On the Chocolate Trail

This is a great combination of chocolate and charoset, the Passover fruit concoction representing the building of granaries by the Hebrew slaves. If you are using left over made Ashkenazi style, you may want to drain the excess wine/grape juice off.

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds dark or bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
• 1⁄4 cup pistachios
• 
1⁄4 cup pecans
• 
1⁄8 cup almonds
• 1⁄8 cup pine nuts
• 
1⁄2 tart apple
• 
1⁄4 navel orange, with rind

• A few drops of sweet white wine
• 
A few drops of honey
• 
Pinch of fresh or ground ginger (or to taste)
• Pinch of ground cinnamon (or to taste)

Instructions:

1. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or waxed paper.
2. Grind the nuts, apples, and orange separately in a food processor.
3. The nuts should be as close to a powder as possible without becoming “butter.”
4. Combine the nuts, apple, orange, wine, honey, ginger, and cinnamon in a bowl, mixing well.

   The charoset filling should have a smooth, thick texture.

5. Roll the charoset into 1-inch balls.
6. Melt the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; remove from the heat.
7. Using two forks, dip the balls into the melted chocolate and place on the prepared baking sheet.
8. Refrigerate until the chocolate has set.

Quantity:

24 truffles