Choc, Orange & Hazelnut Lollipops

These chocolate, orange and hazelnut lollipops are guaranteed to make you start feeling Christmassy, everyone who came into the house whilst I was making them commented on the lovely aroma...chocolate, orange and toasted nuts!

The lollies are really simple to make and you can add your own spin to them by using different flavours and toppings. They're perfect for a party or as a Christmas gift, just add a cellophane wrapper and a little ribbon...et voila!

These lollies are my entry into Random Recipes hosted by Dom over at Belleau Kitchen. Our means of random selection this month was by birthday number. My birthday being on the 27th, I counted along my bookshelf to book number 27 which was Jo Wheatley's A Passion for Baking.

These were easy to make, all you have to do is melt down the chocolate and then pipe chocolate circles onto baking parchment. Add a lolly stick and leave to set. You can buy lollipop sticks from most cake suppliers now as they're also useful for making other things, such as cake pops or cookie pops.

Once the lolly outlines are set just fill in the middle with the remaining chocolate and sprinkle over with your topping of choice...in this case demerera, orange zest and hazelnuts. You just need to make sure that the chocolate you pour in the circles is cool enough as otherwise it will melt the outline and the sharp edge will be lost. Leave to set again and then gently peel off the baking parchment and they are ready to serve. The whole process can be done in about 30-40 minutes.

I think these lollies are always going to look slightly rustic as it is very difficult to pipe a perfect chocolate circle but in some ways that adds to their charm as it shows you've gone to the effort of making something homemade.

If you're having a party these lollies will make a great addition to your table. They can be displayed by sticking the lollies into oranges as Jo does in her book and then guests can help themselves.

I also happened to have some of these Hope & Greenwood Traditional ABC Letters at home so I thought it might be nice to personalise some of the lollies by putting on individual names...however, if you decide to do this only make them for friends or children who have very short names...William and Catherine might miss out! ;-)

You can also customise your lollies in all sorts of other ways...why not try different flavour chocolate. The lollies I made would have tasted great with orange flavoured chocolate. Children are also more likely to enjoy milk chocolate rather than dark chocolate. Or how about adding some popping candy or some Jazzies. Kids might also enjoy making these around Christmas time.

There's still time to enter Random Recipes...just count along your bookshelf according to the day of the month you were born and then flick through that book and whichever recipe you land on is the one to make.

 

Ingredients

150-200g dark chocolate
40g toasted hazelnuts
15g demerera sugar
Zest of 1 orange

If you would like to toast your own hazelnuts you can find out how to do so here.

Sit a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and then melt the chocolate. You can also do this on a low heat in the microwave but you will need to stir it every 10-15 seconds or so. Then remove from th eheat and allow to cool a little, I probably waited 5 minutes or so.

Using baking parchment draw on the outline of your circles. This recipe will yield about 10 and each circle needs to be around 5cm in diametre. You then need to flip your paper over so that the pencil is on the bottom.

Once the chocolate is cooled, spoon about a third into a piping bag (I used greaseproof paper bags) and then snip a little bit of the end to give a fine piping point. Following the lines you drew on the baking paper create the outline of the circle. You need a steady hand for this and I went round each circle twice. Next place a lolly stick in each lolly, the end will need to sit at least 1 cm into the middle. The outlines then need to set, so put the tray in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.

When completely set, spoon the remaining mixture into each lolly to fill in the centre. I actually used a piping bag at this stage too and found it a lot easier. Finally, sprinkle the demerera, hazelnuts and orange zest over the top and again leave to set in the fridge. When set you can gently peel your lollies off the paper and they're ready to serve!

* Adapted from Jo Wheatley's A Passion for Baking