Chocolate Cacao Nib and Pistacio Ducks Recipe and Food Photo Shoot

lily-da-vine (73)in #food • 6 years ago

So I guess yesterday was Easter, which I don't celebrate. I ended up making these chocolate ducks a few days ago just on a whim and thought it was ironic considering the holiday.

John got me these duck molds when we were in a bit of a silicone candy mold purchasing spree during the conference madness. I planned to make marshmallow ducks and perhaps someday I will, although I'll admit I'm more than a bit put off by the messy nature of making marshmallows.

There's a local candy called Kracao or something along those lines. There's three different flavors, one with finely chopped cacao nibs which is what these are loosely based off of.

I've never liked dark chocolate but I've been a bit hooked on cacao nibs since they entered my life about a year ago at this point. I was surprised by the pleasantness of their roasted bitter flavor. They're great in everything from smoothies to cookies and even plain if you're into that sort of thing. Definitely a great texture.

I finally purchased the organic raw cacao butter and I'm glad I did. I started the chocolate making process by melting a few teaspoons loosely measured by eye in chunks into the bowl in the double boiler. I waited to add the bowl until the water in the pan was boiling.

This was about how big the pieces were in those candies.

I used what I think was a 350 gram bag of Hershey's Milk chocolate chips into the bowl once the cocao butter was completely melted. Just let that melt while stirring occasionally to keep things heating smooth and evenly. Hot spots are common with chocolate and not good for flavor.

Mmm, melted chocolate :)

So what I did was fill them halfway first then sprinkle cacao bits. Next time I think I'll chop a lot more cacao and pistachio pieces and mix that in before pouring into the mold. I like the idea of the crunchy bits being throughout the chocolates, not just sporadically.

The puffed quinoa, think the rice crispy of quinoa, was actually intended to be more within the chocolate than on top of it. I'm new to this lol, as you can tell by the misshapen ducks.

Oh but they were good, and I say were because they're already gone. John had exactly one and asked what the green stuff was, rolling his eyes when I responded pistachios.