One of my favorite recipes to bring to Central Texas Mycology events are chocolate-dipped candied wood ears. Aricularia is one of the mushrooms that we have been seeing out on our walks and is in our forage forecast and you can learn more about how and when to find them and correctly identify them. Wood ear mushrooms have a lot of amazing benefits medicinally like thinning the blood and providing UV protection. It looks like they my have aphrodisiac effects as well. Wood ears also soak up a lot of flavor and you can use many types of juices and teas and for this recipe I used Mush Love: Reishi, Hibiscus and Ginger tea which are all aphrodisiacs.
Ingredients
6 oz. of fresh wood ear mushrooms (around 1-3 oz. dried) You can also buy wood ears Asian grocery stores or online. Sometimes they are labeled “black fungus.”
2-3 cups of juice or tea. See Mush Love Tea recipe for a double dose of mushrooms
1 12 oz. bag of vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
If you are using dried mushrooms (skip to step 2 using fresh mushrooms) soak the mushrooms in warm water until they are dark, shiny, jelly-like and have increased in size.
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add boiling water to a bowl of the wood ear mushrooms and soak for 3 minutes. Once they’re done, drain and briefly shock under cool water.
Place the mushrooms in a large bowl, and cover with a juice or tea like cranberry, pomegranate, or blue berry and place in the fridge for at least four hours (overnight is better). I soaked them in mush love tea, of hibiscus, ginger and reishi all aphrodisiacs. Recipe 😘
Remove the mushrooms from the fridge and strain out the liquid, shaking well. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and put in freezer to harden up.
In a microwave-safe bowl or using a double boiler, heat the chocolate chips for 30 seconds in the microwave or a few minutes over the stove. Take out and stir. Continue heating for 30 seconds at a time and stirring until the chocolate is smooth and fluid. Take one mushroom at a time and use a cloth or paper towel to pat the mushroom completely dry. Then dip one side into the melted chocolate.
Place the dipped chocolates directly onto the lined baking tray, and place the filled trays in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. Store any mushrooms you wish to save in air-tight containers in the refrigerator.