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Valentine's Day 
TopCooking with Dark Chocolate
It’s easy to add more of this delicious and healthy treat to your daily dishes.
Top 5 Ways to use dark chocolate more often
1With drinks
Shaved dark chocolate is incredible as a glass rimmer for sweet, creamy cocktails. A square of two of chocolate is also the perfect companion to an after dinner glass of port or full-bodied red wine.
2For breakfast
Melt chocolate in a double boiler and then drizzle on toast, pancakes or waffles. Add dark chocolate chips to pancake or muffin batter for a special touch.
3With meat or poultry
Grated chocolate can be added to a rub for pork or beef, along with chili powder and garlic. It can also be melted into a sweet and salty sauce for beef, pork or chicken…and it’s fabulous on crisp bacon!
4On fruit
Drizzle melted chocolate over fresh or cooked fruit, but don’t stop there. Chocolate can also be folded into whipped cream or ice cream and spooned over fruit as a topping. Garnish with more shaved chocolate and a sprig of fresh mint.
5With vegetables
Dark chocolate can be added to cakes, brownies or muffins made with zucchini, squash, sweet potatoes or beets. It’s the perfect way to get children – and adults - to eat more vegetables.
Enjoy dark chocolate in these quick and easy dishes
Chocolate Fondue
Choose whatever fruit you have on hand to dip into this warm, decadent fondue.
It’s a fast and nutritious dessert
This is a perfect, unexpected sweet that will delight last minute guests. There are few ingredients in the fondue itself and it can be assembled in as little as 15 minutes. When you use fresh fruit as dippers, it’s also healthy and light – a nice change during the holiday season.
Add some festive spirit
A tablespoon of brandy or port added to the fondue gives it a rich, deep flavour.
Make it decadent
To turn the fondue into a truly sinful dessert, serve it with delicious dippers such as shortbread fingers or sugar or peanut butter cookies. For a salty, modern twist, dip thick-cut potato or tortilla chips into the chocolate mixture.
It’s good for you
Loaded with anti-oxidants, fibre and minerals, dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa (at least 70%) is as good for the body as it is for the taste buds.
Salted Chocolate and Caramel Pretzel Bark
The sensational contrast of rich dark chocolate, sweet caramel and crunchy salted pretzels will make this easy to make bark one of your holiday favourites!
Make it now and save time later
This bark can be made in 15 minutes and then frozen for later use. For best results, let it cool after baking and then refrigerate for one hour. Break the bark into pieces and portion into single servings before serving. Be sure to wrap portions in wax paper before placing in freezer bags or containers.
Perfect as a take-home treat
Here is a lovely tip for presenting the bark as a gift. Wrap a single portion of bark in parchment paper and secure with a piece of ribbon. Put aside. Purchase small paper bags in a craft store and fold down the tops of each bag about 3 inches. With a sharp knife, cut 2 one-inch slots (about 1-2 inches apart) through the fold, being sure to cut through all the layers. Place a package of bark in the bag, refold the top and then thread a piece of one-inch wide ribbon through the slots. Tie the ribbon into a festive bow on the front of the bag, and attach a personalized gift tag.
Change it up with salty snacks
This recipe is extremely versatile. As long as you keep the caramel the same, you can change the salty snacks you use. If you’re not fond of pretzels, you can substitute potato chips, tortilla chips, popcorn or even cheese snacks. The caramel is the key to this recipe, as it binds the ingredients together. For a change, you can also switch the dark chocolate chips for milk or white chocolate or even butterscotch chips.
Add some texture
Toasted nuts and dried fruit add other layers of flavour to the bark. We used pecans and dried cranberries, but you can be creative and use whatever you like or have on hand. It will work with walnuts, peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts or even pinenuts. For fruit, try dried apricots, cherries, dates, raisons or figs.
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