Sunday, February 13, 2011

Will you be my Valentine?


What Valentine's Day would be complete without chocolate? Quick get started on this no-bake chocolate dessert, because it needs to set up in the fridge for a couple of hours. A version of this dessert was featured on Rachel Ray's TV show(I like to think of her as a distant cousin, but there is probably no real family connection). My friends in Ojai served this last weekend at their big Super Bowl/Birthday party and Teri was sweet enough to share in detail how to make it.



Chocolate Refrigerator "Cake"

4 cups dark semi-sweet chocolate (32 oz.)

1/2 cup of margarine (one stick)

1 tablespoon maple syrup, or any flavor you like

1 1/2 cups mixed nuts, any kind you choose

1 cup dried fruit mixture

1 cup fresh blueberries or raspberries

2 cups crushed graham crackers, vanilla wafers, or any simple vegan cookies you prefer



Prepare a bundt cake pan with plastic wrap, drape it over the sides to help pull cake out of pan after it solidifies in the refrigerator.

Melt chocolate, margarine and syrup in a large sauce pan over a stock pot of boiling water. My double boiler wasn't big enough! Once the chocolate is liquid, stir in remaining ingredients. Then quickly spoon into mold and once all the mixture is transferred, press firmly in with the back of the spoon to compress out air pockets (I'm afraid my cake pictured above wasn't tamped down enough).

Place in refrigerator to set up. After a few hours flip it onto a platter, pulling on the plastic to help you remove it from pan. Cut and serve with fresh berries...as we Rays like to say...

Yummo!

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