Recipe
Smoke & Cherry
Dark, bitter, just enough sweet.
Why this is addictive
The smoked almond creates a savory loop that keeps you reaching back in — the cherry and chocolate are the reward at the end.
Ingredients
For ~6 oz / 170g — scale up proportionally for larger batches.
- 1 cup smoked almonds buy pre-smoked or smoke yourself at 225°F for 30 min
- ½ cup dried tart cherries Montmorency if available — the tartness matters
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chunks 70%+ cocoa, rough chop a bar rather than using chips
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt Maldon or similar — adds texture, not just saltiness
Method
- 01
If making your own smoked almonds: toss raw almonds in 1 tsp olive oil + ½ tsp smoked paprika + ¼ tsp salt. Spread on a baking sheet and roast at 325°F for 20 min. Cool completely.
Note Pre-smoked almonds from the store work fine for a first test batch.
- 02
Rough chop the dark chocolate into uneven chunks — you want some large shards and some fine dust. The dust will coat everything else slightly.
- 03
Combine almonds, cherries, and chocolate in a bowl. Toss well.
- 04
Sprinkle flaky salt over the top and toss once more lightly — you want the salt to stay visible on the surface, not disappear into the mix.
What to watch for
Common failure points and how to read the batch.
- The cherry-to-almond ratio matters — too much cherry makes it too sweet. Aim for roughly 1 cherry per 2 almonds in each handful.
- Chocolate quality is the most important variable here. A 70% bar you'd actually eat beats any chip.
- If the smokiness feels too strong, cut with regular roasted almonds (50/50).
Variations to try
- Add ¼ cup cacao nibs alongside the chocolate for more bitterness and crunch.
- Try with dried sour cherries instead of sweet for a sharper contrast.
Development log
Add an entry each time you test a batch. Date → what you changed → how it landed.
No batches tested yet. Add entries to src/data/blends.ts in the log array for this blend.