Plate X Playlist: Bittersweet

By Ria McMillan, Fourth Year French and English and Oscar Ross, Music Editor

The Croft Magazine// This month’s edition of the Plate X Playlist focuses on the essence of ‘Bittersweet’. Ria provides us with a perfectly easy dark chocolate-based dessert recipe to satisfy your sweet-tooth, while Oscar curates a playlist which perfectly encapsulates the feeling of ‘Bittersweet’.

The Plate: Dark Chocolate and Ginger Squares

Ria: Christmas is a time for joy, goodwill, and cosy recipes. But Christmastime can also feel bittersweet, between the people who aren’t round the table anymore and the feeling that Christmas just isn’t quite as exciting as it used to be, it can feel a little tinged with sadness. I certainly feel pretty nostalgic and mourn the time when Santa was real, and school was all about colouring in snowmen and making paper snowflakes for a month. So, to lean into that bittersweet memory of Christmases past, you can put some headphones on, tune out and feel like a child again while making these dark chocolate ginger squares which coincidentally are also quite bitter and sweet! Baking always makes me think of childhood Christmases, and even though it’s not my strong suit, these ones are pretty hard to mess up. You don’t even have to turn the oven on, so the cost is low and they’re super easy to make! They’re also a perfect winter treat that might just cure you of those sniffles that have been hanging around. Ginger is great if you’ve got a bit of a cold as its packed with antioxidants and dark chocolate has equally high nutritional value with both contributing to a healthy immune system. If I managed to make these, you definitely will be able to and they are a nice end to a flat Christmas dinner or to enjoy alone with a cup of tea.

Ingredients:

150g crystallised ginger
300g dark chocolate
100g butter
100g golden syrup
300g ginger biscuits

Method

Empty the packet of ginger biscuits into a sandwich bag (or similar) and crush using a rolling pin until they are quite fine with a few chunkier bits for texture and set this aside.
Melt the chocolate butter and golden syrup together in a medium sized pan. Do this over a low heat until everything is melted, and you have a nice glossy mixture.
Mix your crushed biscuits into the pan with the chocolate and add most of the crystallised ginger (reserving some for the top). Mix until thoroughly combined.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and spoon in your chocolatey biscuity mixture, using the back of the spoon to smooth it out. Sprinkle the rest of your crystallised ginger over the top and put it in the fridge for at least two hours or ideally overnight.
Remove it from its tin and chop it up as big or small as you like and enjoy!

Oscar:

The Holidays are here. Perfect time to take a break, relax and slow down. Make yourself a warm cuppa something and immerse yourself fully into the bittersweet feels with this brand new playlist and treat yourself with some indulgently bittersweet flavours of Ria's Dark Chocolate Ginger Squares.

The Playlist: