Fudgy Chocolate and Nut Logs or Bars

The filling for these delectable chocolate treats is super easy to make - ideal for little edible Christmas gifts. It’s also pretty stable once set, so the finished product is easy to wrap and store. You’ll need a mould of some sort to set the mixture in, I make moulds for logs by slicing long cardboard tubes from the centre of a roll of cling wrap longwise using a craft knife. For bars I line mini loaf pans with cling wrap. You can make in a regular loaf pan as a slab if you prefer and serve in slices.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups x mixed nuts, un salted – almonds, brazil nuts, macadamias, hazelnuts, pistachios…
• 250g dark chocolate, – I use Whittaker’s 62%
• ½ x 395g can sweetened condensed milk

Coating

• 250g dark chocolate melts
• ½ tbsp kremelta, copha or coconut oil
• A handful of white chocolate  or white chocolate melts
• A sheet of foil

Method

Prepare the moulds lining each with cling film or foil with an over-hang on the long sides for easy removal.

Place a bowl over a small  saucepan pan of simmering water. Add chocolate to the bowl. As soon as it begins to melt remove pan from the heat. With the bowl still sitting on the pan, stir chocolate gently till melted. Stir in condensed milk and nuts to form a thick mixture. Spread mixture in prepared moulds to desired thickness.

Refrigerate several hours or until firm. When the logs or bars are firm, turn them out of the moulds, remove the cling film and slice into desired lengths and trim to neaten.

Melt chocolate melts according to package instructions, add kremelta to thin the chocolate coating slightly. Use a fork to dip the logs or bars into the melted chocolate coating, tap off the excess and place coated logs onto a sheet of foil. The coating will set very quickly.

Melt the white chocolate and drizzle onto the logs – I use snack sized zip lock bag with the corner snipped off, which works well and you can melt the chocolate in the bag in the microwave on low power, or just drizzle it off a spoon.

Tips

Use any combination of nuts, but the little hint of green from pistachios is pretty. Use milk chocolate or white to coat if you prefer. Store coated logs in plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.
Kremelta is simply a solid flavourless vegetable fat, it makes the chocolate more liquid and easy to work with.