Chocolate Stirring Pops

Type: Edible

Difficulty: Easy

Kid-friendly? Yes (adult assistance required for making)

It may be nearing the end of winter, but there’s enough chill in the air still for hot chocolate to remain a tempting proposition. This is especially true if it’s made with real dark chocolate and spiced with fragrant additions like spices and fruit.

Hugely popular with kids but entirely appropriate for adults as well, these pops are designed to be stirred into hot milk.

You’ll need:

  • 400g good quality dark chocolate, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon freeze dried raspberries
  • 3 cardamom pods, de-husked and ground
  • 2 teaspoons pecans, chopped
  • Zest from small orange
  • Pinch of grated nutmeg
  • ¼ star anise pod, ground
  • Coconut oil (for moulds)
  • Ice block mould
  • Wooden sticks
  • Baking paper
  • Cheesecloth cut into circle of approx 15cm diameter, twine for tying and hole-punched card label (or stick-on label)

Making:

  1. Use coconut oil to lightly oil ice block moulds.
  2. Bring a pan of water to a simmer on the stove, then melt chocolate in a bowl placed over the pan, stirring occasionally and taking care to avoid scalding the chocolate.
  3. Pour melted chocolate into four separate bowls.
  4. Working quickly, use remaining ingredients to create four different chocolate flavours – for example: orange/cardamom, pecan/nutmeg, raspberry/star anise. Needless to say, these flavourings are suggestions only – feel free to use what you like and have on hand.
  5. Pour chocolate mixture into moulds and insert a wooden stick into each.
  6. Allow to chill in fridge for 3 hours or until set.
  7. Remove stirrers from moulds and wrap individually in baking paper placed on cheesecloth, gathering edges and tying with twine.
  8. Attach labels individually, or group several bags in a jar or box and and label that instead. You may like to write instructions for use on the label – ‘Stir into hot milk’.