Fruit & Chocolate Skewers

📝 Ingredients

• 250 g strawberries (1 punnet)
• 2 bananas
• 1 very ripe mango
• 1 orange
• ½ lemon
• 100 g dark chocolate 70%
• 100 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 15 g desiccated coconut

🍴 Utensils

• 8 wooden skewers
• Cutting board and knife
• Peeler
• Small saucepan
• Heatproof bowl
• 4 small bowls

📖 Steps

1. Gently wash the strawberries under a thin stream of cold water, keeping their stalks on so they don't absorb water. Dry them on a clean tea towel, then hull them and halve the larger ones.
2. Peel the mango with a peeler, then cut the flesh away from each side of the large flat stone and cut it into cubes of about 2 cm. Peel the orange, remove as much of the white pith as possible and separate it into segments.
3. Peel the bananas and cut them into thick 2 cm slices. Drizzle with the juice of the half lemon, mixing gently: the lemon stops them going brown while you finish the preparation.
4. Thread the fruit onto the 8 skewers, alternating the colours: strawberry, banana, mango, orange, and so on. Skewer each piece right through the middle so it doesn't slip. Keep the skewers on a plate in the fridge.
5. Roughly chop the chocolate and put it in the heatproof bowl. Heat the milk in the small saucepan over a medium heat until it just starts to simmer, without letting it boil.
6. Pour the hot milk over the chocolate, wait 2 min without touching it, then stir gently from the centre outwards until you have a smooth, glossy sauce. If any pieces won't melt, microwave for 10 s.
7. Divide the sauce between the 4 small bowls and put the coconut on a plate. Let everyone dip their skewer in the chocolate, then in the coconut if they like. Serve immediately, while the sauce is still warm.