Chocolate Orange Creams
These homemade Chocolate Orange Creams are a bright, citrus twist on a classic no-bake sweet. Quick to make, lovely to gift, and perfect for Christmas (or any time of year!).
No need to adjust your screen – these are indeed a very similar recipe to my Peppermint Creams. But with the festive favourite flavour of chocolate and orange, instead.
I give you… Chocolate Orange Creams!
Inspired by the classic homemade sweet, which is incredibly easy to make. In fact, I’m sure I was a Brownie or Rainbow the first time I made the peppermint counterparts – so quite literally child’s play. Perfect for getting the kids involved, or for making to give as homemade Christmas gifts for teachers, coaches, or a Secret Santa.
With a nod to everyone’s favourite Christmas orange chocolate, like my Chocolate and Orange Shortbread, Orange Creams have a certain festiveness to them. Although you could actually enjoy them at any time of the year, my chocolate-orange-loving kids certainly do!
Top Tips for Orange Creams:
• Have a mini milk-frother whisk?: Use it to whisk your egg whites. This little gadget, which probably doesn’t get used for much else, is perfect for whisking your egg whites before adding the icing sugar.
• Add the orange extract gradually: Orange extracts can vary in strength. Start with a little and add more to your own taste. Too much can also make the mixture sticky, so add extra icing sugar if needed.
• Adjust the icing sugar if the dough is too soft: If your creams won’t hold their shape or feel quite tacky, sift in a little more icing sugar and knead it into the dough until it is smooth and easy to handle.
• Chill before dipping in chocolate: Be sure to chill the orange creams in the fridge to help them firm up, making them easier to dip, and the chocolate sets nice and quickly.
• Use good-quality chocolate: Dark chocolate contrasts beautifully with the sweet orange, but you can also use milk or white chocolate depending on your preference.
• Try adding zest for an extra orange boost: A wee bit of finely grated orange zest will add brightness and more orange flavour. Just be careful not to add too much moisture, or you may need to up the icing sugar too.
• Keep the size consistent: Rolling each one to roughly the same size means they set evenly and look lovely when boxed as gifts. Using a melon baller can help you get even-sized balls of dough.
Chocolate Orange Creams
EQUIPMENT
- Small Whisk
- Fork
INGREDIENTS
- 1 Egg White
- 325 g Icing Sugar (Powdered Sugar) (plus extra for dusting)
- 1-2 tsp Orange Extract
- Orange Food Colouring (optional)
- 100 g Dark Chocolate
INSTRUCTIONS
- Line a couple of baking sheets with some greaseproof paper and set aside.
- Whisk the egg white in a large bowl until light & fluffy, but not stiff.
- Sift the icing sugar into the egg white. Add the orange extract and food colouring (if using) and mix until combined into a fondant-like dough. You may need to use your hands to bring the dough together.
- Take a small amount of the dough (about 1-2 teaspoons) and roll it into a ball. Place onto your pre-lined trays and gently press with a fork. Repeat until all your dough is used – you should get around 20, depending on the size of your orange eams.
- Transfer the tray to the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, or ideally overnight.
- To finish, break the chocolate into a bowl and gradually melt in short bursts in the microwave or over a bain-marie. Dip your orange creams halfway into the chocolate, one at a time, and place back onto the lined trays.
- Return to the fridge for a few hours to set the chocolate.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
All my recipes are developed using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and millilitres). Cup measurements are available as a conversion but these, unfortunately, won’t always be as accurate. For best results, I always recommend baking with a digital scale.
RECIPE NOTES:
Storage:
Keep your Chocolate Orange Creams in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll stay fresh for around 1-2 weeks. If your kitchen is particularly warm, you can pop them in the fridge to keep the chocolate firm, but they are best enjoyed at room temperature.Substitutions:
- Orange Extract: You can swap this for another flavouring (such as peppermint, lemon, vanilla). And you may want to match your food colouring to your different flavours, too, or simply leave them white.
- Chocolate: Dark chocolate gives the nicest contrast – in flavour and colour – but milk or white chocolate works well, too.
- Egg White: This recipe follows the traditional method of making orange creams with whisked egg whites and icing sugar. Other popular methods these days are to use some condensed milk or cream cheese in place of egg white, if eggs are something you need to avoid.
Orange Creams are a traditional no-bake sweet made from a simple fondant-style mixture of icing sugar, egg white, and orange flavouring – usually orange extract, but orange zest can be used too. They’re very similar to peppermint creams but flavoured with orange and dipped in dark chocolate.
No, they’re completely no-bake. Just mix, shape, chill, and then dip in chocolate.
This usually means a little extra icing sugar is required due to varying egg sizes, or the orange extract added more moisture. Just sift in a little extra icing sugar until the dough is smooth and easier to shape.
Absolutely! The chocolate dip is technically optional – the creams taste lovely as plain orange fondant sweeties too.
Free-from & Vegan:
Gluten-Free: Chocolate Orange Creams are naturally gluten-free, as they’re made with icing sugar and egg white. Just double-check that your icing sugar is labelled gluten-free when serving to those with coeliac disease.
Dairy-Free: This recipe for Orange Creams contains no dairy ingredients, so it’s naturally dairy-free. Just be sure to use a dairy-free chocolate for dipping – many dark chocolates are naturally dairy-free.
Egg-Free: The traditional recipe for orange creams uses egg white to bind the icing sugar. If you need an egg-free alternative, there are a couple of modern options, although I haven’t tested these myself.
• Condensed milk – commonly used in more modern fondant creams recipes.
• Cream cheese – popular for flavoured fondant-style sweets, though it will add tang and requires chilling for stability.
Vegan: Since this recipe uses egg white, it isn’t naturally vegan. However, you may be able to create a vegan version by using aquafaba (tinned chickpea water) as a substitute. Again, I haven’t tested this personally, but aquafaba often works as a binder in no-bake sweets. Start with a small amount and add gradually until the mixture comes together.
N.B. Any advice or suggestions to make recipes “free-from” or vegan are purely that – suggestions. Please be careful to double-check all ingredients individually, taking extra caution when serving to those with allergies & intolerances.
For more info on common food allergies, please see food.gov.uk | For more info on coeliac disease, please see coeliac.org.uk | For more info on a vegan diet, please see vegansociety.com
