How to use up leftover chocolate

Points to remember

• For the Easter rocky road cakes: Weigh your chocolate – you can use as much or as little as you like, but you’ll need at least 100g. Add to a large heatproof bowl with half the amount of butter and a good squeeze of golden syrup.
• Melt the ingredients over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water below. Once melted, give everything a good stir and add your choice of crushed biscuits, dried fruit, sweets and nuts.
• Don’t worry about weighing the ingredients, just make sure they’re all well coated in the melted chocolate mixture. If the mixture looks too dry it won’t stick together once chilled.
• Spoon the rocky road mixture into cupcake cases, or push into a lined cake tin, with the back of a spoon. Top with a few mini Easter eggs or some of the other ingredients from your cakes – Cassie used salty pretzels.
• Chill for at least 2 hrs, or until firm. Cut into chunks if necessary, and serve. These cakes will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
• For the molten chocolate and banana French toast: Sandwich sliced banana and a small handful of chopped (or broken) leftover chocolate between two slices of brioche. You could use sliced white bread instead of brioche and if your banana is really ripe you could spread it over rather than slicing it.
• Mix the eggs with a splash of milk, a drop of vanilla extract and a sprinkling of caster sugar. Place the sandwich in the egg mix and press down lightly. Turn the sandwich so both sides have been dipped.
• Heat a large knob of butter in a frying pan until sizzling and fry the sandwich for 2-3 mins on each side until mottled brown and the melted chocolate is just starting to seep out of the sides.
• Halve the sandwich if you want and serve as is or dusted with icing sugar or with a drizzling of maple syrup or as a hot dessert with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.
• For the Easy chocolate sauce: Heat 25g of butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat with 100ml of milk and 1 tbsp honey. Stir well until the butter has melted and the mixture has just started to simmer.
• Once hot, but not boiling, remove from the heat and add around 200g of chopped or broken chocolate. Stir well until the chocolate has melted and the sauce is smooth and glossy.
• Serve the sauce warm or allow to cool before placing in the fridge to serve it cold. Will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days.
• Try using this sauce in a pear and ginger sundae: Place a few tinned pears in a tall sundae glass and add a scoop or 2 of vanilla ice cream. Pour over the chocolate sauce then top the sundae with slices of crystalised ginger, a sprinkling of crushed ginger biscuits and serve.

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