Dark chocolate and orange pots

OK, come clean, who tore a few extra pages off the calendar?  I mean, it seriously cannot be September already, can it??

And if it really is September, then eeeek, I’ve missed the deadline for an event that I’ve been wanting to take part in for the longest time, so I’m going to keep this post uncharacteristically brief and get it up before bed so that I can throw myself at the host’s mercy and try to be included in the round-up.

The event is Tried and Tasted and host Zlamushka of Zlamushka’s Spicy Kitchen asked me ages and ages ago if I’d like to participate.  I love the event because to me it epitomises one of the best things about blogging:  the access to an endless supply of good recipes that have all been tried and tested by other bloggers just like you.  The premise is simple:  each month a blog is selected, and participants have to choose a recipe from that blog’s archives to make, and the roundup is a celebration of the diversity of recipes featured on the blog in question.

As if loving the event wasn’t enough, Zlamushka tipped me off that this month the featured blog is… Jugalbandi!  Now I won’t lie to you – I adore Jai and Bee.  Even though their blog has only been around since the start of 2007, they have made a huge impact on the world of food blogging.  Apart from having a beautifully designed site, a thought-provoking writing style, and a sly wit, they have posted a treasury of vegetarian recipes and loads of information about topics as diverse as eating to combat cancer, or food photography tips.  They also founded the CLICK photographic event which continues to go from strength to strength each month.  But their many and varied talents aside, they are also genuinely caring individuals.  Not only do they regularly take the trouble to leave encouraging comments on various blogs, they also recenty organised an online fundraiser for fellow-blogger Briana whcih raised almost $14,000.

So I positively relished the chance to cook something from their archive as my own little tribute to these two blogging and photographic dynamos!  The recipe that I chose is their simple and fabulously adaptable chocolate pots.  It’s the kind of recipe I love because you take a basic formula for decadent chocolate pots and tinker with it to suit your taste.  Their version ended up as mocha chocolate pots with crystallised ginger, but my variation was chocolate orange pots with candied peel.  Made up almost entirely of cream and chocolate, be assured that this is as unhealthy as it gets, but then again a portion equivalent to about 4 tablespoons is perfectlt adequate for one person – a little goes a long way.

I can’t recommend this recipe enough.  It is childishly simple and the chocolate-orange combination is always a winner (a million Terry’s Chocolate Orange consumers can’t be wrong…).  It’s grown up, sophisticated, sweet… and a little bit naughty.  Just like Jai and Bee 😉

JUGALBANDI’S CHOCOLATE POTS

Serves 2

Ingredients:

60g bittersweet or dark chocolate, chopped
1 Tbsp soft brown sugar
4 Tbsp double cream
3 tsp Cointreau
2 tsp chopped candied peel to garnish

Method:

Heat the cream to near-boiling in a small saucepan.  Add the sugar and 2 tsp of the liqueur and stir until smooth and blended, with no sugar granules left.

Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until smooth. Chill, covered with plastic wrap, for an hour or two.

In the meantime, soak the candied peel in the remaining teaspoon of liqueur.  Serve the pots garnished with the macerated candied peel.