This one I owe to my mum, who has always been way too modest about her impressive party-prep skills. These always fly off the plate at parties, and then I get hounded for the recipe, so… here ’tis!

Flavour: Sweet and decadent

Yield: Enough nibbles for your contribution to a potluck party, or as a belt-tightener at your own pace 😉

Ingredients:

• 250g dark chocolate (the darker, the better, in my opinion – you choose according to your taste)
• 4 tablespoons either margarine or coconut oil
  • nb: if you live in a warm climate zone or it’s a time of year where coconut oil is liquid at room temperature, please opt for the margarine instead as the oil will only melt, leech out, and cause your decadent dessert nibblies to collapse in an oily mess
• 1 tub tofutti cream cheese (or any other substitute you prefer)
• 1 cup nuts – choose according to your taste; I like pistachios or macadamias, but would be happy with almonds or walnuts
• half cup sultanas or raisins
• half cup water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 packet biscuits – choose according to your taste; I like the cream-filled chocolate-coated sort that are like a vegan version of tim-tams
• icing sugar, to dust

Optional extras:

• dried cherries – these add a lovely sour note
• puffed quinoa – adds a satisfying crunch

Directions:

1. Stir together sugar with water in a small bowl until the sugar is dissolved
2. Chop sultanas/raisins – I prefer quite chunky chunks, but you do it how you like it – and soak them in the sugar water you just prepared so they plump up a bit – this will make for a nicer texture later on; set aside
3. Chop nuts how you like (again I like ’em chunky, but up to you how you do it), and set aside
4. Crush biscuits, and set aside (I usually don’t use the whole packet – I tend to leave at least a couple aside just to much on 😉 )
5. Break up chocolate and melt in saucepan over low heat with margarine, stirring gently (if you’re using coconut oil, add it at this stage)
6. Once your chocolate and fat are melted and well combined, take off the heat and stir in your cream cheese – make sure you get the mixture well combined so the flavour and texture are consistent
7. Stir in your nuts, dried fruit (adding the sugar water you soaked them in in fine, but you could choose to leave it out – up to you), biscuit chunks, and any extras you fancy adding
8. Line a baking tin with greaseproof paper (try to avoid plastic wrap if you can – greaseproof paper will break down nicely in your compost once you’re done with it)
9. Slop all your mixture into your lined tin, and pop it in the fridge… and wait…. 😉
10. Ideally you should leave your mixture to firm up in the fridge overnight, or for the best part of a day; the minimum time I’ve tried this for is about 2 hours, in the depth of a South Australian winter – really best to leave for at least 4 hours
11. Once your nibblies are set, take them out of the fridge and cut into squares – I usually get about 20-24 out of a batch this size, but it’s up to you how big or small the pieces get to be 🙂
12. Dust the squares with icing sugar sprinkled gently through a sieve from a height of about 6 inches to get a good, even coverage that’s not too dense – you can always layer it up for more
13. Transfer your squares to a serving plate, and pop them back in the fridge until you want to serve them – these are best served chilled, especially if you’re lucky enough to be enjoying some warm weather 😉