I Like It Dark

I can’t quite remember when dark chocolate and I fell in love, but we’ve had quite a long affair. Milk chocolate has its time and place- namely in hazelnut truffles- but the dark stuff is really the key to my heart. I actually just learned that until 1875, the only chocolate produced worldwide was “dark” chocolate!

Foodbuzz must have about my chocolate passion, because I received quite a stash of Ghirardelli chocolate! Here’s what I tried:

• 72% Twilight Delight bar
• 86% Midnight Reverie bar
• Sea Salt Soirée bar (dark chocolate with sea salt and roasted almonds)
• bag of 72% Twilight Delight individually wrapped squares
• bag of 72% Sea Salt Soirée individually wrapped squares

As I said, I like the really dark stuff, so the 86% variety was my favorite. The Sea Salt Soirée is also delicious, and how could it not be? It has three of my favorite ingredients in one place.

As you probably know by now, 99.9% of my days include some kind of chocolate nibble. I’ve had an abundance of fresh fruit from the CSA these past few months, and often paired a sweet pair or plum with a couple squares.   

They also make great study snacks! Chocolate is a great pick-me-up. There’s also research suggesting the flavanoids in dark chocolate (70% and higher) can lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Whoopee!

The website’s pretty cool: you can read each chocolate variety’s flavor profile and suggestions for wine and food pairings, too. BBQ potato chips, for example, are supposedly tasty with Sea Salt Soirée! (Too bad I ate up all my popchips .) I also found a recipe for Magic Cookie Bars on their website which I will try and quickly forget… those are pure crack to me.

With Fall’s arrival and my surplus of pumpkin, I put on my apron and got a little creative in the kitchen.

Chocolate and pumpkin is a winning combination! If you haven’t tried it yet, I highly suggest you get on that, and fast.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY PUMPKIN BREAD

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose flour)
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/8 t nutmeg
• 1-1/2 cups pumpkin purée
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (or you can substitute canola oil)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 squares dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (approximately 1/2 cup chocolate chips) + extra for garnish
• 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped + extra for garnish
• 1/2 cup dried, unsweetened cherries + extra for garnish

Preheat oven to 375˚. Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium-sized bowl.

In a larger bowl, combine the pumpkin and yogurt and mix. Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in pecans, chocolate, and cherries.

Pour batter into your loaf pan. Bedazzle the top with reserved chocolate, cherries and pecans.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

This is a great little bread chock full of vitamins and antioxidants. It’s great at breakfast (a great vehicle for peanut butter + banana!), as a snack, or with a scoop of ice cream for dessert. Hope you like it!

How do you take your chocolate? No judgments if you don’t like it dark!

Here’s a coupon for $1 off two bars or bags of Ghirardelli… my supply is already low, so I’ll be taking advantage of it!