Description
This chocolate bark is topped with juicy candied oranges, chopped almonds, and sea salt. It makes a great holiday gift.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- CANDIED ORANGES:
- 1 organic navel orange (organic when possible)
- 1 1/2 cups cold filtered water
- 1 cup organic sugar
- CHOCOLATE BARK:
- 16 ounces dark chocolate bar (I used 66% cocoa. You could use milk chocolate but I recommend the dark chocolate because it’s a nice contrast the very sweet candied oranges)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/3 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped
- course sea salt for topping (optional)
Instructions
- CANDIED ORANGES:
- Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, foil, or wax paper. Lay a cooling rack on top of the baking sheet. Grease the baking sheet with cooking spray or brush on oil. Set aside.
- Wash and scrub the orange really well to get off any pesticides and wax. It is best to use organic when possible because we will be eating the entire orange, rind and all. Cut off the very ends, which is mostly the pith and cut the orange in half lengthwise. Slice the orange into 1/4 inch thick half moon slices.
- To a medium sized, wide sauce pot add the water and the sugar. Turn the heat on high, stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once it is dissolved stop stirring, otherwise the sugar will crystallize. Allow the water/sugar to come to a gentle boil. Add the orange slices. Boil the orange slices for 15 minutes.
- Turn the heat down to medium low and use tongs to carefully flip the orange slices over. Boil for another 15 to 20 minutes or until the rinds have become somewhat translucent. Keep an eye on the oranges while they are boiling to make the sugar doesn’t burn.
- Once the oranges are done remove them from the heat and carefully transfer them to the prepared cooling rack. Allow them to cool for at least 8 to 10 hours, flipping half way through. They should become considerably less sticky and wet to the touch, although they will still be a little sticky.
- CHOCOLATE BARK:
- Once the oranges have dried out you can make the chocolate bark.
- Line a medium sized rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- Break up the chocolate bars into a medium sized microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 second increments, stirring the chocolate in between each time, until the chocolate is completely melted. Stir in the cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Pour the chocolate onto the baking sheet lined with the parchment paper. Use your spatula to smooth it out into an even, but somewhat thick layer – it may not reach to all of the sides. Randomly place the orange slices (you may have 2 to 3 orange slices leftover, you can eat them as is or dunk them in more dark chocolate). Sprinkle the chopped almonds around the oranges and sprinkle the sea salt onto the chocolate (sea salt is optional).
- Place the chocolate bark in the fridge for 20 minutes to set up. Lift the bark out of the baking sheet and on to a cutting board. Use a sharp chef’s knife to cut the bark into whatever sizes or shapes you would like.
- Store the bark in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, maybe longer, although the oranges tend to dry out the longer they sit – the bark is still good but it is better when the oranges are kind of juicy. If the oranges seem really sticky place parchment paper in between each layer of the bark to prevent them sticking to each other.
- If giving this as a gift you could put the bark in a nice clear plastic bag and tie a ribbon around it, or package it any other creative way you can think of.
Notes
Prep time does not include down time required for the oranges to dry out.
Candied orange method adapted from Tastemade.
