Chocolate and Orange Biscuits

Wotchers!

Phew! Back into the swing of things after a bit of a busy April – with my favourite type of bake!

LOVE these biscuits for their striking appearance and complete lack of need for any additional decoration.

These biccies ARE their own decoration, and that’s YUM! whichever way you look at it – simple, stylish and delicious!

OK, moving on before I use up a whole month’s worth of exclamation marks….

I found this recipe in a little French cul-de-sac of the internet, and decided to tweak it. The original recipe called for rolling them in a mixture of icing sugar and dessicated coconut, but I thought that was gilding the lily a bit, so I made them ‘plain’.

Chocolate and orange are a classic combination, but you could also use this recipe for variations of your own – chocolate and lime, for example, would look very striking, especially if you could get dark green limes. Or chocolate and ginger, using chopped preserved ginger and a little of the syrup instead of the zest/juice. Have fun! 😀

Chocolate and Orange Biscuits

300g flour
1 tsp baking powder
120g icing sugar
2 large egg yolks
150g softened butter
1 tbs orange liqueur (or orange juice)
2 tbs of orange zest
2 tbs of cocoa
2 tbs of milk

• Orange Mixture:
  • In a food processor, mix 150g of flour, 0.5tsp baking powder, 60g sifted icing sugar, 1 egg yolk, 75 g butter, orange zest and the liqueur/juice,.
  • Knead all ingredients until dough is smooth and firm. wrap in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour.
• Chocolate Mixture:
  • As above, combine 150 g flour, 0.5tsp baking powder, 60g icing sugar, 1 egg yolk, 75 g butter, cocoa and milk.
  • Knead all ingredients until dough is smooth and firm. wrap in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour.
• Remove both doughs from the fridge.
• Roll the chocolate dough into a rectangle, roughly 25cm square. NB Rolling the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper will be less sticky and make the dough easier to handle/roll. It should be about 5mm thick.
• Cut the dough in half, making two rectangles approximately 12cm x 25cm.
• Divide the orange dough in half
• Take one piece of orange dough and shape it into a roll approximately 25cm long.
• Place the roll of orange dough onto one of the pieces of chocolate dough and roll the chocolate dough around the orange dough until it is fully enclosed.
• Press the edges of the dough together firmly.
• Repeat with the remaining two pieces of dough.
• Wrap both ‘logs’ in plastic wrap and chill.
• Preheat the oven to 170°C, 150°C Fan
• When the biscuit dough is sufficiently firm, cut into 1cm slices using a sharp, plain knife and arrange on a baking sheet.
• Leave gaps of 2-3cm between the biscuits.
• Bake for 12-14 minutes, turning your baking sheet halfway through.
• Cool on a wire rack.