A famous chocolate treat meets convenient breakfast option. These chocolate orange poptarts have a fresh orange curd filling to balance out the double chocolate hit of pastry and icing.
Nothing is better than cracking open a certain chocolate orange and biting into one of those segments. Now image that combination of chocolate and orange in a breakfast treat that you can also snap into to enjoy a fresh orange curd filling.
There is a double dose of chocolate with a chocolate shortcrust pastry and then a chocolate icing as well. The curd filling provides a great contrast to the richness of the chocolate, along with the fresh orange juice used to form the icing.
Star Ingredient
The zesty orange is the star that cuts through all the chocolate in this recipe. If you haven’t made your own curd before, please do. I had heard that making orange curd can be harder as does not always set. That hasn’t been a problem for me so far. I use my lemon curd recipe, and then just switch the quantities for orange zest and juice.
Within this recipe I have used, navel oranges but blood oranges would be just as nice – you can find my blood orange curd recipe here.
How to purchase ingredient to be conscious to the planet
The icing for these poptarts is made with cocoa powder and icing sugar. Both can be found at zero waste stores so you can stock up.
When shopping for oranges to use with this recipe, try and go net free. The plastic nets that citrus fruits come packaged in are generally not recyclable – some may be compostable such as ones that the Milk and More oranges come in, if you are in an area that they deliver to. If going to farm shops or supermarkets take your own reusable net bags and purchase loose. You can pick exactly how many oranges you need as well as the ones that you want.
If you don’t fancy making your own curd for the filling, if you can try and shop local and support small independent companies.
Ingredients you can buy plastic free
- Plain flour
- Cocoa powder
- Egg
- Orange curd (find my recipe here)
- Icing sugar
Tips and Tricks when making Chocolate Orange Pop Tarts
Icing Swap
Now if you would prefer a melted chocolate topping instead of a chocolate icing that is an easy switch to make. Melt 50g of either milk, dark or combination of both in which ever method you prefer – bain-marie or in the microwave, and then spread as you would with the icing.
Rolling out Chocolate Pastry
If you were to use flour to stop your pastry from sticking when rolling out, then you will end up with a white appearance on your completed pop tarts. To prevent this, I roll mine out between to sheets of baking parchment paper – also means you can get away without washing up you rolling pin as well as it doesn’t come into contact with the pastry – just the top sheet of parchment. If the paper gets wrinkled, just left it off and replace.
Alternatively, you could use silicone baking mats and roll between them. It works the same.
Equipment You Will Need
- Mixing Bowl
- Table Knife
- Rolling Pin
- Pastry Brush
- Baking Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheet
- Baking Silicone Mat
- Rectangle Cutter or Ruler and Pizza Cutter
- Teaspoon
- Fork
- Small Bowl
- Micro Zester
- Mini Palette Knife (optional)
Chocolate Orange Poptarts
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Table Knife
- Rolling Pin
- Pastry Brush
- Baking Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheet
- Baking Silicone Mat
- Rectangle Cutter or Ruler and Pizza Cutter
- Teaspoon
- Fork
- Small Bowl
- Micro Zester
- Mini Palette Knife (optional)
Ingredients
- 275 g Plain Flour
- 20 g Cocoa Powder
- 150 g Butter/Plant Based Butter
- 75 g Cold Water
- 1 Egg beaten
- Orange Curd
- 30 g Icing Sugar
- 7 g Cocoa Powder
- Zest 1 Orange
- 1 Tablespoon Orange Juice
Instructions
- In a bowl combine the flour and cocoa powder, then add the butter chopped into small pieces
- Rub in the butter until fine breadcrumbs are formed
- Add in about 2 thirds of the cold water, and using a knife start to cut into the mixture until a dough starts to form
- Add in additional water as required to bring the dough together with your hands which leaves the bowl clean
- Flatten the dough and replace in the bowl and cover before popping in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill (can be chilled overnight)
- Roll the pastry dough out until it is the thickness of 10p piece
- Cut out 10 rectangles – I use an 8cm by 12cm cutter
- Place 5 rectangle onto a lined baking sheet – a silicone baking mat or grease proof paper can be used
- Brush the beaten egg around the edge of 5 rectangles to create a border
- Add 2 teaspoons of orange curd within the egg border and spread out
- Place the remaining rectangles on top and press down the edges to seal
- Using a fork crimp the edges of each poptart to ensure sealed
- Pop the baking sheet back into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees when there is still 15 minutes left on the chill
- Once the poptarts have chilled, remove from the fridge and brush the tops with the beaten egg – be careful to only brush on a thin layer as any thick amounts especially in the crimps can be visible on the final bake
- Place the baking sheet on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 25 minutes
- Oven baked, remove from the oven and place onto a cooling rack to cool completed
- Once the poptarts have cooled, combine the icing sugar and cocoa powder together in a bowl and then add in the orange juice, mixing until it comes together in a shiny chocolate icing
- Using a small spoon and mini palette knife spread chocolate icing over the top of the poptarts
- Sprinkle the zest of the orange on top of the poptarts before the icing sets – you can pop as much or as little as you like, I used the zest of a whole orange between the 5 poptarts
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