Chocolate-Covered Orange Peel

A heavenly match: fragrant orange and dark chocolate

I just love giving presents;  thinking up a little something that will put a smile on someone’s face.

I have no idea what triggered this gift, but all of a sudden I thought back to my childhood Christmases: I seem to remember that every year someone in our family was given candied orange peel from this one particular confectionary. But people move cities, habits change. It has been a long time since one of these little cellophane packages sat under our Christmas tree.

So I decided to make some candied orange peel as a gift for my father.  I think I only failed in one respect:  everyone (even the little ones) liked them so much that by now there is not much left for him to enjoy.

These are easy to prepare and taste fabulous – so do not wait until Christmas before making these as a gift for someone you care for.

Ingredients
(found on the blog ‘Whisks and Whimsy’ adapted from ‘Smitten Kitchen’)

4 organic oranges
water for blanching
230ml (8 oz) of water
225g (8 oz) of sugar
100g dark chocolate (I used the 70% Green & Black’s Organic chocolate)

Recipe

1. Bring two pots of water to the boil.
2. Slice the top and bottom off the oranges. Score them from top to bottom and then peel each orange in one large piece (if you can manage). Slice the peel into strips.
3. Place the peels into the first pot. Blanch for 3 minutes. Tip into a colander and rinse with cold water.
4. Repeat the process blanching them for another 3 minutes in the second pot. (Blanching them twice removes the bitterness from the peel.)
5. At the same time combine the water and sugar. Bring to a simmer.
6. Add peels to the syrup. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Stir once in a while to ensure the peels are submerged.
7. Once cooked drain the peels and lay them out on a sheet of baking paper (or rack) to cool and dry.
8. Melt the chocolate au bain marie. (If possible use a narrow deep cup for the melted chocolate. It’s not necessary, but makes dipping the orange a little more easy.)
9. Dip each orange peel 2/3 into the chocolate. Then place on the parchment to cool. ( I left them out for 24 hours.)
10. Once the peel has dried store in an airtight container.

Tips & Variations

• Instead of or before dipping the orange in chocolate, the peel can be tossed in 250g (1 cup) of sugar.
• These peels still look a little rustic. If you are looking for a more polished result temper your chocolate (this will keep the chocolate shiny and with less “feet”.)

Advertisement

Frozen Yoghurt

Delicious and instant dessert

I am holding on to the feeling of late summer for as long as possible.  And what food epitomizes summer more than ice cream?

Frozen yoghurt! It is just as icy and creamy but its healthier and more refreshing.

What a fabulously tasty and easy way to have your daily serving of fruit! A desert that is actually good for you!

 

Ingredients
Serves 1-2

125g frozen cherries
100g non-fat Greek yoghurt (I like using 0% Total Yoghurt)
a few drops of vanilla essence
optional: a few drops of lemon juice

 Recipe

1. Place all ingredients into a blender.
2. Blend scraping down the sides regularly (this is the only effort involved).
3. Done!
4. You can prepare the frozen yoghurt before dinner and keep it in the freezer until desert. Take into account that after a while it will become solid.

 Tips & Variations

This recipe can be made with many types of fruit:

• blueberries
• strawberries (allow them to defrost for 15 minutes before putting them in the blender

If you are looking for extra sweetness you can add

• 1/4 tsp stevia
• 1 tsp agave syrup
• 1tsp honey

Raspberry Yoghurt

Creamy, dreamy (and really simple) Raspberry Yoghurt

To round off the parade of pink foods I served for a baby shower, I needed a simple, tasty desert. Something that could be prepared ahead and served in individual portions.

I really should be embarrassed that I served something this simple, but it tasted great and look lovely.

Ingredients
(hardly altered from the blog ‘I can cook that’)
Makes about 12 small shot glasses

3 tbsp cranberry juice
2 tbsp sugar
900g frozen or fresh raspberries, defrosted
250g vanilla yoghurt (choose a good quality, organic yoghurt)
For decoration: 12 fresh raspberries
Optional for decoration: whipped cream

 

Recipe

1. Add the cranberry juice, sugar and the raspberries to a blender (reserve the 12 raspberries for decoration). Blend until smooth.
2. Strain through a sieve and discard the seeds. (It takes a while to push the liquid through the sieve.)
3. Combine liquid with the yoghurt.
4. Fill the yoghurt into the shot glasses.
5. Refrigerate for at least one hour or even over night.

Other pink foods for a baby shower:

• Quick Pink Salmon Mousse
• Quinoa Beet Verrine with Smoked Salmon
• Pretty in Pink: Devilled Eggs
• Raspberry Chicken
• Beet Bread
• Mini Meatballs – Plain or Pink
• Beet Hummus