Learn how to make orange cream fondant and beautifully molded Orange Cream Chocolates. Tips and tricks for making chocolates at home.
Every Christmas the woman in my family gets together for a weekend and makes thousands of candies, dipped chocolates, and homemade molded candy centers such as these orange cream chocolates.
This is a family tradition that goes back almost 2 decades. You can read more about our family traditions with chocolates HERE.
Orange cream centers are fairly easy to make. Here’s a little video I created to show you the just.
If this is your first time or tenth time making homemade chocolates, you might enjoy this article on Tips & Tricks for Making Homemade Chocolates. In it, I share information and troubleshooting I’ve learned over the years.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE HOMEMADE ORANGE CREAM CHOCOLATES?
- Fondant cream centers- recipe on printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Orange oil or extract flavoring
- chocolate (whatever kind you prefer)
- Chocolate candy mold
- Food grade paintbrush
Note on orange flavoring. If you can find orange oil flavoring, this is best. It has a cleaner, stronger flavor. If using extract, be prepared to use a lot more (like 4-5x more). When we use extract instead of oil, we have to use 1-2 oz of flavoring. If we use orange oil we only need 1/2-1 teaspoon.
OTHER DELICOUS CANDY & CHOCOLATES RECIPES:
- White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
- Cherry Cordial Chocolates
- Peppermint Bark
- Peppermint Patties
- Butter Almond Truffles
- Tiger Butter Bark
- Soft Homemade Caramels
- Black Anise Caramels
- Peanut Butter Balls
- Peanut Brittle
- English Toffee
- Peanut Butter Cups
- Smores Presents
- Caramel Pretzel Rods
- Almond Joy Chocolates (coconut almond)
- Biscoff Truffles
WHAT TYPE OF MOLD SHOULD I USE TO MAKE HOMEMADE CHOCOLATES:
Have you ever been in a specialty kitchen store with all those fun chocolate sucker and candy molds? Those are the type of molds you want to use to mold chocolates. We love molds that make one to two-biters, a chocolate you can eat in one to two bites. You can find a few of our favorite molds HERE.
You can make molded chocolates using silicone molds but we prefer the hard clear plastic style. Silicone can act as an insulator and can slow down the cooling process. The clear plastic style molds offer a beautiful shine to the finished chocolates.
To learn more about preparing and caring for chocolate molds, check out the Tips & Tricks for Making Chocolates at Home article. It has information that will help you produce high-quality, professional-looking chocolates every time.
HERE’S THE FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE FOR ORANGE CREAM CHOCOLATES. ENJOY!
Orange Cream Chocolates
A creamy smooth orange-flavored center molded in rich chocolate. Elegant chocolates you can easily make at home.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 3 cups white granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons corn syrup
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- orange oil or extract flavoring, SEE NOTES for starting quantity, the strength of oil and extract can vary greatly.
- 3-4 cups Chocolate melted
Instructions
- In a large heavy saucepan add cream and sugar together. Let soak for a few minutes.
- After soaking, bring to a slow boil over medium to medium-high heat. Add corn syrup. Stirring constantly.
- Using a pastry brush and water to wash down the sides of the pan several times while boiling.
- Using a candy thermometer, cook to 238°F *SEE NOTES regarding calibrating your thermometer.
- Pour mixture out onto a damp marble slab, cookie sheet, or chilled mixing bowl (avoid glass as the mixture is very hot). DO NOT scrape pot sides when pouring the mixture. This can cause the fondant to have a gritty sugary texture rather than smooth and creamy. *SEE NOTES if mixture goes "grainy" or sugary
- Place 1 Tablespoon of butter in the center of the batch.
- Cool until warm to touch (5-10 minutes) then beat or use bread hook in an electric mixer. Beat until mixture turns creamy and dough-like. Let rest. *SEE NOTES*
- When ready to assemble chocolates, add orange oil or extract flavoring. Add enough flavoring to create a slightly intense orange flavor. The chocolate will lessen the intensity of the orange flavor.
- Once the orange mixture is ready, scoop or pour into a piping bag or ziplock bag. Cut the end to create a 1/4 inch hole.
- If the mixture is stiff enough to HAND-DIPPING, roll into desired size and shape. Cover and chill until firm. Once firm, dip in melted chocolate. Place on a sheet of waxed paper or parchment paper until chocolate hardens. Can be placed in the freezer for a quick set.
- If MOLDING, use a candy chocolate mold. For cleaning and use of chocolate molds, see post on Tips & Tricks for Making Homemade Chocolates. Fill each mold with 1/3 to 1/2 full of melted chocolate. Using a brush, coat sides (paint sides). Raise mold to the light to ensure each mold is fully coated. Place in freezer until hardened (about 5 minutes). Fill each mold with the orange cream filling. Make sure to leave a small amount at the rim of the mold so the chocolate on the top (bottom of the chocolate) will be able to seal. Cover top with melted chocolate to seal. Place back in the freezer to set (about 5 to 10 minutes). Once set, carefully flip and tap. If chocolates are cold enough and molds were prepped correctly, they will just fall out. Do not heat mold or chocolate. This will make the chocolates stick inside the mold (see video for reference).
- Store in an airtight container. Best if enjoyed when freshly made but if kept in a cool dry place, these chocolates will keep for 1-2 weeks if not longer.
Notes
- To calibrate a thermometer, put the thermometer into boiling water. Water boils at 212 degrees at sea level. Look up the boiling point of water for your altitude. Read the temperature of your thermometer when the water at a full boil. If it doesn't match the boiling temperature for your altitude, you will need to adjust your recipe temperature by the difference between the boiling point at your elevation and the temperature your thermometer is reading at a full boil. For example, if my thermometer reads 202 degrees when the water boils at sea level, my thermometer reads 10 degrees less than accurate. This means when I cook a candy that needs to reach 238 degrees, I will have met 238 degrees when my thermometer reaches 228 degrees (more or less assuming the error in the thermometer is constant across all temperatures).
- The cream center base can be made several days before flavoring and dipping. I recommended making the fondant centers at least the night before or 24 hours before dipping to allow the sugar to soften if needed. If the center feels grainy or sugary right after making it will remain this way. You can reheat the center by placing it in a clean pot (like the one you used before), add about a 1/2 cup of water. Reheat following the temperature in the recipe above. When the temperature is reached pour out, let cool slightly then rebeat until it "turns."
- If using orange OIL flavoring start with 1/2 a teaspoon and add more if desired.
- If using orange EXTRACT flavoring start with 1-2 teaspoons. You may need to use up to 1-2 oz depending on the intensity you desire.
- When adding flavoring, make sure the orange cream flavor is more on the intense side as the chocolate will detract and lessen the orange flavor intensity.
- We usually work with 2-3 molds at a time so we can have 1-2 molds setting in the freezer while we have 1 we are working with outside the freezer. This speeds up the process greatly.
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I am excited to try this recipe. Question – how do I keep/store the filling until I am ready to flavor it and fill the chocolates? You recommend making it at least a day ahead of time. Do I refrigerate or not? Air tight container? Thank you.
Hi there. I typically store mine in a ziplock bag on the counter unless it will be more than a couple of days before using, then I will keep it in the fridge. Air tight container is a definite yes. Hope this helps. Enjoy your chocolates!
Curious if I can use this as a base for different flavors replacing the orange with preferred flavors?
Absolutely! We make raspberry, orange, lemon, peppermint and coconut every year all using this same base.
Could you please advise the shelf life of these chocolates? I am making them for Christmas gifts and don’t want to leave it until the last minute.
If using extracts and oils to flavor the center, these will last up to 3 weeks to 1 month (at cool room temperatures). Make sure they are properly stored in an airtight container and in a cool, dry place. To insure freshness make sure there are no cracks or holes in the chocolate coating. We have made this center with fresh orange zest and it was delicious but only keeps for 5-7 days without refrigeration (refrigeration can help chocolates last much longer but has a high probability of causing Sugar Bloom – white streaks in the chocolate). This may have been more information than you were looking for but hopefully it helps.