When I’m overworked and weary, nothing invigorates me as well as this hot chocolate with fresh orange! Of course, a vitamin C boost from eating the orange doesn’t exactly hurt either.
This recipe is inspired by the We Should Cocoa challenge.
If you wish to make 2 small cups of truly tangy drinking chocolate, this is what you’ll need:
- 1,5 cups of water
- 70 g or 2,5 oz of dark chocolate (72% in my case)
- 1 orange
- 1 level tsp of cornstarch
Put the water into a small pot. Let it heat up while you zest the orange with a grater. The zest is the outermost, coloured skin that contains flavourful oils. Don’t peel the white part! Add the zest into water and leave the orange for later eating.
Break the chocolate into small pieces or chop coarsely. Make sure the pot is on low heat as you add the chocolate. Whisk to avoid chocolate sticking to the bottom!
Put the cornstarch into a cup and dissolve it in a drop of water. Possible pitfalls of using cornstarch can be found here. Add the dissolved cornstarch to the chocolate mixture while continuing to stir. Do that as long as the chocolate starts to thicken, then stop and immediately remove the pot from heat.
Strain the mixture, pressing on solids to remove liquid, as you pour your hot chocolate into cups. Enjoy!
Warning: use only organic oranges! The fruit you can find in most grocery stores has been treated with dangerous pesticides. Therefore, the orange zest can be highly poisonous – it’s a possible cause of cancer and damage to nervous as well as reproductive system. One non-organic orange probably won’t kill you, but if you want this milkfree hot chocolate to be as healthy as it can be, opt for organic!
What is your favourite orange hot chocolate recipe? Also, please share your take on organic food! Do you think it’s worth the dough or just a marketing gimmick?
What a brilliant recipe. Although I often drink cocoa with hot water, I’ve nto tried making a drink with chocolate and water. Will have to try it. The orange zest sounds is a great addition. I’ve been passionate about organic food all my life and for all sorts of reasons, but looking out for our environment as well as ourselves is really important. Always use organic oranges when I can get them, but sometimes have to use a non-organic one. I give it a good scrub and hope for the best!!! Thanks for participating in WSC
Thank you for your comment! It’s great to see fans of organic food! If you try this recipe, you’ll probably find that it’s fairly intense and not sweet at all. I really like it how water lets all tastes come through as authentic as they are.
This looks delicious! I’ve not tried making hot chocolate with water so will give it a go. Adding the orange sounds great, am currently thinking of adding orange blossom water, cinnamon and nutmeg for a Christmassy hot chocolate. I try to buy organic if I can but not always. I do like to get fresh fruits from the market and eggs from the butcher or local farmers.
The orange blossom water idea sounds very interesting! I’ll have to try that myself!