Chocolate crackles for Halloween

I love making chocolate crackles. This version uses good quality chocolate -use your favourite.

For Halloween, I found some eyeball gum candy. I also made some chocolate crackle “graves” and added a chocolate toombstone. Spooky!!

This traditional recipe makes about 16 crackles in patty pans (more if you use mini patty pans).

200g Milk Chocolate - ~40% cocoa

100g Dark Chocolate - min 70% cocoa

3 cups Rice Bubbles (not home brand - they're not as 'inflated' and don't crunch when you eat them)

1 cup shredded or flaked coconut (McKenzies Moist Flakes are best)

Place all the chocolate in a large bowl over a saucepan of water and bring to the boil, then remove from heat. Make sure the bowl isn’t in contact with the water.

Stir occasionally to combine and prevent it from sticking.

In a separate bowl, combine the rice bubbles & coconut.

Next get a tray, rack or platter that will fit on a shelf of your fridge and lay out 16 patty pans - a baking tray with a lip is perfect to prevent them sliding off as you carry the tray! Place them so that they touch, as the mix has a tendency to drip and any excess will fall into the next patty pan.

Once the chocolate is completely melted & uniform in colour, remove from the heat, and add in the dry ingredients. Using a heat proof spatula or flat metal serving spoon, combine the mixture by repeatedly sliding the spoon down the edge of the bowl under the mix, and then drawing towards the center, turning the bowl as you go. This sliding motion prevents you from crushing the rice bubbles, preserving the 'crackle'!

Continue until all the dry ingredients are coated in chocolate.

Take two spoons to distribute the mix - a dessert & teaspoon, or two teaspoons, depending on the size of your patty pans. Scoop some mix onto the spoon in your favoured hand, and use the second (smaller) spoon to scrape it into the patty pan. You might also need to use the second spoon to occasionally scrape clean the base of the main spoon to avoid excess drips.

Fill the pans in two passes so that you get an even distribution.

It also allows the mix to settle into the pans, so you can fit more in!

Once all the pans are full - add more pans if you need to - place the tray into the fridge for about 30-60 mins, or until set - depending on your fridge. Remove from fridge about 5 mins before serving.