SALTED DARK CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY CUPS (vegan)

Love is in the air, my friends. And with Valentine's Day just a couple of days away, I couldn't help but to feel inspired to come up with a new chocolatey treat to share with my loved ones (including you!). I dreamt up this simple, yet indulgent recipe as I was falling asleep last night... Salted Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cups.  Irresistibly cute, divinely delicious, and so easy to make that you'll feel like a culinary super star when you're done, and your recipients will love you forever.  Mission accomplished!

You don't need any fancy equipment or hard-to-find ingredients to make these tasty, three-ingredient chocolates.  In fact, everything you need can be found at your neighborhood grocery store.  If you don't have a mini muffin pan, don't fret- you can just place the paper cups on a baking sheet or tray, and since you'll be doubling them, they will hold up just fine.

Makes 16 chocolate cups

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz high quality bittersweet dairy-free dark chocolate (at least 60% cacao)

Scant 1/4 cup of raspberry preserves, room temperature

Himalayan pink salt, fleur de sel, or Celtic sea salt (I used a Himalayan pink salt grinder from Costco that I ground on a medium setting)

32 mini muffin cups

DIRECTIONS:

Line a mini muffin pan with your muffin cups, placing two cups in each so that they are doubled up.  Locate a teaspoon measure and a quarter teaspoon measure- you'll need them to measure out your chocolate and raspberry preserves.

Note: The larger measuring spoon pictured below is actually a tablespoon measure, which is why it looks so much bigger than the teaspoon measure that you have in your kitchen.  I just want to clarify that you are, in fact, using a TEASPOON measure for the chocolate and NOT a big old tablespoon!

Roughly chop the chocolate into smallish chunks, to make for quicker melting. Place 2/3 of the chocolate in a microwave proof bowl and set the remaining 1/3 aside.

Microwave the chocolate in 30 second spurts until it has just melted. This should take only about a minute to 90 seconds total. You don't want the chocolate to get too hot.  Add in the remaining chopped chocolate and stir until all of the chunks are melted and the chocolate is smooth.  If you need to zap it for another 15 seconds in the microwave, that's fine.

Using your teaspoon measure, scoop up one rounded teaspoon of the melted chocolate and pour it into the first muffin cup, using your finger to empty the spoon.  Repeat this step for all of the remaining cups, then gently jostle the pan to even out the chocolate and place the filled cups in the fridge for about 20 minutes, until the chocolate has set.

Remove the filled cups from the fridge and spoon a quarter teaspoon of raspberry preserves onto the middle of each chocolate filled cup.

Use the teaspoon measure to spoon another rounded teaspoon of melted chocolate on top of the raspberry preserves.  Gently jostle the pan again to even out the chocolate.

Sprinkle the top of each chocolate cup with a generous pinch of salt.  Use more or less depending on your taste.  I've found that a more generous sprinkling of salt really helps to balance the sweetness of the chocolate, and to bring out the flavors of the chocolate and raspberry.

Place the filled cups back into the fridge to properly set up for about 3 hours or so.  Once they are set you can remove them from the muffin pan and store them in an airtight container in the fridge until you're ready to enjoy them yourself, or share them with others.  I prefer these straight from the fridge for the best flavor and texture.  They will get melty and smooshy if left out at room temperature for too long, especially if you live in a warm climate.

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!  I love you and love you.

XO

Fauzia