What a great combination, chocolate and cherries! Cherries, in particular, tart cherries, can help if you’re struggling to get to sleep. Sweet cherries are high in the sleep inducing hormone, melatonin. So adding some cherry juice to your hot drink at night could just do the trick!

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 200gms cherries, fresh or frozen
• 3 tsp Perfect Sweet™ xylitol, or to taste
• 1 tsp water (only if using fresh cherries)
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups milk or almond milk
• 120g Raw Dark Chocolate or good quality dark chocolate, chopped

Method

1. If using frozen cherries, allow to defrost in a small saucepan.  Add xylitol and cook on moderate heat for about 5 minutes until the cherries are soft and squishy.
2. If using fresh, cook the cherries with xylitol and water as above.
3. Sieve or puree the cherry mix to create a thick sauce.
4. Heat the milk to just below boiling point.
5. Place the chocolate and vanilla extract into a blender.
6. Pour hot milk over the chocolate and allow to sit for 1 minute.
7. Add the cherry sauce to the blender.
8. Blend until the chocolate is mixed and the drink is frothy.
9. Sweeten to taste and reheat is necessary.
10. Pour into mugs and enjoy!