shop there more often. The vanilla salt is a Heston one. It sounds quite gimmicky but is good! Nigel has not contacted me about tea yet :-(

The Ample Cook said...

They look yummy and they'd make great Christmas gifts :)

TheFastestIndian said...

Thanks Mrs AC, that seems to be a popular suggestion!

Emily said...

Yum!Saw him make these the other day..they look great!

TheFastestIndian said...

Thanks Emily! And they work even without the pistachios and rose petals!

meemalee said...

I've been wondering what the heck to do with that vanilla salt. Scrumptious photo.

TheFastestIndian said...

Awww, thanks Meems! And yeah, was wondering what to do with it too. I'm not sure how well it would work with savoury stuff as the vanilla was quite strong...

Emily said...

That's good! I wasnt at all sure about the petals when I saw him make them. I'd only just got my head round the vanilla salt!

TheFastestIndian said...

Tee hee- I'm not a fan of flowery chocs, so was happy to leave out the petals! The vanilla salt was in fact a freebie so was pleased to find a use for it.