One of the beautiful things about living in Dubai is that you’re surrounded by people from all over the world each celebrating different holidays and traditions. For some of us, this weekend is special because it is the celebration of Easter!
We are all about balance at Fruitful Day and that means indulging every once and a while especially when it’s a special occasion. With this is mind, we selected an Easter-themed Orange Chocolate Egg recipe for today! The egg is a traditional symbol of new life and rebirth.
As we get ready to start the spring season, whether you’re celebrating Easter or not, this season is known as a time for rejuvenation and renewal. Take 10 minutes today and set your intentions for the month. The goal is not perfection, but rather to look for small ways you can grow and improve yourself.
Orange Chocolate Easter Egg (makes one 14cm egg or a few smaller ones)
1 hour including chilling time
INGREDEINTS
- 2 x 100g bars of dark chocolate
- Zest I orange
- 3 squares of white chocolate
- 1 tsp turmeric
INGREDEINTS
- 1 saucepan
- 1 glass bowl that will fit on the saucepan
- Spatula
- Zester
- Knife
- Chopping board
- Small paint brush
- Egg moulds of desired size
METHOD
The first thing to do when preparing any chocolate for egg making or dipping is to temper it. Tempering ensures the smooth glossy finish you see on chocolate and the sharp snap it has when you bit into it. The white discolouring or ‘bloom’ you see on some chocolate is a result of the cocoa butter separating when the chocolate is not properly tempered. To avoid this, the chocolate needs to go through a heating and cooling process that allows the fat crystals to seize at the correct size and create the desirable finish.
There are a few different methods to achieve this and some can be quite complex. Here is one quite simple ‘seeding’ method that requires only basic equipment and doesn’t require a thermometer.
- Roughly cut your dark chocolate up into pieces.
- Place a small saucepan of water on medium heat and place a bowl over the saucepan. This acts as a bain-marie. The water should be gently simmering but not boiling.
- Put 2/3 of the chocolate into the bowl and let it melt. Once it’s 80% melted add the orange zest and stir.
- Remove from the heat and place on a cloth. Make sure none of the water gets into the chocolate or it will sieze.
- Add the remaining 1/3 of the chocolate to the bowl and stir until melted. At this point the chocolate should feel as though it’s slightly below body temperature.
- Pour the chocolate into your egg mould and swirl it around until it’s evenly coated. Leave a small amount of chocolate in the bowl to glue the halves together later.
- Repeat this with both halves of the egg.
- Place in the freezer to harden for 10 minutes.
- If your chocolate has hardened by the time the egg halves are ready then place it over the hot water for a few seconds to soften it up.
- Remove the egg halves from the egg mould and shave uneven edges with a knife.
- Paint the edges of the egg halves with melted chocolate and then glue the two halves together. Place in the freezer to set.
- Repeat steps 1, 2 and 3 with the white chocolate, adding 1 tsp of turmeric for colour.
- Remove the whole egg from the chiller and splatter or paint the egg with the orange/yellow chocolate. Place in the freezer to set one more time.