Recipe: Rosemary Flower Chocolate.
The best thing about this time of year is the abundance of edible food that comes available to us from now throughout the year until the end of the autumn harvest months.
There’s something so incredibly nourishing and wholesome using what we have growing around us that would otherwise just be ignored. And when you start zoning in on it the world become a less sugar laden version of a Willy Wonka factory.
Currently, wild garlic is growing in abundance and there are many edible wonders to be found throughout our hedgerows and woodlands. But if we look a little closer to home we may be surprised with what we can find.
Rosemary is one of the easiest things you can grow at home. Abundant, but easily contained in a pot, it can be grown on a balcony, in a small yard or in the herb garden of any size garden. In Spring, it sprouts soft purple flowers that bring a burst of colour to the corners of your outside space. But these flowers are also edible and can add a touch of springtime joy to dishes and desserts.
Tasting floral with more delicate notes of rosemary than the branches, it’s a real seasonal treat to bring them into your cooking. As a (mostly) full time vegan I’m often faced with little choice when I have a chocolate craving but most corner shops sell a fair trade dark chocolate - while it’s not always the best and slightly bitter it can be transformed into a yummy, creamy bar by melting and spooning in some nut butter before resetting in the fridge. The icing on the cake of course, is a bit of sea salt and some of these rosemary flowers.
I can’t take credit for the idea of adding these fragrant flowers to chocolate as I saw it in Foraged by Ferns IG feed. Go easy while picking the flowers as they can be a hub of activity for pollen loving bugs.
Ingredients
2 x 100g bars or dark chocolate
1-2 tablespoons of nut butter (I used almond)
1 small handful of rosemary flowers, washed
Recipe
Break chocolate up into a heatproof bowl that will stand in a saucepan without touching the bottom
Add a layer of water to the saucepan so it won’t boil dry but won’t tip over the edge while the bowl is submerged
Heat gently until all the chocolate is melted
While still on the heat stir in your nut butter
Pour into a flat tray (about the size of two chocolate bars next to each other) lined with grease proof paper
Top with a few sprinkles of flaked sea salt and your rosemary flowers
Leave to set in the fridge for around an hour
Take out and cut into squares and either store in a cool place or the fridge