Anastasia Drawing & Dreaming

Happy 1st Birthday Victoria!!

Little Victoria is my god-daughter and today is her 1st birthday!!

Victoria is a sweet little girl, so placid and a delight to her parents Chris and Patricia and to us. She's been walking for a month now and is exploring her little world a lot faster.

Andrew and I have 4 godchildren and feel so honoured that our friends trust us to play such an important role in their kids lives - we love them all!

We are off to Victoria's party this afternoon. I made these Chocolate almonds because they taste so good and are so easy to make. Whenever we are invited to a dinner party or have one at home, Im always expected to make these as everyone loves them. I swear its the first thing they ask me, 'Did you make the chocolate almonds?'

2 cups raw almonds - toast in slow oven until crunchy and tasty.

1 block cooking chocolate (220g) melt in bain marie ( fill saucepan with water and place bowl with broken chocolate pieces over saucepan over medium heat)

Once the chocolate has melted add almonds to the bowl and stir till they are all coated. I then cluster them with a teaspoon - about 4 almonds each - refrigerate till set.

I think the key to this recipe is to make sure the almonds are toasted well - I keep tasting until perfect - they need to be really crunchy as it gives them a really nice burnt smoked flavour. Enjoy!