A pinch of sea salt to sprinkle and elevate chocolate-rich quick dessert recipes

If you are new to baking, you might not know that salt is an essential part of baking, a kind of yin-yang situation happening here too. Most recipes call for a pinch of common salt, but certain recipes need that salty edge with textured salt and artisanal salts that have a distinct flavour profile. Sea salt might not be exactly artisanal but it has its own place in the baking world and has a unique flavour that only a select portion of people with discerning palettes can detect and appreciate. The rule here is the flakier, the better and any simple recipes get a delicious flavour boost from a simple salt substitution.

1. Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients

• 700 gm semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 400 gm can condensed milk (sweet)
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 45 gm unsalted butter (cubed)
• A pinch of sea salt

Instructions

1. Take a heatproof glass bowl. Add the chocolate chips, condensed milk, butter and vanilla extract.
2. Set aside and find an 8x8-inch baking pan. Line that with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. Now, grab a saucepan, you will do a makeshift double boiler method to melt the chocolate. Fill it with water, around half and bring to a boil. Put the heatproof bowl with the chocolate and co, on the saucepan. Reduce heat to a simmer and let the chocolate melt. Use a spatula to stir. Roughly this should take 8-10 minutes.
4. Scrape the melted chocolate from the bowl into the baking pan. Smoothen the top. Then sprinkle the sea salt on top of this liberally.
5. Pop into the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. Once hard enough, take out the pan and cut it into small squares. Eat and store extra in the fridge in an airtight container.

2. Salted Caramel Cups

Ingredients

• 900 gm semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 450 gm caramel candies (soft chewy ones)
• 45 ml milk or heavy cream
• Coarse sea salt

Instructions

1. Take a muffin tin. Place cupcake papers into them.
2. Find a microwave-safe bowl, put the chocolate chips in them, and microwave on high for 30-60 seconds. Stir to combine. Then on low heat microwave 3 more times for 20 seconds each time. Again stirring in between.
3. Take a tablespoon and drop the molten chocolate twice into the lined muffin tray. Keep a little chocolate to brush the bottom of the tin and the lower sides of the muffin tin. Place the muffin tray in the freezer for the chocolate to stiffen. There will be leftover chocolate again.
4. Take another microwave-safe bowl. Add the caramel and milk or cream and melt in the microwave. Do the same microwave-stir thing as you did for the chocolate.
5. Once done, take out the muffin tray. Pour the molten caramel into the chocolate-filled cups. Don't fill all the way to the top, only fill ⅔. Re-freeze for 5-10 minutes.
6. Use the brush to brush liquid chocolate on top of the caramels again. Before freezing again, sprinkle the coarse sea salt. This time keep in the freezer for longer – 30 minutes.
7. Take out from the freezer and peel away the wrapper. Eat and store the rest away in ziplock pouches or an airtight container.

3. Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

• 250ml double cream
• 250 gm Cadbury Bournville Dark chocolate
• 1 baguette or ciabatta (fine slices)

For garnish:

• 30 ml extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt flakes

Instructions

1. Take a saucepan for prepping the ganache. Pour cream and simmer, don't boil. Once warm, remove it from heat and add the dark chocolate to it. Leave for a while to let the chocolate melt. Then use a whisk to whip the mixture. This is essential to make the ganache.
2. As the cream-chocolate mixture turns silky smooth, pop into the refrigerator to chill for a bit and thicken a tad.
3. Take the sliced bread and toast it on both sides. Take out the ganache from the refrigerator. Put into small serving glasses, big enough to half fill with ganache and push the bread into it.
4. As a final garnish, drizzle the bread with olive oil and sprinkle the sea salt liberally. Push the bread into the ganache and serve.