My family and I always make chocolate covered treats around Christmas and Easter time. Last year, my sister and I made chocolate covered graham crackers. If you haven’t tried them, you really should. They are so good, especially enrobed in dark chocolate. This year I wanted to try making chocolate covered candied orange peel.
I read a book a while back that took place in turn-of-the-century Paris, and in one memorable scene a young lady tries chocolate covered orange peel for the first time. The way the scene was written and how beautifully the treat was described, made a lastly impression on me.
This year I decided to investigate how to make candied orange peel. The best recipe I found took four days to make. I decided instead to buy some candied orange peel on Amazon. I took the easy way out, I know. Some day I’ll try the four-day method, but not this year.
To make chocolate covered anything, you start by melting some chocolate over a double boiler. I used dark chocolate, as that is my preference. But you can easily use milk chocolate or even white chocolate. Then I hand-dipped each piece of orange peel.
Once I started covering things in chocolate I couldn’t stop. I had some raisins and peanuts in the house, so they went into the chocolate too. Chocolate peanut clusters and chocolate raisin clusters are delicious. I toss them into the chocolate, stir to cover them, and then pull out clusters with a fork, letting the excess chocolate fall back into the pot.
Make sure whatever you want to dip is dry. The chocolate won’t stick to anything wet. You also don’t want to gunk up the chocolate.
After dipping, lay the treats on a piece of wax paper or parchment, and allow them to solidify. You can put them in the refrigerator for a few minutes to speed up the process. That’s all there is to it.
With the little bit of chocolate I had leftover, I turned it out onto a board, spread it out, and sprinkled it with sea salt. Yum!
What are your favorite chocolate covered treats?
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