Today I am excited to share a recipe from one of my favorite food bloggers: Kristina of spabettie. I look forward to each and every one of Kristina’s recipes every week. Each one is more tantalizing than the last!
Kristina’s recipes constantly inspire me. When you visit her blog I know you will fall in love with her as I have. Kristina’s creativity with mostly plant based and gluten-free recipes will make you hungry and her stories will make you smile.
I have recently fallen hard for this Maple Cream Pumpkin Pie with Buttery Gingersnap Crust. How about these Double Chocolate Espresso Brownies? Raspberry Jalapeno Chocolates and Brownie Bottomed Cheesecake…ok, my head is spinning in delight!
I am always honored to be invited to guest post on another blog – and when it is someone I adore as much as I do Lora, I like to take time planning something extra fun.
At spabettie I focus on bright and vibrant food creations – generally plant based, often gluten free, and (hopefully!) always delicious. Foods that are appealing in both presentation and taste, that leave people surprised to discover are plant based and healthy.
Decadent can be healthy.
mandarin orange fudge slices
dairy, soy, and gluten free, vegan
makes 28-32 fudge wedges
Ingredients:
8 small mandarin oranges
3 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup coconut butter
3 tablespoons orange juice concentrate
1 tablespoon mandarin zest
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar (make your own!)
Directions:
Cut mandarins in half. Scoop the fruit out and place in a fine mesh strainer. Continue to scrape the pith so you are left with smooth orange peels. Set aside. Strain orange fruit until all juice is removed; reserve juice to use in recipe, discard the rest.
In small saucepan, melt chopped chocolate. Stir in coconut butter, juice and zest, combine to smooth consistency. Remove from heat. In large mixing bowl, sift together cocoa powder and powdered sugar, whisking out all lumps. Stir in chocolate orange mixture, combine completely, until all lumps are gone.
Fill mandarin halves with fudge, pressing into peels until smooth and flat across top. Set mandarin halves in mini muffin tins to keep upright. Transfer to refrigerator to set fudge. Once fudge is set: using a sharp knife, carefully slice each mandarin half in half again, making quarters. Enjoy!
In making these, I discovered the mandarin peel is edible. If you are adventurous you can eat this whole thing, or you can simply bite out the fudge as we did here.
Thank you Lora for having me here today, and thank you all for reading.
Happy Holidays!
Thank you, Kristina!! It’s such a pleasure to share your delicious mandarin orange fudge slices with my readers! Want to see more of Kristina?:)
Instagram: @spabettie
Facebook: facebook.com/SpabettiePage
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Such a fun idea; great post!
thank you, Kalyn!
so cute! I love these individual fudge slices.
thanks, Roxana – bite size are always fun, right?
I love this idea! Chocolate and orange are one of my favorite combinations.
one of my favorite pairings, too 🙂
thank you SO MUCH, Lora – it was my honor to be here today, and I had so much fun making these for you! Cheers!
Chocolate and orange is a great combination. I love that the orange might convince me that I am eating something with a healthy twist…even if it is fudge inside!
OH my these look fabulous! I am so glad I followed you here today! I will be making these for sure and my husband is gonna love them.
Oh, that Kristina! She never fails to make us happy with her delightful and usually healthy treats! LOVE these!
Shirley
very cute idea love this dessert
This is so adorable. I just love this idea. Love Kristina's blog.
So nice to see Kristina here and how fun are these fudge slices! Great idea!
Kristina..these look absolutely sinful..in an amazing way. SO creative and a great holiday gift idea! Awesome guest post!
Nice to see Kristina here! I love fudge and I always have mandarins around this time of year!
Decadent can definitely be healthy! It's fabulous that this is gluten, dairy, and soy free! Awesome…
I have such a fudge weakness 🙂
I love the pairing of citrus and chocolate! Thanks for sharing, Kristina!
What a fun treat, absolutely love fudge
Kristina is a sweetie pie am so happy to see her guesting in your space Lora. This dessert is so creatively presented. Bright, happy, holiday-ish! 🙂 Happy Chanukah & Christmas Lora!
Hmmmm, seeing this immediately made me think of Tootsie Rolls. Several years ago, someone introduced me to Amaretto DiSaronno and Orange Juice and I couldn't believe it, but it tasted like a Tootsie Roll. I wonder how it would be if you added a little Amaretto into the filling here for a "grown up" version???
What a fun recipe! Anything with fudge is simply perfect!
What a great combination of orange with chocolates . I love to eat this.
Beautiful combination of flavors-the chocolate bites are so fun in the mandarin orange slices!
I am so stealing.
What a great and creative idea!!
What a cute and fun idea!
These are so fun and creative Kristina…cut too 🙂
Love this idea! I am a huge fan of orange and chocolate together, so what could be better than mandarin orange fudge slices???
These are so cute! Remind me of the chocolate oranges you whack and unwrap… that Santa leaves in my stocking every year. 😉 Great flavor combo!