Chocolate Caramel Fudge

I saw this recipe in The Sunday Times magazine, but my first attempt was a disaster, as the fresh dates made the base way too wet and would not set.   I tweaked the recipe reducing the amount of dates but used dried, omitted the vanilla paste as I did not have any and used rapeseed oil instead of grapeseed oil and it worked perfectly.

250 g dates (either semi dried, medjool or a mixture)

80 g crunchy peanut butter

100 g dark chocolate

A drop of rapeseed oil

Makes 4-6 

Put the dates and peanut butter into a food processor and pulse until you get a rough mixture, which holds together when you press it with your fingers.

I used adjustable metal baking rings and divided the mixture into four and pressed the mixture down firmly to make a base.

Break the chocolate into pieces in a bowl and place over a pan of boiling water and stir until thoroughly melted, add the rapeseed oil and stir through.

Divide the chocolate equally between the rings, spreading it evenly over the base ensuring its completely covered.

Place into the freezer to set and firm up and then remove from the rings, when you can use them immediately or they can be frozen for future.

I served the fudge with thin slices of stem ginger using the syrup as a drizzle, chocolate icing and oat creme fraiche to cut through the sweetness.   

You can play around with this recipe though, add toppings to the chocolate before it sets, serve with ice cream or yogurt, add fruit or whatever you fancy.