No Bake Chocolate and Date slice

For this recipe you’ll need a strong blender. It is possible to make without one but there are a couple of things you’ll need to do differently – I’ve included these in the note below the recipe.

I’ve also made this recipe to fit a loaf pan, as I find I don’t need a whole slice pan in a week. However, if I had made a larger version I’m sure we would have also eaten all of it up.

Yield: 1 x loaf pan, approx. 15 pieces.

Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

Base

• 1 cup dates

• 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

• 1 ½ Tbsp Cocoa

• ¼ cup ground almonds*

• ¼ cup mixed nuts (Your choice of type. I used a roasted mixed nut medley which was lightly salted. You don’t need a salted variety though)

• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds

Ganache topping

• 1/3 cup cream (you could use coconut cream here if you want to keep it dairy free)

• 100g dark chocolate (If you want to use milk chocolate then increase this to 120g)

Method

Base

1. Line your loaf tin with baking baker.

2. Place dates and maple syrup in the blender and pulse until the dates are approx. 0.5cm pieces.

3. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to pulse until you feel you can run the blender on low. The mixture will start to come into a ball. It may not all join together at one ball, but at this stage stop the blender and check if the mixture clumps together if you pinch it between two fingers.

4. Press the mixture into the lined tray, trying to push down as flat as possible and into the corners.

Ganache

1. Finely chop the chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl.

2. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until almost boiling.

3. Pour the cream over the chocolate and give the chocolate bowl a little wiggle on the bench so that all the chocolate is covered. Leave for 30 seconds so the heat from the cream starts to melt the chocolate.

4. With your spatula, stir in the middle of the bowl in small circles. To make the ganache smooth and shiny you want to start right in the centre in tiny circles until the chocolate in that area is incorporated and looks smooth, and then begin widening your circles gradually until you get to the edge of the bowl.

5. Pour your ganache over the base. Smooth out the top, and if you like use the back of a spoon to create a ruffled affect on top.

6. Place the slice into the fridge to set (approx. 1 hour)

7. Cut into the desired size pieces (I find that approx. 1inch squares are a good size for a pick-me-up snack during the day).

Note

*If you don’t have a blender, you can chop the dates then soak them for 30mins in ¼ cup of boiling water. You’ll also need to finely chop the nuts and increase the ground almond in the recipe to 1/2 cup. After soaking the dates, drain any unabsorbed water then mix all the ingredients together. Making the slice this way will result in a slightly softer slice, but it will be just as delicious.