GoodFoodWeek

A collection of recipes, an assortment of motherhood tales and a mixture of memories.

Recipe: The Sweet Swap

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When I participated in the inaugural ‘Sweet Swap‘ last year I knew that I would be keeping my ear to the ground and participating in it again when it rolled around this year! Last year the Sweet Swap had over 58 food, parent and lifestyle bloggers participate and I’m keen to hear the wrap up on this year.

If you’re wondering ‘what is the Sweet Swap‘ – it’s basically a foodie challenge, where you are matched up with three other bloggers from Australia and you make them a sweet treat (chocolate, lollies, etc) that will stand up to the Australian Post and you will receive three matches in return.

The event is so much fun as noone knows who they will be receiving their sweet treats from. And I love watching social media to see where and when my sweet treats arrive.
This year I was inspired by Pintrest to make ‘chocolate bark’. It seems to be an American thing at the moment – think rocky road, but with different fillings. Rustic hunks of chocolate bark are utterly easy to make, endlessly adaptable, and just plain fun.

Who can resist velvety bittersweet, milk, or white chocolate topped with nuts, candy, or dried fruit?

My first flavour creation was inspired by a night at the movies – a combination of salted popcorn, pretzels and marshmallows in milk chocolate. 
A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES CHOCOLATE BARK
500 grams of milk chocolate
100 grams of copha
1 cup of popcorn
1 cup of pretzels
1 cup of marshmallows
Melt the milk chocolate and copha together. Pour into a lined tin or baking pan and then top with your popcorn, pretzels and marshmallows. Refrigerate to set.
IT IS THAT SIMPLE!
My second flavour combination was inspired by ‘Christmas’ – as it seemed a lot of people who were pinning ‘chocolate bark’ recipes were doing so for Christmas gifts. 
In American, it appeared that their Christmas combination often included candy canes or spearmint lollies – however I took it in a different direction with homemade shortbread, dried cranberries and salted pistachios in delcious white chocolate. 
CHRISTMAS INSPIRED CHOCOLATE BARK
500 grams white chocolate
100 grams of copha
1 cup of homemade shortbread**
1 cup of dried cranberries
1 cup of salted pistachios
Melt the white chocolate and copha together. Pour into a lined tin or baking pan and then top with your homemade shortbread, cranberries and pistachios. Refrigerate to set.
**recipe will be posted this week 🙂
My third and final creation was for a healthy treat for Mummy. I thought that I would combine ingredients that are meant to be full of antioxiants together to help get all you mummies out there through your day!
I went with a combination of homemade mixed dried fruits** (apple, pear, peach, saltanas and pineapple) and peacans in dark chocolate. Read the health benefits below – I’ve practically flipped this ‘sweet swap’ game on its head!

Dark chocolate is loaded with nutrients that can positively affect your health. Made from the seed of the cocoa tree, it is one of the best sources of antioxidants on the planet. Studies show that dark chocolate (not the sugary crap) can improve health and lower the risk of heart disease.

Dried fruits offers some advantages over fresh fruits: a longer shelf life and portability. If you are watching your weight, dried fruits should be eaten in moderation as they contain significantly more calories per serving than fresh fruits. Some dried fruits contain sugars added in processing which increase its calorie content. 

However, dried fruits without additives offer numerous health benefits – and seeing as mine are homemade all you need to say is ‘thank you’ and I will say ‘you’re welcome’.
And pecans are enriched with many health-benefiting nutrients, minerals, vitamins that are essential for optimum health.
**I’ll post about how I dry my fruits later in the week 🙂

MUMMY’S SPECIAL TREAT CHOCOLATE BARK
500 grams dark chocolate
100 grams copha
1 cup of diced dried fruits
1 cup of pecans
Melt the dark chocolate and copha together. Pour into a lined tin or baking pan and then top with your homemade dried fruits and pecans. Refrigerate to set.

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