This chocolate is named after the ice cream and looks stunning when cut into. Any remaining fruit paste tastes fantastic dipped in bitter dark chocolate and any remaining ganache can be flavoured and used for truffles.

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

1 zest of one orange lightly crystallized
250ml double cream
600g dark chocolate, chopped or in pellet form
4ml rrange blosson oil
8ml Cointreau
2 oranges
40ml sugar
40ml water
500g dark chocolate, chopped or in pellet form for dipping

Preparation

1. Prepare the lightly crystallised orange zest and dry it out at 100°C – in the oven, turning once or twice. Store any leftover zest in an airtight container .

Making crystallized fruit peel and grated zest

Simply grate the zest of a citrus fruit of your choice, then dip it into a simple sugar syrup, made by boiling 1 part sugar in 1 part water until the sugar has dissolved.

Leave the dipped zest to dry, then place on top of just-dipped chocolates so the peel sticks as the chocolate sets.

2. Temper 150 g (5 oz) of dark chocolate and spread onto a sheet of baking parchment. When touch dry, cut out 1.5 cm (3/4 in) circles with a pastry cutter.

Tempering Chocolate

Melt the quantity of chocolate you need. Pour approximately two thirds of the melted chocolate onto the marble.

Use a large, flexible scraper to repeatedly pull the chocolate together and then spread it out. This causes the chocolate to cool quickly and to thicken. The chocolate now contains a number of ‘seed’ crystals. As the chocolate temperature drops, more crystals form. You want to get plain chocolate to about 29°C – check this by putting a tiny piece of the chocolate on your bottom lip. If it feels cool, it should be ready.

Once you reach the required temperature, quickly stir in the remaining third of the melted chocolate. This will melt or stabilize any unstable crystals. If this doesn’t work, it is possible that there are not enough ‘seed’ crystals in the first two thirds (for example, if the chocolate hasn’t been cooled enough) or the remaining third is too hot. Unfortunately, should this be the case you will have to start all over again. When tempered, transfer the chocolate to a bowl ready for use.

3. Warm the cream a little. Add the milk chocolate and stir until all the chocolate is incorporated. If you still have lumps of chocolate, warm the mixture for about 10 seconds in the microwave and stir again.

4. Stir in the orange blossom oil and the Cointreau.

5. Using a piping bag and a 1 cm (1/2 in) nozzle, pipe the ganache onto the dark chocolate circles and leave to set.

6 When set, dip each chocolate in the remaining tempered chocolate so it is fully sealed. Sprinkle the tops of the chocolates with the crystallized orange zest, then leave to set before cutting away any ‘feet’ from the chocolate.