Dark Chocolate & Boozy Blood Orange Fondant

Chocolate, Valentines day, fondant, fairtrade

Valentines Day & Chocolate!

The best time of the year for Chocolate sales. But how sustainable our these chocoholic habits of ours?

Last year, the average Briton consumed 11.2kg (24.7lb) of the stuff – To put that into context, that’s the equivalant of getting through 266 Mars bars in one year! This is far from healthy and with the ever increasing population and our desire for sweet treats – where will this end, both in terms of personal health, environment and the challenges of supply & demand?

Cocoa farmers are often forced to sell their harvest to middlemen who have the monopoly on pricing and payment. Even as cocoa prices rise, farmers have not been capturing their fair share. Growers in West Africa on average receive just 3% to 6% of the final value of a chocolate bar. Poor conditions, low incomes, child slavery show the stark contrast between the delicious treat and the difficult conditions of the people who produce it.

From a health perspective more than three million people in the UK are being treated for diabetes – an increase of nearly 60% in the past 10 years. Putting strain not only on our fragile existence but on the purse strings of the health care system. Roughly 90% are type 2 diabetes, which is the form closely linked to diet and obesity.

Therefore I promote this Dark Chocolate & Boozy Blood Orange Fondant with extreme caution. Whilst it is nice to indulge once in a while, do so in moderation. If you make this, you have an obligation to share it with family & friends and be mindful of the bittersweet journey the chocolate has made.

For this recipe, I used left over chocolate bars pre-dating Christmas. When buying, look for a Fair-trade logo above the Organic Label. If you can get both – even better! Anything about 70% is perfect for this Recipe.

Where to buy Fairtrade Chocolate

Dark Chocolate & Boozy Blood Orange Fondant

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour 5 mins

A rich dark chocolate and boozy blood orange Fondant

Author: Kaylie Kist

Recipe type: Sweets & Treats

Ingredients

200g Dark Chocolate
200g Unsalted Butter
250g Golden Caster Sugar
60g Coco Powder
6 Large Organic Eggs
2 Glugs of Cointreau
Juice of 1 Blood Orange
1 pinch of Salt

Instructions

Heat the oven. Approx gas mark 4/ 180c
Prepare a 20cm cake tin
Separate the eggs
First start by whisking the whites until fluffy white
Heat a medium heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water on a low heat
Add the butter and melt
Break the chocolate and add to the melted butter, stirring until rich and glossy.
add the Cointreau to the chocolate mix, stir and remove from heat.
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar
Add the juice of the blood to the yolk until thouroughly mixed.
Add the melted chocolate to the yolk mix & using a spatuala mix together
Slowly fold in the whipped egg white mix
Pour into the prepared oven tin and place in the oven for approx 50 mins
Top with slice blood orange and serve with ice cream