Last minute holiday chocolate treat

This is something you can whip up when you need to prepare a holiday themed dessert using what you likely/may have at hand. The main characters are dark chocolate, pomegranate arils, mint leaves, and shelled pistachios. They come together in less than an hour into a festive and not-too-sweet treat. Because pomegranate arils remain largely uncooked, when you bite into a finished piece, it carries an unexpectedly refreshing texture. The idea is to combine red and green colors on dark chocolate, so feel free to substitute any of the ingredients as long as you like eating them.

I happen to adore pomegranates and grab them whenever I go grocery shopping in season. And, in my super geeky way, I enjoy separating arils one by one from the pods by hand. There are much quicker tricks shared by Cooks Illustrated and other resources, which you can find it here. If do not have access to whole pomegranates, you can use packaged ones, and in that case, I recommend you lightly rinse them and remove damaged/moldy arils. If you don’t care for pomegranate seeds, or don’t care of them, you can use dried cranberries, cherries, jujube, etc.

I happen to adore pomegranates and grab them whenever I go grocery shopping in season. And, in my super geeky way, I enjoy separating arils one by one from the pods by hand. There are much quicker tricks shared by Cooks Illustrated and other resources, which you can find it here. If do not have access to whole pomegranates, you can use packaged ones, and in that case, I recommend you lightly rinse them and remove damaged/moldy arils. If you don’t care for pomegranate seeds, or don’t care of them, you can use dried cranberries, cherries, jujube, etc.

This is all you need!

As for nuts, I also happen to love pistachios and think they go well together with pomegranate (and they are green!), but you can skip them or can use chopped almonds, walnuts, or your favorite nuts. The ones I used are in-shell and lightly salted. If you are using the ones without salt, I recommend adding a pinch (1/4-teaspoon or less) salt into the mix.

To keep the fresh green color, I do highly recommend using fresh mint leaves. It’s easier if you can just pluck small top leaves. You can also tear apart larger leaves into smaller pieces. I don’t recommend chopping them with a knife because the edges may turn rusty.

As for chocolate, you can use all dark, or mix of dark & milk, depending on your preference. It works best if you use European or other high quality chocolate bars (Lindt, Ghirardelli, etc.). If you are in a rush and have chocolate chips at hand, you can certainly go with them! What’s very important, and I learned a hard way, in melting chocolate in a double-boiler (or bain-marie) is not to let simmering water touch the bottom of bowl with chocolate, and not to let even a drop of water into chocolate. I do not have a real double-boiler so doing my best with a heat resistant bowl and a tad smaller pan. There are many resources for properly melting chocolate like this.

I made this as a bark because it makes the process less messy. You , can also use cupcake liners or silicone molds as long as you don’t make them too thick. Break in whatever shape you want and enjoy!

Last-minute holiday chocolate treat

Refreshing combination of dark chocolate, pomegranate, mint, and pistachios you can make in a flash.
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Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Time for cooling 1 hour
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 10
Calories 168 kcal

Equipment

  • double boiler
  • parchment paper
  • baking sheet
  • microplane (for zesting an orange)

Ingredients
  

  • 7 oz dark chocolate around 70% cacao works best; can use chocolate chips
  • 1 cup pomegranate arils from 1 medium fruit
  • 1/2 cup pistachio nuts about 1 cup in-shell
  • 1/6 tsp kosher salt only if using unsalted pistachios
  • 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves pluck tips/top leaves, or broke regular leaves into smaller pieces
  • 2 tsp orange zest from 1 medium orange

Instructions
 

  • Prepare ingredients:
    Dark chocolate chop into small pieces and put them in a heat resistant bowl.
    Pomegranate – remove arils from a whole fruit, or if using a packaged arils, lightly rinse, dry, and discard damaged pieces. Set aside about 1/3 to use as topping.
    Pistachios – shell and chop into rough small pieces. If using unsalted nuts, sprinkle 1/6 teaspoon of kosher salt to the melted chocolate. IF you are not using mint, set aside about 1/3 to use as topping.
    Fresh mint leaves – if you can, pluck only small top leaves to about 2 tablespoon-full.
    Orange zest (optional) – freshly zest an orange to about 2 teaspoons.
    Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Melt the chocolate – place the bowl with chocolate over a small pot of gently simmering, shallow water and gently stir. To ensure the chocolate stays smooth and creamy, be careful not to let the water get into the bowl, nor let the bottom of the bowl touch the water.
  • Add pomegranate, pistachio, and orange zest to the chocolate – while continuing to stir, remove the bowl from the pot and swirl in 2/3 of pomegranate arils, chopped pistachios, and orange zest to the bowl.
  • Pour chocolate mix on parchment paper – immediately pour the chocolate mix onto the middle of parchment paper and spread evenly using a spatula to about 1/4" or less thickness.
  • Sprinkle toppings and let cool – while the surface is still soft, sprinkle pomegranate arils and mint leaves. Let cool for about an hour, and break!

Nutrition

Calories: 168kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 3gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 44mgPotassium: 250mgFiber: 4gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 77IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 26mgIron: 3mg
Keyword dark chocolate, holiday dessert, mint, pistachio, pomegranate
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