orange blossom chocolate creams

… this week has been one of those weeks that i’d rather leave behind in the dark corner of a dusty cupboard in the attic of a haunted house somewhere that I know i’d never be able to find again.  It’s been incredibly relentless at work.  So much so that The Viking and I had to cancel a bloggers trip to the RNLI Riggers Restaurant in Poole in Dorset that I was very excited about and if you know me, you know that I would quite literally move mountains for a free meal!… one of those weeks where the emails have been so relentless that the moment I clear them another 50 come pouring in that demand attention.  I mustn’t complain because I actually love the work but sometimes you just want to shut the computer and run for the hills… which is why i’m leaving it short and sweet today…

orange blossom chocolate creams
I think orange and chocolate is my most favourite chocolate pairing.  I’ve written before about how, when visiting us in London my grandma Jennie would always bring my brother and I a Terry’s Chocolate Orange as a gift.  It sounds like such a small gesture now but my grandpa Henry had a greengrocers warehouse in Hull and when they came to visit us in London grandpa would bring those wonderful long trays of fruit, each orange or apple wrapped in tissue paper and sealed with a sticker… so when grandma presented us with chocolate oranges, wrapped in their foil wrappers it felt like we were in on a secret joke just between us.  These delightful orange blossom chocolate creams were made for the recent local village show in which they achieved first place.  They are a breeze to make and are an adaptation of the classic peppermint cream.  The solid fondant part has a wonderful sharp zing whilst the dark orange chocolate has a sophisticated edge. They are ridiculously sweet, so one only and you’ve had your chocolate orange fill…

1 large free-range egg white
½ the juice of a lemon
1 teaspoon orange blossom water – I used the Nielson-Massey Orange Blossom Water
425g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
175g dark orange chocolate – I used the Co-Operative Truly Irresistible Fairtrade Ghanaian Dark Chocolate with Spices and Orange Oil which is stunning

whisk the egg white in a bowl until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed. Slowly stir in the lemon juice, orange blossom and icing sugar to a stiff paste. (I used a rubber spatula to do this.)

tip the mixture onto a work surface dusted liberally with icing sugar and roll out thinly.

use a 5cm cutter to cut out circles and place them onto a lined baking tray. Chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours, or until the mixture has set.

meanwhile, melt the chocolate (i do this on a medium setting in the microwave in short bursts.)

dip each orange blossom cream into the melted chocolate and set aside on a baking tray. Chill until set.

i’m linking these little sweets into the treat petite bloggers link-up hosted by Kat The Baking Explorer and Stuart the Cakeboi which has the theme of #GBBO… yes, unless you’ve been living under a rock cake for the past 3 weeks you’ll know that the Great British Bake-Off is back on the TV… and these orange creams remind me of a ‘sweets and candy week’ they had back in season 2…

eat and of course, enjoy!