We had a tiny dinner party last night and I took a chance by making a new dessert for the first time.  If you’ve stumbled onto my About page, you’ll know that I’m just not much of a sweets enthusiast.  But my risk-taking paid off and the Chocolate Orange Pots delighted the Grill-Meister and our guests, who gushed their appreciation:

This is the best thing I’ve tasted in a long, long time.

The recipe came to me by way of the Recipe Reminiscing blog.  The author, whose moniker is TidiousTed, is doing a public service by resurrecting the ghosts of culinary classics.  I found the recipe he posted for “Chocolate Orange Pots” when I was searching for interesting things to do with our just-harvested Glover Gardens orange crop.

I adjusted the recipe and made it my own, most notably using semi-sweet instead of plain chocolate and Cointreau instead of Curacao.  I had tasted the Curacao before using it – thank goodness! – and found it to be cloyingly sweet and not very orange-y.  The Cointreau has more of the slightly bitter tang of orange peel.

The recipe serves between 4 and 8 people, depending on how large you want the portions to be.  It is very rich, but the orange zest provides a great balance to the mouthfeel of the chocolate and cream.  We served shots of freshly squeezed orange juice alongside the dessert, and it was heavenly.  If you have a need for an impressive, decadent, and yet relatively easy dessert for a dinner party, this one will not disappoint.  Be sure and make it a few hours ahead of time so it can chill nicely.

Decadent Chocolate Orange Pots

Ingredients (serves 4 – 8)

• 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces, plus 1 tsp. grated semi-sweet chocolate
• rind of 1 small orange, finely grated
• 3 eggs, separated and whisked lightly with a fork
• 3 tbsp. Cointreau
• 2 cups heavy cream, divided
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp. granulated sugar
• juice of 1 orange
• orange rind spirals

Cooking Instructions

Melt the chocolate, either by stirring in a metal bowl over a pan of hot water, or by following the instructions on the package to melt in the microwave.  Let cool slightly (removing from the pan of water if you used that method).

Stir in the orange rind, egg yolks and Cointreau. Stir well and set aside.  Using a mixer, whip 1 cup of the cream until thick, then in a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold the cream and egg whítes into the chocolate mixture.  Pour into custard cups and chill.

Beat the other cup of cream with vanilla and sugar until it forms soft peaks and spoon it onto the chocolate pots after they are well chilled.  Garnish with orange rind spirals and grated chocolate.

References:

• Tiny Dinner Party with International Guests
• Moonlight Citrus Harvest Haiku
• Recipe Reminiscing
• Chocolate Orange Pots (original recipe)

Copyright 2017, Glover Gardens Cookbook