Chocolate Covered Oranges (Quick & Easy Treat)

❤️Why you will love this recipe

• This is an easy dessert recipe.
• If you are someone with a sweet tooth, this orange dessert is a perfect treat for you.
• And is a healthy treat too. You get loads of vitamin C while getting to enjoy a low carb, guilt free treat dipped in luxurious dark chocolate.
• These sweet treats can be put together within minutes and make great quick afternoon snack.
• These delicious treats can also be turned into a perfect gift during the holiday season. 

📋Ingredients

1. Oranges

• I chose Mandarin oranges over other oranges because Mandarin oranges are so much easier to peel the skin by hand.
• It is also so much easier to separate the segments without the walls leaking, unlike normal oranges where the skin is not so easily peel-able,  and it is also hard to separate the segments without breaking the walls that surround the juice pulps inside.
• Making sure the oranges are seedless is another important point. It’s so much nicer to be able to pop one whole orange segments into the mouth and chew without having to worry about chewing into orange seeds.
• In peeling the oranges and separating the segments, take extra care not to break the walls that hold the juice pulps.
• Even the slightest hole can result in the juice of the orange to leak. And dipping these segments not only becomes harder as the juice makes them slippery and hard to hold when dipping into chocolate, it is also a messy affair. Dab the segments dry with a kitchen towel (paper towel) before dipping into chocolate.
• Also, when peeling the oranges, remove every bit of the white threads of the skin on the segments. This is so that the oranges look clean and neat.
• For best results, use fresh oranges.

2. Dark chocolate bar or dark chocolate chips

• This recipe is best made with dark or semi sweet chocolate. In choosing the chocolate, take note of the percentage of cocoa solids in it. The higher the percentage of cocoa solids (cocoa butter), the more bitter the chocolate will be. I used Callebaut dark chocolate with 54.5% cocoa solids.
• For best results, use cooking chocolate (sold in bars, or as buttons or melts) as it melts the best. Eating chocolate does not melt smoothly and chocolate chips that are meant for baking are made to withstand high temperatures and will not melt well.
• Couverture chocolate is of the best quality but is quite delicate and requires careful handling when melting. If you are a beginner, this chocolate may not be the best to work with.
• Also, if you live in a hot and humid country, working with chocolate can be tricky. Compound chocolate is more advisable as it is so much more stable and does not melt too easily in hot climate.

🧾Substitution and variations

• You can make the chocolate covered orange with other types oranges too, though the ones that are easily separated by segments such as these Mandarin oranges are generally easier to work with.
• Dark chocolate can be substituted with milk chocolate or even white chocolate (your favorite chocolate).
• Instead of leaving the orange segments with a coating of plain dark chocolate, you can add a little sprinkle of sea salt flakes on the chocolate dipped orange segments (before the chocolate sets) for additional flavor. You can also use sprinkles (use tiny ones) for added decoration.
• And instead of covering only half of each orange segment with chocolate, you can also cover the whole segment with chocolate. Simply dip the entire segment into melted chocolate, lift it out with a fork and place on a wire rack to allow excess chocolate to drip off before placing on a parchment paper.

Prepare the oranges, wire rack and parchment paper lining

Since chocolate sets quickly, it is important that you prepare your fruits, the wire rack and parchment paper lining before melting the chocolate.

• Peel the oranges, and divide them into segments.
• Remove as much of the white thread on the segments as possible.
• Separately, place a wire rack on top of a large plate.
• And cut parchment paper into small squares, large enough to fit one orange segment each.

Tempering (Melting) the chocolate

• To temper or melt chocolate, you can use either the double boiler method on a stove or do it in the microwave.
• To double boil, chop the chocolate (if using a chocolate bar) into small pieces for quick melting. If using chocolate chips, no need to chop them. Place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl and place it over pan of water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water). Turn on the heat (medium low )and let the steam from the water heat up the bowl and melt the chocolate. Stir to ensure all the chocolate is completely melted before removing from heat.
• To use the microwave, chop chocolate into small pieces and place in a microwave safe bowl. Heat it up at short 20 to 30-second intervals on medium high. Check at each interval by stirring the chocolate with a spoon.
• To avoid the chocolate from setting too quickly, keep your bowl of melted chocolate on a saucepan filled with hot water until you are done with dipping all your orange segments.

Dipping the orange slices

• Hold each orange segment at one end and dip the other end into the melted chocolate. Make sure to dip as much as possible, and ideally, dip half of each orange segment.
• Lift the chocolate dipped orange segment off the chocolate and place it on the prepared wire rack. Let any excess chocolate drip onto the plate.
• Once you are done dipping all the orange segments, transfer them onto the cut parchment paper pieces and refrigerate for a few minutes until the chocolate coating sets.
• Remove from fridge, peel the piece of parchment paper off the dipped oranges and place the fruits on a serving plate to serve.

🍽️Serving & storage

• These treats can be enjoyed both at room temperature as well as chilled. However, given that these are fresh fruit treats, they should not be left at room temperature for more than one day. If you do not wish to consume them on the same day, they are best refrigerated (in an airtight container).
• Remove the fruits from the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving and leave them covered in the air tight container until they come to room temperature without removing the lid. This is to avoid water condensation on the chocolate.
• Do note that if you are in a warm climate, the chocolate might start to soften once you remove the fruits from the fridge and you may need to keep them refrigerated right up to the serving point.

💡Expert tips

• Fill the melted chocolate into a deep drinking glass-like container (heatproof). This makes it easier to dip the oranges slices as compared to a shallow bowl.
• If you don’t have any suitable deep containers, use a spoon to pour the chocolate over each slice while holding them with the other hand.
• Shake excess off and place the slices on a wire rack.
• Immediately after dipping, place the oranges on a wire rack. This will allow excess chocolate to drip down and not create a pool of chocolate around the chocolate-dipped slices.
• Once the excess chocolate has mostly dripped off, the chocolate covered orange can be transferred onto parchment paper. Parchment paper peels off easily from chocolate and therefore, is most convenient to use.

💭FAQs