Wednesday 4 June 2014

Orange Chocolate




I recently found orange oil at the organic shop and thought it sounded too interesting to pass up.  It sat in the cupboard for a while, waiting for me to be inspired, until today. I had a real craving for chocolate, but not just any old boring chocolate. I was craving something interesting, and not too dark (a bit milky without the milk if you know what I mean). The orange oil called out to me and before you know it I’d created the most moreish chocolate I’ve ever made. Now I know that not all cupboards are stocked with orange oil, but I reckon you could easily replace it with essence or (food grade) oil of any flavor, depending on your mood. Experiment and enjoy.
An important note to remember with this recipe is that unless you happen to have a can of coconut cream in your fridge (as luckily I did), you will need to refrigerate the coconut cream overnight before making the recipe. 

*Edit to post: Because it's winter, you may get away with not refrigerating the coconut cream. I tried this recipe again on a cold day and the creamy part was solid enough to remove without being in the fridge :)

Makes approximately 50 small pieces.

Suitable for:
Gluten free, grain free, dairy free, soy free, sugar free, low fructose, egg free, nut free, vegetarian, vegan and carb conscious eaters.

Conscious Content:

·      ¾ cup of Cocoa Powder
·      ½ cup of Norbu or Xylitol
·      ½ cup of Coconut Oil
·      1 cup of Coconut Cream (full fat, no guar gum, refrigerated)
·      ½ teaspoon of Liquid Stevia
·      1 teaspoon of Orange oil (or other food grade oil/essence)


The Creative Phase:

1.     If the coconut oil is not liquid, place the jar in a bowl of hot water to melt it.
2.     Take the tin of coconut cream out of the fridge. Open the can and you should see a hard layer of coconut cream on top. It won’t work if there is guar gum or other emulsifiers in the ingredients because this will stop the liquid from separating. Using a spoon, scoop out 1 cup (not packed down) of the firm coconut cream, which should be approximately ¼ of the can. For a creamier version you can add all the creamy part (which is usually about half a 400ml tin) but be warned it melts more easily (yum though).
3.     Find two bowls of different sizes so that one can fit on top of the other (a bowl in a saucepan will also work). Pour some boiling water into the bottom bowl, just enough so that it doesn’t overflow when the top bowl is placed inside it. The heat under the top bowl will help all the ingredients combine without the coconut oil and cream hardening.
4.     Place all the ingredients except the Norbu/xylitol and cocoa into the top bowl and stir together.
5.     For a smoother chocolate place the xylitol in a blender, food processor or coffee grinder. This makes a fine icing sugar like consistency. Alternatively you can buy icing xylitol.
6.     Sift the Norbu/xylitol and cocoa powder into the bowl containing the other ingredients and combine.
7.     Flatten out the mixture into a dish with a flat bottom (I used a 16 x 23cm ceramic dish) and refrigerate.
8.     When the chocolate has hardened, cut it with a sharp knife to your desired size.
9.     Keep it stored in the fridge as it wont stay hard at room temperature.

May you be full of beans and yummy chocolate,

Carla.

2 comments:

  1. Yum! I happen to have orange oil handy! you were lucky to find it at the grocer... I had to send away for it online because I couldn't track it down anywhere :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. So glad you liked it :) I found my orange oil at Kew Organics (they also have lemon oil which I'm yet to try).

    ReplyDelete