
I love the flavors of sweet and savory together particularly when it comes to dessert. In particulate I am drawn to dark chocolate with a hint of sea salt. As a child chocolate covered pretzels were always a favorite, and this is still the case. When I want desert it tends to be dark chocolate. Not an entire bar, just a small piece - it is after all good for your heart and all good stuff. One or two small squares and I am pretty much satisfied.
However, we recently came back from Vietnam where we took several cooking classes. In both classes (in two separate parts of Vietnam) it was explained that each dish contains sweet, savoury, silky, crunchy, and sour elements. By having all of these elements in a single dish, you are left satiated at the end of the meal. After spending two weeks in Vietnam, I have to say that this notion held true for me. Sure, it could also have to do with being somewhere other than home, but since each meal had so many flavors and textures, by the end you really are satisfied. Sure, there were the nights when I looked for chocolate - almost craved it - but if I recall correctly, those nights were in Cambodia, where the food (in my opinion) could not begin to compare to its Vietnamese counterpart.
Since we returned from our vacation I started to notice entirely too much chocolate just sitting around the kitchen. Typically this would not be a problem, but since my parents are coming to visit and bringing about 6kg of chocolate with them, I started to realize I was going to have a serious problem on my hands if I did not do something with the random bars laying around - and do something fast. Sure, eating it was one option, but for some reason the bars had little appeal to me. A single piece of chocolate "as is" just did not appeal. I wanted something more, and that is when I decided to mix the chocolate with the random nuts and seeds and dried fruit that were also sitting around. To make the whole thing just "pop" I sprinkled it with pink salt flakes.
One bite into the treat, and it held all of the components that we learned about in Vietnam - sweetness from the chocolate, savory from the salt, silky from the sweetened dried prunes, sour from the dried cherries, and crunchy from the nuts and seeds. It is an ideal dessert.
The measurements are pretty relaxed... I used what I had on hand. Adjust to suit your needs and desires...
12 oz of dark good quality dark chocolate (60-75%)
1 C of mixed seeds/chopped nuts (I used slivered almonds, walnuts, and pumpkin and sunflower seeds)
1/2 C diced prunes and dried cherries
1 pinch of sea salt
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a heat-proof bowl over simmering water. Once the chocolate has melted, pour about 2/3 of it onto a larged piece of parchment paper, which should be on top of a baking sheet that can fit in your fridge. Let sit for about a minute and then add 1/2 of the nut/seed/fruit mixture.

Allow this to sit for about another minute, and then add the remaining chocolate and nut/seed/fruit mixture. Finally, sprinkle the salt on top.
Put the chocolate (while still on the paper and tray) into the fridge for about an hour or two to cool and set. Once the chocolate is fully cooled, peel back the parchment paper from the chocolate and break it into pieces accordingly.
ENJOY THE SWEETNESS!