Moroccan Nut & Chocolate Squares

Version Française Ici

Suprises, good ones that is, are already such exciting events and there's only one best next thing to them, anticipated suprises with unveiled details...

That's what will be happening in the next days in the Canadian Blogging by Post organized by Sam at Sweet Pleasures : Plaisirs Sucrés. We know we will be treated with a post package of goodies from an other canadian blogger, but we don't know from whom we'll recieve it. The anticipation/suprise pair of feelings becomes even more complex and enjoyable since we, the participants, publish a favorite recipe on the theme of chocolate before we send our packages.

Among other goodies, here's what I prepared to send somewhere in Canada, to a Canadian Blogger's home...


Moroccan Nut & Chocolate Squares (or bonbons)

6 cups raw mixed nuts (almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pecan… whatever suits your taste)
¾ cup sesame seeds
1 cup sugar
1/4 butter melted unsalted butter
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
400 g + 30 g (1 oz) white good quality chocolate
400 g + 30 g (1 oz) good quality dark chocolate

Roast the mixed nuts in a 350ºF (175ºC) preheated oven, mixing them every now ant then until they are blond (not too dark). Check often as nuts can darken quickly.

Roast separately the sesame seeds in the same fashion.

Allow nuts and sesame seeds to cool completely before grinding them finely with the sugar in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. It helps to do that in 3 batches, mixing a third of the nuts and a third of the sugar at a time. Set aside in a big bowl.

Line a 20" x 12" (approximately) baking sheet with greased parchment paper and set aside. Preheat oven to 350º F (175ºC).

Whisk the egg whites in a small bowl until frothy and mix in melted butter and vanilla extract. Pour the liquids on the ground nuts and mix well with your hands.

Spread evenly the nuts mixture on the prepared baking sheet and pat with your hands, then roll out with a rolling pin to obtain a smooth surface.

Bake 10 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely in the baking sheet before proceeding to coat with chocolate.

Chop finely 400 g of dark chocolate using a serrated knife. Bring some water to boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and put a heavy heat-resistant bowl on top of the water, the bowl shouldn’t touch the water. Add the chopped chocolate all at once in the bowl. Stir gently with a spoon until the chocolate is totally melted. Try not to introduce air bubbles in the melted chocolate.

In a small ramequin, melt the 30 g (1 oz) of white chocolate by putting the ramequin in very hot water or zap it for 10 to 15 seconds at a time in the microwave, stirring between each melting time. If you melt it in the microwave, stop cooking it when few solid pieces of white chocolate are still visible. They will melt just being stirred a little.

Pour all the dark chocolate on the cooked and cooled sheet of nuts. Use a spatula to even the surface of the chocolate then tap the baking sheet a few times on a counter so the liquid chocolate surface evens out completely.

Put the white chocolate in a small plastic food storage bag and cut a tiny, tiny hole at a corner. Draw lines in any pattern you like with the white chocolate on the dark one.

Allow to solidify for 2 hours or so on a flat level surface. Then refrigerate until the chocolate is hard, at least 2 hours. If you pop the sheet in the fridge without waiting for it to solidify a bit, make sure it’s really level in the fridge otherwise the chocolate layer will be uneven. I find it’s best to allow the chocolate to firm up at room temperature before putting the sheet in the fridge.

Remove from the fridge and allow to come back to room temperature for an hour or two. Then use a pointy knife to detach the sides of the nut sheet from the sides of the baking sheet. Make sure the nut sheet doesn’t stick anymore to any part of the baking sheet.

Put a large platter or a larger baking sheet on it and turn upside down to unmold.

Make the chocolate decoration using the same technique as above, only white chocolate is decorated with vertical lines of dark chocolate. Then drag the tip of a knife perpendicular to the dark chocolate fine lines to create the design.

If the tip of the knife is dragged once in a direction and once in the opposite direction the resulting design is different than when it’s dragged twice a in direction and twice again in the other direction. You can see the difference on the following picture. On the right side, I dragged once in each direction and on the left side I dragged twice in each directions.

Allow the chocolate to harden in the same fashion as for the dark chocolate layer (room temperature first then in the fridge).

Cut in 1 inch stripes and then cut each stripe 1 inch square. They keep up to 3 weeks at room temperature or 3 month in the freezer.

This is a big batch, remember we make these for weddings and such. But you can divide the recipe in two if you wish, or offer part of your squares to family and friends at parties or at Christmas for example.