Collagen chocolate bonbons filled with orange zest, vitamin C and saffron ganache
Yesterday I asked on my Instagram page 'how often do you enjoy chocolate'? Most people answered 'once in a while'. But did you know you can enjoy this treat more regularly as long as it's dark chocolate?
Do you enjoy dark chocolate or is it too bitter for you?
I still love white chocolate but it's not nutritious at all and should definitely not be consumed on a regular basis, so dark chocolate has become my best friend. It took me a while to start enjoying it but when you're on a lower carb diet for health reasons, you don't have much choice other than accepting dark chocolate as your new go to sweet treat.
When I first started eating dark chocolate, the bitterness was my main issue but after a while I actually started enjoying that - it's a bit like learning to drink coffee. I've literally tried every chocolate brand under the rainbow over the past 4 years and have finally found a few that are creamy and don't taste very bitter or burnt! Do you guys want to know what my top 5 dark chocolate brands are?
Although there are lots of good chocolate bar options nowadays, confection chocolates, like bonbons are still laden with sugar, artificial colours, flavours and other additives. Bonbons are moulded chocolate shells with a creamy ganache centre. Do you like bonbons?
These collagen chocolate bonbons filled with an oozy orange zest, vitamin C and saffron ganache give me all the holiday vibes. They remind me a bit of the Jaffa cakes I used to eat growing up (they are called Pim's in the Netherlands, where I grew up). Only these are made with real ingredients that you can actually pronounce, they won't spike your blood sugar AND they're actually nutritious thanks to the wonderful ingredients raw cacao, vitamin C, orange zest and saffron.
Ingredients for the chocolate shells:
200 grams of 100% cacao (bar, buttons, or chips), melted au bain marie - I used the Pink Sun buttons
4 scoops of unflavoured collagen (totally optional)
1 cup of allulose or erythritol - I wanted to keep this sugar free and use a sweetener that most people tolerate very well, which is why I opted for allulose, but you could use any granulated sugar or sweetener here
Ingredients for the ganache filling:
Zest from 4 oranges, peeled with a swivel peeler (this peeler is amazing for tough skinned fruits and vegetables)
2 sachets of Your Zooki orange flavoured vitamin C. This is the best tasting vitamin C on the market and it is in liposomal form, so much better absorbed by your body than other products. If you want to try give it a try, you can order a five sample pack here.
1/8 cup coconut oil, melted
optional: tiny bit of saffron and a few drops of Holy Lama Naturals Spice Drops Orange Zest extract (makes everything taste festive)
Instructions
Mix the ingredients for the chocolate shells in a bowl and scoop a bit in a silicone mini brownie, chocolate button or candy baking mould. Use just enough to coat the bottom and sides of the moulds generously. Pop in the fridge or freezer until firm.
While you're waiting for the chocolate to set, mix the ganache ingredients in a mini food processor, veg chopper or blender. Once the first layer of chocolate is firm, fill the moulds with the orange ganache (make sure to leave some space to cover with a second chocolate layer) and pop back in the fridge or freezer.
Once the ganache is firm too, cover generously with a chocolate layer and return to fridge or freezer.
