Toast Topper #54: Terry's Chocolate Marmalade

Chocolate is one of the most universal foods out there. It's hard to think of something that completely clashes with every cocoa product, and when it comes to bittersweet or unsweetened solid bars or pure cocoa powder, both sweet and savoury possibilities open up in a variety of flavour profiles. Of course, one of chocolate's all-time perfect pairings is fruit. Combined with the fresh, bright flavours of sub-acid to citrus fruits, the sweetness and richness of the cacao bean and sugar combination lighten, creating an enjoyable, sophisticated melange in the mouth.

Chocolate companies have been capitalizing on the fruit-cocoa combination for years, and the products of their creativity come out full force during the holidays. After seeing walls and walls of "chocolate + (name your fruit)" bars and bonbons over the Christmas season, I got the inspiration to try my hand at making a breakfast-friendly spread with the nuances of the famous chocolate-orange candy my mom absolutely adores. By using my favourite, no-sugar-needed pectin, I kept the tang and bitter edge of the pure base ingredients, adding just enough sugar to offset the bite of the citrus membrane in the body of the marmalade. Far from being a sickly-sweet candy box confection, the finished mixture is more of a bittersweet, "grown up" treat with faint hints of the holiday stocking-stuffers. If you're a fan of the chocolate oranges, try a smear of this on toast for a change - just don't try to whack it on the floor!

Shared with Gluten Free Fridays
 
Terry's Chocolate Marmalade
Makes 3½ cups, 56 (1 tbsp) servings
4 large, seedless oranges, zested and chopped
1 cup water
1 tsp calcium water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 oz bittersweet chocolate (approx. 70%), chopped
⅔ cup sugar
½ tbsp Pomona's Universal Pectin powder

1. Combine orange zest and pieces, water, calcium water and lemon juice in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil.
2. Whisk together sugar and pectin and add to the pot, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil.
3. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat and stir in the chocolate.
4. Ladle into jars and store up to 1 month in the fridge.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 17.0
Total Fat: 0.2 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 0.0 mg
Total Carbs: 4.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.3 g
Protein: 0.2 g