Pitaya, also known as dragon fruit, is without doubt one of my favorite fruits ever. It feels like such a treat anytime I have it, which is, unfortunately, not offen enough. I remember the first time I tried it, on a trip to China a few years ago, and being utterly fascinated by its appearance and taste. Since then, it’s always had a special place in the (large) part of my heart dedicated to food. Then, last summer I discovered dried pitaya, at an unforgettable food market in Aix-en-Provence, where my boyfriend and I stocked up on lots of wondrous things for our journey home, including passionfruit cubes and dried aloe vera [had no idea that even existed].

Recently I had the pleasure of feeding my dried pitaya passion as part of a little collaboration with Koro Drogerie, a German healthy food start-up that also ships to the UK. When I saw they stocked this delicacy, the path ahead was clear.

Now, when I opened the packet and got the first floral whiff of pitaya, I could have happily just sat down and devoured the half-kg packet then and there. It’s just so good! But, I decided to savor it slowly instead, and do something special with it. And, in the process, I discovered I that it actually tastes really good with chocolate! (What doesn’t, after all?) So, one evening, when I didn’t feel like working on my dissertation anymore, I decided to make myself some chocolate covered pitaya – currently my favorite not-at-all-guilty pleasure.

It’s super simple but so satisfying and also a pretty cool thing to offer when you have people over (if you’re willing to share, that is) 😉

Chocolate Covered Pitaya

Ingredients

• Dried pitaya – as much as you want
• Dark chocolate (or any chocolate you like; I used my go-to 85% from Lindt) – I used about 4 squares for the amount pictured
• Sesame seeds (use black ones if you want to use white chocolate)

Method

1. Melt the chocolate (I did it in the microwave), use a spoon to cover half a piece of dried pitaya in chocolate, sprinkle sesame seeds on both sides of the chocolate-covered end, place on a sheet of baking paper and repeat until you’ve chocified all your pitaya.
2. Leave the chocolate to set. [It was super warm in my room so I ended up putting them in the fridge, which gives the chocolate a bit of a dull appearance, but doesn’t detract from the taste].

Hope you enjoy!