CHOCOLATE POMEGRANATE CLUSTERS!!

Photo from lexiskitchen.com. 

OK, again, I totally apologize for being a lazy blogger. I think it's the cold. And Words With Friends. It has ruined me! Anyway...I have been meaning to try this simple recipe for the last few weeks and finally got around to it yesterday while I was home sick. Don't worry, I washed my hands thoroughly and often!

Someone shared this recipe from lexiskitchen.com and not only is it gluten and dairy-free and FILLED with antioxidants, it also looked so damn easy I just had to try it! That and I had a withering pomegranate in the fridge along with a package of pre-picked seeds from the store ready to be eaten.

Something that needs to be stated before you try this. It is IMPERATIVE that the pomegranate seeds, once plucked are COMPLETELY dry before you start. If they are even the tiniest bit moist, these will fall apart (like some of mine did). That said, after setting overnight in the fridge, they seem to have come together quite nicely!

Makes: 20
Prep Time: 15 minutes plus drying time.

Ingredients:

1 cup CHOCOLATE CHIPS (I used Whole Foods vegan semi-sweet Chocolate chips)
1 POMEGRANATE

Directions:

Look! Very little pomegranate carnage!

My Iranian-born friend Nilu taught me how to properly open a pomegranate after years of me butchering them and making a giant mess. Now, I pass along this info to you... First, cut a circle out of the top of the pomegranate (where the little "crown" or "tiara" pops out). Remove the top. GENTLY, not going too deep, cut through the skin only from top to botom about four or five times around the circumference of the fruit. GENTLY peel each piece of skin from the base. Seeds and membrane will come off with the skin. GENTLY pull out the seeds, removing any of the membrane. Repeat until you have all of the seeds. Spread them out on a paper towel for a couple of hours to dry. You can also put them in a warm oven (that has been turned off) for a bit or blast 'em with a blowdryer to get them fully dry. If you follow these directions, it will not look like you murdered someone on your kitchen counter, if fact, you will have very little pomegranate juice spillage at all. Nilu boasts ZERO juice spillage but I haven't quite gotten that good yet!

Mmmmmmm!

Next, line a mini muffin pan with 20 mini muffin cups/liners. You can also just use a regular, flat baking sheet like I did. (I'm not a big baker.)

Pour chocolate chips into a heavy-duty zip top bag, shake down into one corner. Place in microwave and heat in 15-20 second intervals, removing each time to knead. Continue until chocolate is smooth and viscous. Squeeze chocolate down into one corner. Snip off a tiny corner to make a makeshift piping bag. Make the hole small. A lot will still come out, trust me.

Resist the urge to drizzle directly into your mouth and drizzle chocolate into bottom of cups. Add a layer of pomegranate seeds to each cup. Drizzle with more chocolate. Repeat so that you have four layers of chocolate and three layers of seeds.

Allow to harden in a cool, dry place. Like I said, I refrigerated them overnight and they are perfect today!

I cannot tell you how delicious these are! It's chocolate with an explosion of juice. AND, as far as desserts are concerned, these are not that bad for you...just try not to eat ALL of them!!

I'm making these for pretty much every holiday party I'm going to this season. I hope you all love them as much as I do!




Comments

  1. these are SO GOOD. I just passed the recipe along to a friend. My goodness. I don't even like chocolate that much anymore, but I was eating these leftovers straight out of the plastic container last night ... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

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